· 6/1/1909

Oceanic Steam Navigation Co. v. Stranahan

Citations

214 U.S. 320
29 S. Ct. 671
53 L. Ed. 1013
1909 U.S. LEXIS 1921

Syllabus

Money paid to the collector of a port under protest, and on the certainty that if not paid clearance to vessels necessarily sailing on definite schedule would be refused, to the great damage of the owner, is paid involuntarily,'and can, if unlawfully exacted, be recovered; Confress has power to deal with the admission of aliens and to confide the’ enforcement of law’s in regard thereto to administrative officers. United States v. Ju Toy, 198 U. S. 253. In construing a congressional statute this’ court may consider the re- ' port of the committee as a guide to its true interpretation in order to dispel ambiguity, if any exists. The Delaware, 161 U. S. 459; Buttfield v. Stranahan, 192 U. S. 470. It is within the competency of Congress, when legislating as to matters exclusively within its control, to impose appropriate obligations and ' sanction their enforcement by reasonable money penalties, giving to executive officers the power to enforce such penalties without the necessity of invoking the judicial power. The authority, given by Congress in the Alien Immigration Act to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to impose an exaction on'a transportation company bringing-to the United States an alien immigrant afflicted with a loathsome contagious disease when the medical examination establishes that the disease existed, and could have been detected by medical examination at the time of embarkation, does not purport to define and punish any criminal offense, but merely entails the infliction of a penalty enforceable by civil suit; and it is within the power of Congress to provide for such imposition by an executive officer, and the enforcement is not necessarily governed by the rules controlling the prosecution of criminal offenses. Wong Wing v. United States, 163 U. S. 228, distinguished; Hepner v. United States, 213 U. S. 103, followed. The constitutional right of Congress to enact legislation in regard to a matter wholly within its

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

explaining that “over no conceivable subject is the legislative power of Con- gress more complete”
explaining that the statute “rest[s] . . . upon the authority of Congress over foreign commerce and its right to control the coming of aliens into the United States” (emphasis added)
explaining that the statute “rest[s] . . . upon the authority of Congress over foreign commerce and its right to control the coming of aliens into the United States” (emphasis added)
explaining that the statute “rest[s] . . . upon the authority of Congress over foreign commerce and its right to control the coming of aliens into the United States” (emphasis added)
explaining that the statute “rest[s] . . . upon the authority of Congress over foreign commerce and its right to control the coming of aliens into the United States” (emphasis added)
explaining that the statute “rest[s] . . . upon the authority of Congress over foreign commerce and its right to control the coming of aliens into the United States” (emphasis added)

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: White

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