Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co. v. May
Supreme Court of the United States
ERROR TO THE COUNTY COURT OF BELL COUNTY, STATE OF TEXAS. The facts, which involved the constitutionality under the Fourteenth Amendment of chapter 117 of the Laws of Texas of. 1901, imposing a penalty on railroad companies for permitting Johnson grass and Russian thistle to go to seed upon their rights of way, are stated in the opinion of the court.
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ERROR TO THE COUNTY COURT OF BELL COUNTY, STATE OF TEXAS. The facts, which involved the constitutionality under the Fourteenth Amendment of chapter 117 of the Laws of Texas of. 1901, imposing a penalty on railroad companies for permitting Johnson grass and Russian thistle to go to seed upon their rights of way, are stated in the opinion of the court. The classifications of the act are arbitrary and violative of fundamental conceptions of due process of law and its equal’ protection. Barbier v. Connolly, 113 U. S. 27; Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U. S. 356, 368, 373; Dent v. West Virginia, 129 U.…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Holmes
This is a action to recover a penalty of twenty-five dollars, *269brought by the owner of a iarm contiguous to the railroad of the plaintiff in error, on the ground that the latter has allowed Johnson grass to mature and go to seed upon its road. The penalty is given to' contiguous owners by a Texas statute of 1901, ch. 117, directed solely against railroad companies for permitting such grass or Russian thistle to go to seed upon their right of way, subject, however, to the ’condition that the plaintiff has not done the same thing. The case is brought here on the ground that the'statute is…
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