# Brief for the United States — Teamsters v. United States > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40386009_0089%3A06 ## Record - **Collection:** Supreme Court brief - **Document type:** Brief for the United States - **Published:** January 1, 1934 - **Citation:** 291 U.S. 293 ## Text g Ss : PA - INDEX & @ Page ‘Opinions below........--.-- A dcnecReGaASesneeenceunawne was 1 ING on oti cnn takenndeneneeink FT BRAS ROR oe vO 1 SRO POONNIND 4 0. pos cicicwcccnsccnsgesoccidccccs eee -2 Statutes and regulations i Ee ren, er 2 PN oo ccaccckccaduasnacsnenae panbideenn Makan aR z 4 - Summary of argument_--....------ Lae aioe eark alts wee e*. Argument: E I. Jurisdiction - consent to be sued were withdrawn before the suit was brought- - - - - tes ec ta Aakash ik araicab on he 4 IJ.- The present suit is not shown to have been filed in time. +10 Cen nics Kecnniuvaomacrdaneedieakae hivuseuee mecca 12 Appendix I. Statutes and regulations involveg--- 9 --- -- ivan Gq Appendix II. Legislative history of the Act of March 20, 1933- - 19: oe , CITATIONS ~ Cases: . Beers v. Arkansas, 20 ENR Pe ene aR en 7 Brysov v. Hines, 268 Fed. 290._._......---..------ ca ~ Carpenter v. United States, 56 F. (2d) 828___....---- a cc li . Compagnie Generale ‘ ‘Transatlantique Vv. United States, 51 F. Ge See iincnnnnscchncnekeeneeshetudsasaenaenesn BS .. Crouch v. United States, 266 U:S. 180, 8 F. (2d) 435.----- 4 De Arnaud v. United States, 151.U.8. 483__.......------- Be. ; De Groot v. United States, 5 Wall. 419__..:..---- imei © : “ Finn-v. United States, 123°U.8, 227... 4--.----------+ a 11 Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U.S. 1_..--- iii lacsh shouecent Gah ee sa 6 Harris v. United States, 5 F.Supp. 368-.- - - - - Mawakiak canna 4 Hatrisburg, The, 119 U.S..199_.....-------- nee Lascwen 12: Hill v. United States, 149 U.S. ee. neeksehaiceais _ eer Louisville Cement Co. v. Interstate Commerce Commission, a — fo eS Pa eee Soper Ree ' 12 Mara v. United States, 54 F. (2a) Oe ae 4. Miller v. United States, 57 F. (2d) 889....:....--------. 11. Schillinger v. United States, 155 U.S. 163_2.......------ . 6 ~ United States v. Babcock, 250 U.S. 328_........---------- 6 - Unajéed States v..Densmore, 58 F. (2d) 748--.- jinchnents 11 ee ee ree reer 8 United States v. McGovern, 299 - ed. 302, a dismissed, 267 U.S. RRS i PS SE “Ea Dar PTT OPO apap Pe i 4 United States v. Pfitsch, 256 Us. er Sete nencunee ‘4 Western Fuel Co. v. Garcia, 257 U.S. 233_-.....---------- 12 ; 546@0—34——_} (I) ; <> a ? : ; : : > ~« / os. Statutes: Page Act of October 6, 1917, c. 105, 40 Stat. 398, 409, 410: Ce ee RnR hee RR RASA eRe KKe eee ke 13 a a i a a wig 13 i en wih a ci elbccnlas 14 eae RVs ta Ohne tua nents 14 DMC dhbint beet bhmhbaahhbaecoaeeannens 14 PE RUM Kau idieaesnanectietaseagnusctuce: BD Act, of June J, 1924, c. 320, 43 Stat. 608, 612: en nennnde 16 i I ao a cn canine chen 16 Act of July 3, 1930,@§ 849, 46 Stat. 991, 992 eel CO eee ae 17 ee ee ee ee hes 17 Act of March 20, 1933, c. 3, 48 Stat. 8, 9, 11: e DM Livelupcditiiewseks Lane Mcicaiaiaenemnaex 17 i Tet Ae hee hn dkedaecenen heed name aepean 17° Tucker Act (Judicial Code, Sec. 24 (20)\ U. S:C., Title 28,- a a A: ae ann er 18 Miscellaneous: } Bulletin No.1, sciaibandais by Director f the Veterans’ 8 8 ee ee ee 15 H.Rept. No. 1, 73d Cong,, Ist Sess., March 11, 1933 Si iiibh i chipichnncnnenadantedwasanébenasac'se 19 S.Rept. No. 1, 73d Cong., Ist Sess., March 11, 1933, Pt Thatch eth esebnesguegaeeiashiabanesenpee 20 a Rec. Vol. 77, Pt. 1: ; . ; . fe, iad onapain dma aae aon 19 ee ede ea ek ake er nukes se eae 20. dcntetebnaddcheawceaneeke ikhuhasmamans _20. - Pages 364-366 ............-. itniktnaelanteneatieeeie cane te CG e ab eu baaicee anegiaeneonee cave 21 ENE Ri a AS er a ee Peep a 21 a a ia aa ke a A as sean a cd ts a sta ae 22 zi s a a 9 % Inthe Supreme Gur of the lnited Bites Oc OBER ae 1933 — * — No, 855 _Mrs.. Marcarer : | | 7 * a APPENDIX I STATUTES AND REGULATIONS The Act of October 6,,1917, ¢. 