Newberry v. United States
Encyclopedia
Newberry v. United States, 256 U.S. 232
(1921) is a decision by the United States Supreme Court
which held that the United States Constitution
did not grant the United States Congress
the authority to regulate political party
primaries
or nomination processes. The court struck down 1911 amendments to the Federal Corrupt Practices Act
which placed spending limits on candidate and political election committee spending in primaries or other nomination processes for federal office.
shall spend more than $5,000 in any campaign for nomination and election, and that no candidate for United States Senate
shall spend more than $10,000 in any campaign for his nomination and election.
Under Michigan law (Act No. 109, § 1, 1913), prohibited candidates for federal office from expending more than 25 percent of his anticipated federal salary for the purposes of securing his nomination, and another 25 percent of his anticipated federal salary on the general election. At the time, this amounted to about $3,750 in each phase of the electoral process.
Truman Handy Newberry
was a Michigan
businessman and former Secretary of the Navy who decided to run for the U.S. Senate as a Republican
in 1918. His primary opponent was Henry Ford
, the legendary automobile manufacturer. The primary was hotly contested, and Newberry was alleged to have spent upwards of $100,000 on his nomination race. Newberry defeated Ford, and went on to win the general election. Ford challenged Newberry and used his federal connections to win an investigation by Congress and the United States Department of Justice
. Newberry was tried in 1921 and convicted.
Newberry appealed his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the FCPA was unconstitutional.
held that the U.S. Constitution did not grant Congress the power to regulate primary elections or political party nomination processes. The power of Congress over federal elections, McReynolds said, has its source solely in Article I, Section 4, of the Constitution. The Seventeenth Amendment, promulgated in May 1913, neither instituted nor required a new meaning of the term "election," did not modify Article I, Section 4. Primaries, McReynolds argued, are definitely not elections for office. Neither a plain reading of the Constitution nor the meaning ascribed to them by the framers of the Constitution permits any other conclusion, he said. Moreover, Congress does not need to regulate primaries and nomination procedures in order to effectively perform its duties under Article I, Section 4. To infer such a power, McReynolds found, would infringe on the rights of the states and the people.
Justice Joseph McKenna
concurred in part. He agreed with the majority that the FCPA was constitutional prior to adoption of the Seventeenth Amdendment. But he reserved judgment as to whether the Act was constitutional after adoption of the amendment.
Justice Mahlon Pitney
concurred in part. He was joined in part by Justice Louis D. Brandeis and Justice John Hessin Clarke
, and Chief Justice
Edward Douglass White
in part. Pitney argued that there was no constitutional infirmity. However, he concluded that the district court's instructions to the jury were in error. He would have reversed, with directions for a new trial.
Chief Justice White dissenting but concurring with a modification in the judgment of reversal, found no constitutional infirmity. He called the idea that "the nominating primary is one thing and the election another and different thing" "a suicidal one". He also argued that the record of the passage of the Seventeenth amendment by Congress indicated that Congress intended for the amendment to permit the regulation of primaries and political party nominations. White, too, found an error in the district court's jury instruction, and would have reversed and remanded on that basis.
In an investigation after the court's ruling, the U.S. Senate found that Newberry had not violated the FCPA. The Senate seated him, but expressed disapproval of the sum spent in his primary campaign. In the face of a new movement to unseat him, Newberry resigned from the Senate on November 18, 1922.
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(1921) is a decision by the United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
which held that the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
did not grant the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
the authority to regulate political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
primaries
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
or nomination processes. The court struck down 1911 amendments to the Federal Corrupt Practices Act
Federal Corrupt Practices Act
The Federal Corrupt Practices Act was a federal law of the United States enacted in 1910 and amended in 1911 and 1925. It remained the nation's primary law regulating campaign finance in federal elections until the passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act in 1971. Created by President William H...
which placed spending limits on candidate and political election committee spending in primaries or other nomination processes for federal office.
