Orville L. Freeman, Secretary of Agriculture of the United States, Petitioner v. Brown Brothers Harriman and Company

The question for decision is whether the Secretary of Agriculture has authority to subpoena, under Section 10(h) of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act, 7 U.S.C. § 610(h), witnesses who are not themselves subject to the regulatory provisions of that act. Brown Brothers Harriman and Company, a private banking company, appeals from an order of the District Court for the Southern District of New York enforcing an administrative subpoena duces tecum served on the bank for the records of a customer’s account. The subpoena was issued in the course of an investigation into unlawful rebates…