105, 40 Stat. 398, 409, 410, provides in part as follows: : See —. Gates ut wv : Sec. 400. That in order to give to every commissioned officer and enlisted man and to every member of the Army Nurse Corps (fe- . z _ male) and of the Navy Nurse Corps_.... . (female) when employed in active service un- der the War Department or Navy Depart- ment greater protection for themselves and their dependents than’is provided in Article III; the United States, upon application to the bureau and without medical examination, shall grant insurance against the death or total permanent disability of any such per- - son in any,multiple of $500, and not less than | $1,000, or more thari $10,000, upon the pay- ment of: the premiums: as hereinafter | E /, “- provided. e 7 oe. A Sec. 401. That such insurance: mist be « é service and before the expiration of one hun- - dred-and twenty days from and after such publication, becomes or has become totally and permanently disabled or dies, or ‘has died, without having applied for insurancey~ shall be deemed to have. applied for and to have been granted insurance, payable to such person during: his life in monthly install- . ments of $25 each. If-he shall die either before he shall have received any of such . monthly installments or before he shall have received two hundred and forty of such monthly installments, then $25: per month shall be paid to«his wife from the time of ‘ his death and during her widowhood, or to his child, or widowed mother if and while they survive him: Provided; however, That _ not more.than two hundred and forty of such ‘/ monthly installments, including those re- ceived by such person during his sotal and ‘permanent digability, shall be so paid; and: in that event the amount of the monthly in- stallments shall be apportioned ‘between them as may be provided by regulations. ' Sec, 402. That the director, subject to the © general direction of the Secretary of the _ Treasury, shall promptly determine upon and publish the full and exact terms and —eonditions of such contract of insur- — = * * Sec. 403. That the United States shall bear the expenses of administration and the excess mortality and disability cost résulting from the hazards of war. The premium: rates shall be the net rates based upon the Ameriéan Experience Table of Mortality and interest* at three and, one-half per centum per annum. ; Src. 404. That during the period of war and thereafter until converted the insurance shall be term insurance for successive terms _ ~ > ne “15. a ‘ * of one year each. Not later than five years after the date of the termination of the war as declared by proclamation of the President of the United States, the term Insurante shall be-converted, without medieal examina- tion, into such/form or forms of insurance as may be prescribed by regulations and as the-insured may request. _ Regulations shall provide for the right to convert into ordinary life, twenty payment life, endowment ma- turing at age sixty-two and into other usual forms of* insurance and shall prescribe the time and method of payment of the pre- miums thereon, but payments of* premiums in advance shall not. be required for periods | of more than one month each and may be de- ducted from the pay or deposit of the insured ‘or be otherwise made.at his election. ’ SEc. 405. That in ‘the event of disagree- ment as toa claim under the contract of in- surance between the bureau and any benefi- clary or beneficiaries thereynder, an action .on the claim may be brought against the United States in the district court of’ the United States in and for the district in which such benefi¢iaries or any one of them resides, * * * - . Bulletin No. 1 was promulgated by the Director on October 15, 1917, and provides in part as follows: . Under the authority granted by Congress’ In an act amending ‘‘ An act entitled “An act to authorize, the establishment of 4 Bureau of ar Risk Insurance in the Treasury De- partment,’ approved September 2. 1914, and : for 6ther purposes,’’ approved October 6, . 