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United States v. American Freightways Co.

352 U.S. 1020 · Decided March 4, 1957 · Supreme Court of the United States

Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.

At a glance

United States v. American Freightways Co. was decided on March 4, 1957 by a vote of 4–4. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. The Justices were equally divided, which leaves the lower court's judgment in place without setting precedent. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Statutory construction of criminal laws, miscellaneous” in the Criminal Procedure area.

Read the opinion

Case details

Citations
352 U.S. 1020 · 77 S. Ct. 588 · 1 L. Ed. 2d 595 · 1957 U.S. LEXIS 1225
Docket number
265
Decided
March 4, 1957
Argued
January 23, 1957
Court era
Warren Court
Decision type
Equally divided vote
Disposition
Affirmed
Outcome for petitioner
The petitioning party did not receive a favorable disposition
Vote
4–4
How the case arrived
Appeal
Decision direction (SCDB)
Liberal what this means

How the Justices voted

JusticeVoteSeparate writing
Justice Hugo L. BlackEqually divided vote
Justice Felix FrankfurterEqually divided vote
Justice William O. DouglasEqually divided vote
Justice Harold H. BurtonEqually divided vote
Justice Tom C. ClarkEqually divided vote
Chief Justice Earl WarrenEqually divided vote
Justice John M. Harlan IIEqually divided vote
Justice William J. Brennan Jr.Equally divided vote

Full case caption

United States v. American Freightways Co.

SCDB identifiers: case 1956-054, docket 1956-054-01.

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Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error