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United States v. Pennsylvania Indus. Chem. Corp., 411 U.S. 655 (1973)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
United States v. Pennsylvania Indus. Chem. Corp., 411 U.S. 655 (1973)
United States v. Pennsylvania Industrial Chemical Corp. No. 72-624 Argued March 27, 1973 Decided May 14, 1973 411 U.S. 655
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATE COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
Syllabus
After the District Court refused respondent’s offers of proof of reliance on Army Corps of Engineers regulations limiting violations to those impeding navigation, respondent was convicted of violating § 13 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 by discharging industrial pollutants into a navigable river. The Court of Appeals reversed on the ground that § 13 did not apply absent formalized permit procedures or, alternatively, that respondent should have been allowed to prove that it was affirmatively misled by the Corps of Engineers’ regulations to believe that no permit was needed for these industrial pollutants.
Held:
1. Section 13 prohibitions apply without regard to formalized permit procedures that it authorizes but does not mandate, and Congress did not intend to permit discharges specifically prohibited by § 13 when it enacted the 1965 and 1970 water quality acts directing States to create pollution prevention and abatement programs. Pp. 662-670.
2. Although § 13 bars all discharges of pollutants, and not only those that constitute obstructions to navigation, the Corps of Engineers consistently limited its regulations to such obstructions, and thus may have deprived respondent of fair warning as to what conduct the Government intended to make criminal. Pp. 670-675.
461 F.2d 468, modified and remanded to District Court.
BRENNAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which DOUGLAS, WHITE and MARSHALL, JJ., joined; in Part II of which BURGER, C.J., and STEWART and POWELL, JJ., joined; and in Part I of which BLACKMUN and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. BURGER, C.J., and STEWART and POWELL, JJ., filed a statement dissenting from Part I of the Court’s opinion, post, p. 675. BLACKMUN and REHNQUIST, JJ., filed a statement dissenting from the judgment and Part II of the Court’s opinion, post, p. 675.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," United States v. Pennsylvania Indus. Chem. Corp., 411 U.S. 655 (1973) in 411 U.S. 655 411 U.S. 656. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=KSPBMXBKXKMBYQF.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." United States v. Pennsylvania Indus. Chem. Corp., 411 U.S. 655 (1973), in 411 U.S. 655, page 411 U.S. 656. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=KSPBMXBKXKMBYQF.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in United States v. Pennsylvania Indus. Chem. Corp., 411 U.S. 655 (1973). cited in 1973, 411 U.S. 655, pp.411 U.S. 656. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=KSPBMXBKXKMBYQF.
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