1917, and subject in all y speécts to the pro- visions of such act, of any \amendments thereto, and of all regulations thereunder, now in force or hereafter adopted, all of > : “7 es er ° _ eee °F FRM TRIMER TINS e wrote |. ‘ Ht sae ‘ “ Which, together with this. policy, the appli- cation ‘ther efor, and the terms and conditions published under author ity of the act, shall | >. * constitute the contract: See oe The Act of October 6, 1917, supra, was aménded by the Act of June 7; 1924, ce. 320, 48 Stat. 612 (U.S.C., Title 38, Section 445.) After several inter- mediate amendments the Act of Juné€ 7, 1924, was amended ‘by thé Act af July 3, 1930 fe. 849, 46 Stat. 991, 992), to read in part as follows: oP, F ~ Src. 5. The diréctor, subject to the peheral: . . { direction of the Pr esident, shall administer, ; _ execute, and enforce the provisions of, this G: ' Act, and for that purpose, shall have full : power and authority te male rules and regu- lations, not inconsistent with the prov isions of this Act, which are: necessary Or appro- ” priate: to. car ry Jout its purposes , and shall decide. all quéstions arising under this Act; * * al Ske. 19. In the event of disagréement as to claim, including claim for refund of pre- - » . miums,. under a contract of insurance be- i tween the bureau_and any person or persons . élaimipg thereunder an actiov on the clainp : ner may Paivackt against the United States. T * . either{in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia or in the district court of the , United States in and for thedistrict in which such persons or any one of them resides, and jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon ‘such courts to hear and determine all such con- . .\, troversies. * * * af * a * a + F it No walt on yearly renewable term insur- ante shall be allowed under this section un- . -Tess the same shall have been brought within : * - . Act, whichever‘is the‘later“date, .* * » a i ‘six years after the right acerued for whith the’claim is made 6r within one year after the déte of approval of. this amendatory *. - Provided, Thatefor the purposes of this sec- -Wwhich the claim is founded: Provided fur-" - @ tion it shall be deemed that the right accrued on the happening of the contingency on ther, That this limitation is’ suspended for the period elapsing between the filing in the bureau of the claim sued upon‘and the de- , e nial of said claim by the dire¢tor. * * x” The-Act of March 20,1933 (c. 3, 48 Stat. 8, 9, 11), . '* known as the Economy Act, provides in part as. follows: ects 5. * s r SEC, 5. All decisions, rendered. by the Ad ministrator 6f Veterans’:Affairs under the provisions of this title, or the regulations is- sued pursuant thereto, shall be fal and eon- ~ clusive on all questions pf law and faét, and ~tofoye rendered in a court of competent ju- no other official or court of the United States Shall have jurisdiction to review by mamda- mus of otherwise any such decision. Sec.17-* * * alllaws granting or per- taining to- yearly renewable term insufance are hereby, repealed, * * * Provided, That nothing contained in this section shall interfere with payments heretofore made or hereafter to be made under contracts of yearly renewable term insurance which have matitxed prior to.the date of enactment ‘of this Act. and undet which payments have |’ been Commencéd, or oni any judgment here- risdiction in any suit on a contract of yearly renewable term insurance, or. which may hereafter be rendered. in any such suit now- peaeeer: -* : *. , | ee o Ol ‘oot . The Tucker Act (Judicial Code, Section 24 (20), U.S.C., Title 28, Section 41 (20)) provides in part as-follows: ae, | Twentieth. Concurrent with the Court of - . Claims, of all claims not exceeding $10,000 _ founded. upon the Constitution of the United - States or any law of Congress, or upon any regulation of an executive department, or upon any contract, express or implied, with . the Government of the United States, er for -. damages, liquidated or unliquidated, jn cases . ‘ not sounding in tort, in respect to which claims the party would be entitled to‘redress * against the United Statés, either in a:court of law, equity, or admiralty, if the United States were suable, -* * *. No~ suit against the Government of the United States _' shall be allowed under this paragraph unless + the same shall have been brought within six _ years after the right accrued for which the claim ismade. * * * - yh v Se APPENDIX a. : LEGISLATIVE “HISTORY OF THE ACT OF MARCH 20, 1933, C. 3, 48 STAT. 8 The bill (ELR. 3820) ‘i. introduced ii .the House: As introduced, Section 17 provided’(Cong, Ree. Vol. 77, Part.1, p. 199) : ¥ all laws granting or pertaining to yearly - renewable term. insurance are hereby re- _pealed, . but poner in accordance with « a such laws shall continue to the first day of the third calendar .month following the month during which this act is enacted. * * * Provided, that nothing contained in this section shall’ interfere with payments heretofore made or. hereafter to be made under contracts of -yéarly renewable: term _.imsurance ier have matured prior to the date of enactnient of this act and under which payments have been commenced. The bill was referred to the Committee on Econ- omy, and the report of that Committee gave the fol- lowing explanation of Section 17 (73d’ Cong., Ist » sess., House Report No: 1, March 11, 1933, pp. 5-6) : This section [Sec:*17] further repeals all laws granting or pertaining to yearly renew- able term insurance, including the right to institute suit or further proceed with suits under section 19 of the World, War vet- erans’ act, 1924, as amended. * * * Tti is further provided that payments under con- | tracts of yearly renewable term insurance, which matured prior to the date of the enact- ment of-this Act and under which, cummins (19)° DEES TEEPE PPT ? 7. ba _— 20 : , ° - -@ 5 have been commenced, shall.continue injac- - cordance with the terms of. such contyActs. © ; No new awards can be made or new payments - commenced on yearly renewable-term insur- - ance under the terms of this section. Furthef adjudications of claims will not » be* permitted and all pending claims and suits are required to be dismissed. Under the provisions of this section, payment of: — : benefits under the laws existing at the date . of repeal are to continue to the first day of the third calendar month, following the date ‘ _of enactment. y The bill w as passed by ace House with the sec- tion in this-form. A bill similar to the House bill was introdyced in: the Senate and referred to the Finance Committee. The Finance Committée made a report in the same words as the report of the House Committee as to Section 17. (73d Congress, 1st Session, Senate Re- port No. 1, March 11, 1933, pp. 4-5.) | ‘ When the bill passed by the Housé reached the. Senate, it was subgtituted for the Senate bill (Cong. Ree. Vol. 77, Patt, p. 276). a a The bill as passed by the House did not save pending suits on contracts of War Risk Insurance, . and Sehator Black introduced the following amend- mont to Section 17 (p. 355): ., Nor on any, judgment heretofore render ed in a court of competent jurisdiction, or which may hereafter be rendered in any suit‘now pending. Senator Harrison infroduced a substitute for ‘Senator Black’s Amendment, which would have saved only cases in which there had been a trial prior to the enactment of the Act: (P.355.) Sena-. * + «? - . 21 tor Black in commenting on these two proposed amendments, after referring ‘to the fact that the bill as passed by the House did not permit a soldier to collect the “judgment he —_ obtained, said a 399) : | The amendment which the Senator from . Mississippi now proposes, and which I shall ‘ pated if n# amendment’shall not be agreed . rovides that if a judgment has alr eady ie dbtained the soldier can proceed to eol- het the judgment irrespective of thelaw. But it does not save the thousands of other * contractual obligations upon which suits 4 have already been filed in the Federal courts . of the United States on policies of insurance bought and paid for by the veterans of the World War. * aa & > The erate which I offer does not add a dollar.to any compensation; .