United States v. Detroit Timber Lumber Company
Encyclopedia
United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Company, , is a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States
. Although the primary issue to the parties of the case was to determine ownership of 44 tracts of timberland, the case has become the standard reference to warn attorneys not to rely on the syllabus of a reported case.
Prior to Detroit Lumber, the Reporter of Decisions had mischaracterized the holding of Hawley v. Diller in its syllabus for that case. The attorneys representing the United States in Detroit Timber relied on the Hawley syllabus rather than the text of the actual decision. The Court pointed out that the headnote is not the work of the Supreme Court, and cannot be relied upon to state the Court's decision, and that, for the case cited, the headnote in question had misinterpreted the scope of the decision.
All syllabuses issued by the Supreme Court now include a paragraph of boilerplate text that references this case, warning readers not to rely on the syllabus for the actual meaning of the decision.
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...
. Although the primary issue to the parties of the case was to determine ownership of 44 tracts of timberland, the case has become the standard reference to warn attorneys not to rely on the syllabus of a reported case.
Prior to Detroit Lumber, the Reporter of Decisions had mischaracterized the holding of Hawley v. Diller in its syllabus for that case. The attorneys representing the United States in Detroit Timber relied on the Hawley syllabus rather than the text of the actual decision. The Court pointed out that the headnote is not the work of the Supreme Court, and cannot be relied upon to state the Court's decision, and that, for the case cited, the headnote in question had misinterpreted the scope of the decision.
All syllabuses issued by the Supreme Court now include a paragraph of boilerplate text that references this case, warning readers not to rely on the syllabus for the actual meaning of the decision.