United States v. International Building Co.

345 U.S. 502 · Decided May 4, 1953 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

United States v. International Building Co. was decided on May 4, 1953 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice William O. Douglas wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Collateral estoppel or res judicata” in the Judicial Power area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

United States v. International Building Co.

SCDB identifiers: case 1952-086, docket 1952-086-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Collateral estoppel or res judicata”

• Callanan Road Improvement Co. v. United States
  345 U.S. 507Decided May 4, 19538–1Sherman Minton
• United States v. Munsingwear, Inc.
  340 U.S. 36Decided November 13, 19508–1William O. Douglas
• United States v. Ohio Power Co.
  353 U.S. 98Decided April 1, 19574–3Per curiam
• Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Sunnen
  333 U.S. 591Decided April 5, 19489–0Frank Murphy
• Angel v. BullingtonAltered precedent
  330 U.S. 183Decided February 17, 19476–3Felix Frankfurter
• Ford v. Ford
  371 U.S. 187Decided December 10, 19629–0Hugo L. Black

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Cases on the same legal provision: Estoppel

• Partmar Corporation v. Paramount Pictures Theatres Corp.
  347 U.S. 89Decided February 8, 19545–2Stanley F. Reed
• Edward Katzinger Co. v. Chicago Metallic Manufacturing Co.
  329 U.S. 394Decided January 6, 19475–4Hugo L. Black
• Macgregor v. Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.Altered precedent
  329 U.S. 402Decided January 6, 19475–4Hugo L. Black
• Kennedy v. Mendoza-MartinezLaw held unconstitutional
  372 U.S. 144Decided February 18, 19635–4Arthur J. Goldberg
• Federal Power Commission v. Amerada Petroleum Corp.
  379 U.S. 687Decided February 1, 19659–0Per curiam
• Lear, Inc. v. AdkinsAltered precedent
  395 U.S. 653Decided June 16, 19695–3John M. Harlan II

Same Term, same area (Judicial Power)

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
  344 U.S. 1Decided October 8, 19528–1Per curiam
• Civil Aeronautics Board v. American Air Transport, Inc.
  344 U.S. 4Decided October 20, 19528–1Per curiam
• Federal Power Commission v. Idaho Power Co.
  344 U.S. 17Decided November 10, 19527–0William O. Douglas
• United States v. L. A. Tucker Truck Lines, Inc.
  344 U.S. 33Decided November 10, 19527–2Robert H. Jackson
• Johnson v. New York
  344 U.S. 48Decided November 17, 19525–4Hugo L. Black
• United States v. Henning
  344 U.S. 66Decided November 17, 19525–4Tom C. Clark

See all

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