* % * . It simply provides where suits have been filed on contractual obligations, on these pol- icies, that the courts shall be permitted to epass upon the claims based upon the con- “tracts of insurance. After some further debate Senator Black modi- | fied his amendment so that it reads as it now appears in the statute, and the’Sénate agreed to this amendment and@»rejected the amendment of Senator Harrison (pp. 364-365). As thus amend- ed the Bill passed the Senate on March 15, 1933 , (p. 471). When the bill as sidinanlind: reached the House, the Senate amendment was — as follows ~ (p. 551): Amendment No. 19 fe 10): This amend. ment saves from the effect of the repeal of the laws pertaining to yearly renewable af e, ro ——— — Ps is term war-time insurance suits filed in the courts and pending at the'time of enactment , of the act. All other clairhs are automati- ‘cally barred from any future Consideration. ~ The House bill barred also pending suits from further consideration by the. courts, but the Senate amendment permits such suits filed prjor to the enactment of this act to continue to final judgment. _ The amendment was concurred in by the House (p. 561) and the bill passed and was signed by the President on March 20, 1933. é ‘ oOo, U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1934 ; * BRIEF FOR. “THE UNITED: STATES © Anthe sapien out of the Brite States ’ Conia TaRM, 1933 » e \ . , . & er No. 855. : » Mrs. MARGARET SHEA LYNCM, PETITIONER i : : fa - nie . ‘ THE Unirep SratKs ‘or AMERICA ~ io tn v ‘ 7 . q: '. ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED: ST. ATES CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIPTH CIRCUIT * _ SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF FOR THE UNITED STATES Certain contentions made in the reply brief of the petitioner in this ease ‘require a further answer. . - . Petitioner contends that: “The writing of war risk’ term insurance by the Government as pro- vided by Act of Congress was not the exercise of a sovereign power”’ (reply brief, p. 2). The first case cited under this contention, Stand: ard Oil Company v. U nited States, 267 U.S. 76, related to a policy of marine insurance, issued in ‘ * oceurred in 1915. The United States was not then at war, and the insurance was a mere accommoda- tion to the shipping interests, who found it difficult to get insurance against war risks from commer- cial companies. The quotation at page 2 of the reply brief from page 79 of the opinion relates merely to the question whether interest should be allowed. The present insurance, issued originally under the Act of (tober 6, 1917, was clearly issued un- ‘der the war powers, in particular under the power of Congress to raise and support armies, * What- - ever was done by Congress to pay, support, or im-’ ibis. ey morale of its soldiers in war time was done aS a sovereign and not as a matter of business, It is not believed, however, that the distinction is of great importance, for ‘this Court has held, in the four cases referred to below, that State@ may validly. withdraw permission for suits against themselves, even in business contracts. . : The second quotation on page 2 of the reply brief rs from the dissenting opinion in the Sinking Fund Cases, 99 U.S. 700. The majority of the Court Aheld-in those cases that the Aet of 1878 was valid, notwithstanding that it changed in an important way the eqntract relations previously existing be- t®een the United States and the Union _—— : Railroad Company. .1915 under the. Act. of 1914, and on Which a loss II The petitioner contends that ‘“The Government ‘may not withdraw the right to.sue in the case at ‘har, because such withdrawal impairs the obliga- tion of plaintiff’ s war risk insurance contract” (reply