Background
The Federal Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1910 (as amended in 1911) provided two limitations on expenditures in federal elections. The first was that no candidate for Congress shall, in procuring his nomination and election, spend any sum in excess of the amount provided for by state law. The second was that no candidate for the United States House of RepresentativesUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
shall spend more than $5,000 in any campaign for nomination and election, and that no candidate for United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
shall spend more than $10,000 in any campaign for his nomination and election.
Under Michigan law (Act No. 109, § 1, 1913), prohibited candidates for federal office from expending more than 25 percent of his anticipated federal salary for the purposes of securing his nomination, and another 25 percent of his anticipated federal salary on the general election. At the time, this amounted to about $3,750 in each phase of the electoral process.
Truman Handy Newberry
Truman Handy Newberry
Truman Handy Newberry was a U.S. businessman and political figure. He served as the Secretary of Navy between 1908 and 1909. He was a U.S. Senator from Michigan between 1919 and 1922.-Biography:...
was a Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
businessman and former Secretary of the Navy who decided to run for the U.S. Senate as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
in 1918. His primary opponent was Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
, the legendary automobile manufacturer. The primary was hotly contested, and Newberry was alleged to have spent upwards of $100,000 on his nomination race. Newberry defeated Ford, and went on to win the general election. Ford challenged Newberry and used his federal connections to win an investigation by Congress and the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
. Newberry was tried in 1921 and convicted.
Newberry appealed his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the FCPA was unconstitutional.
Holding
Writing for the majority, Justice James Clark McReynoldsJames Clark McReynolds
James Clark McReynolds was an American lawyer and judge who served as United States Attorney General under President Woodrow Wilson and as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court...
held that the U.S. Constitution did not grant Congress the power to regulate primary elections or political party nomination processes. The power of Congress over federal elections, McReynolds said, has its source solely in Article I, Section 4, of the Constitution. The Seventeenth Amendment, promulgated in May 1913, neither instituted nor required a new meaning of the term "election," did not modify Article I, Section 4. Primaries, McReynolds argued, are definitely not elections for office. Neither a plain reading of the Constitution nor the meaning ascribed to them by the framers of the Constitution permits any other conclusion, he said. Moreover, Congress does not need to regulate primaries and nomination procedures in order to effectively perform its duties under Article I, Section 4. To infer such a power, McReynolds found, would infringe on the rights of the states and the people.
Justice Joseph McKenna
Joseph McKenna
Joseph McKenna was an American politician who served in all three branches of the U.S. federal government, as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. Attorney General and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court...
concurred in part. He agreed with the majority that the FCPA was constitutional prior to adoption of the Seventeenth Amdendment. But he reserved judgment as to whether the Act was constitutional after adoption of the amendment.
Justice Mahlon Pitney
Mahlon Pitney
Mahlon Pitney was an American jurist and Republican Party politician from New Jersey, who served in the United States Congress and as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Biography:...
concurred in part. He was joined in part by Justice Louis D. Brandeis and Justice John Hessin Clarke
John Hessin Clarke
John Hessin Clarke was an American lawyer and judge who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1916 to 1922.-Early life:...
, and Chief Justice
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
Edward Douglass White
Edward Douglass White
Edward Douglass White, Jr. , American politician and jurist, was a United States senator, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and the ninth Chief Justice of the United States. He was best known for formulating the Rule of Reason standard of antitrust law. He also sided with the...
in part. Pitney argued that there was no constitutional infirmity. However, he concluded that the district court's instructions to the jury were in error. He would have reversed, with directions for a new trial.
Chief Justice White dissenting but concurring with a modification in the judgment of reversal, found no constitutional infirmity. He called the idea that "the nominating primary is one thing and the election another and different thing" "a suicidal one". He also argued that the record of the passage of the Seventeenth amendment by Congress indicated that Congress intended for the amendment to permit the regulation of primaries and political party nominations. White, too, found an error in the district court's jury instruction, and would have reversed and remanded on that basis.
In an investigation after the court's ruling, the U.S. Senate found that Newberry had not violated the FCPA. The Senate seated him, but expressed disapproval of the sum spent in his primary campaign. In the face of a new movement to unseat him, Newberry resigned from the Senate on November 18, 1922.