Silverthorne Lumber Co., Inc. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385 (1920)

Name: Silverthorne Lumber Co., Inc. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385 (1920) - Syllabus
Author: U.S. Supreme Court

Silverthorne Lumber Co., Inc. v. United States

No. 358

Argued December 12, 1919
Decided January 26, 1920
251 U.S. 385

ERROR TO THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

Syllabus

The Fourth Amendment protects a corporation and its officers from compulsory production of the corporate books and papers for use in a criminal proceeding against them when the information upon which the subpoenas were framed was derived by the Government through a previous unconstitutional search and seizure, planned and executed by its officials under color of a void writ, provided the defense of the Amendment be seasonably interposed, and not first raised as a collateral issue at the trial of the indictment. P. 391.

The rights of a corporation against unlawful search and seizure are to be protected even if it be not protected by the Fifth Amendment from compulsory production of incriminating documents. P. 362.

Reversed.

The case is stated in the opinion.

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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Silverthorne Lumber Co., Inc. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385 (1920) in 251 U.S. 385 251 U.S. 390. Original Sources, accessed April 17, 2025, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=HS9FBP8IW5CP6H6.

MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Silverthorne Lumber Co., Inc. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385 (1920), in 251 U.S. 385, page 251 U.S. 390. Original Sources. 17 Apr. 2025. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=HS9FBP8IW5CP6H6.

Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Silverthorne Lumber Co., Inc. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385 (1920). cited in 1920, 251 U.S. 385, pp.251 U.S. 390. Original Sources, retrieved 17 April 2025, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=HS9FBP8IW5CP6H6.

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