brief, p. 3). e : The three cases cited under this contention, on page 3 of the reply brief, have no bee wing on the case at bar. In none of them was any government, except the City of Quincy, Illinois, involved, and in none of them was there suggested a withdré wal of the right to.sue a sovereigit, All three were suits on debts, by private parties, against private parties and a city. a | The Contract © bien (Article I, Sec. 10) does not bind the United States. The Fifth Amendment does. ? But it is certainly no stricter than the Con- tract Clause, and it may be doubted if: it is as strict. If, then, this Court Has held that States, with out- standing valid contract rights againts them, and with statutes permitting their creditors to sue, may validly repeal those statutes, and stand upon their sovereign immunity from suit, without violation of the Contract Clause, it follows necessarily that the - United States may do the same, without violation of the Fifth Amendment. This Court has so held, c ~ ‘ ; eis ma 1 gee Aas to States, in four decisions. Railroad Company v. Tennessee, 101 U.S. 337; Railroad Company V. * Alabama, 101 U.S. 832; Baltzer v. North Carolina, tae . 4 161 U.S. 240; Baltzer Taaks v. North Carolia, , ‘161 U.S. 246. See also Tn re Ayers, 123 U.S. 443, -505. In the. Tennessee case the obligation. suéd on: was a debt of the Bank of ‘Tennessee, guaranteed by the State. In the Alabama ease it was a part of the State's “three percent fund.’ In the tirst North Cagoling case it was 'a group of railroad aid ° s, ® : bonds. Ta all four cases the States was suable, by statute, when the claims were acquired by the re- spective plaintiffs, and in’ the Alabama “ase this condition continued. itil after the suit Was brought. i he Alabama statute further made it the duty of the ¢ ‘omptrolle r, Upon a judgment and a certificate by ‘the Judge and the Clerk of Court ethat the recoverv was just, ‘to issue his warrant - for the amount.” In each of the four cases the State withdrew permission to be sued before ‘the plaintiff got a judgement, and in each of them this Court determined rat it had that power, and that its action did not viol: ite the Contract Clause. Lhe basis GF these four decisions, that the judi- cial remedy provided did not contain provisiow for exec ution of the judgment and so might be valtaly vithdrawn, is exactly applicable to SWits, against the United States on money claims... Under the ( onstitation, Article 1, Section 9, no ‘money shall be drawn Atom the 'T reasury but In consequence of ah appropriation made by law. Accpydingly, the law provides for a report of judgments against the United States to*Congress (Judicial Code, See. » ‘ <> n as ~ toe rere MPO Ra PAR se WS % e i x MeL ere UA — 4 | 143: U.S.C., Title 28, Sec. 248) and Congress ap- propriates tod pay .them, Congress sometimes does not pay them all (33 Stat. 422, ‘except the two Judgments in never of the Coca Cola Com- pany’’; 40 Stat. 378, “xcept ‘the judghient in favor of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Com- pany’’), and when it does not no court has power to make it, .As Chief Justice Waite said, in det ny- ing the petition for reheaving in Railroad Com- pany V. Alabama, 101 U.S. 882, 855: » he ease is precisely like that of a judg: ment in the Court of Claims against the United States. By the Constitution of the United States no ‘money shall be dgawn from the treasury but in eerste Se. appropr iations made by law.’?) Art. 1, see. 9. ‘Hence the party who gets a judgmert must wait until Congress makes an appro- ‘priatign before his money can be had. The four decisions notede ‘annot be distinguished from the present case, and they require an affirm- ance of the Judgment. Respectfully submitted. ; J. Crawrorp Biaas, % 2 Ne ‘ . Solicitor General. .] / May 1934. * re Ey RG ; ‘ ‘ ‘ © 3 U S GIVCONMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1936 --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40386009_0089%3A06. Public record. Not legal advice.