UNITED STATES v. LOUISIANA.
No. 11,
Original.
Argued April 8, 1957.
Decided June 24, 1957.
Solicitor General Rankin argued the cause for the United States, plaintiff. With him on the brief were Attorney General Brownell, Oscar H. Davis, John F. Davis, George S. Swarth and Fred W. Smith.
Jack P. F. Gremillion, Attorney General, W. Scott Wilkinson, Special Assistant Attorney General, and Victor A. Sachse argued the cause for the State of Louisiana, defendant. With them on the brief were Edward M. Carmouche and John L. Madden, Special Assistant Attorneys General, Bailey Walsh, Hugh M. Wilkinson and Marc Dupuy, Jr.
By leave of the Court, 353 U. S. 980, Price Daniel, Governor, Will Wilson, Attorney General, James H. Rogers, Assistant Attorney General, and J. Chrys Dough-erty filed a brief for the State of Texas, as amicus curiae, urging that the Court’s decision in this case should be limited to the State of Louisiana.
Per Curiam.
The Court has before it the motions of the United States for judgment and of Louisiana for leave to take depositions. As a result of its consideration of these matters, including the representations made by the State of Texas in its amicus curiae brief, the Court is of the opinion that the issues in this litigation are so related to the possible interests of Texas, and other States situated on the Gulf of Mexico, in the subject matter of this suit, that the just, orderly, and effective determination of such issues requires that they be adjudicated in a proceeding in which all the interested parties are before the Court.
Accordingly, to that end, the Court, acting pursuant to Rules 9 (2) and (6) of its Revised Rules, Rule 21 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and the general equity powers of the Court, grants leave to each of the States of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Texas to intervene in this suit within 60 days from the date of this opinion, with leave to the United States, within 60 days thereafter, to file an amended or supplemental complaint adding as parties to this suit any of such States as shall not have so intervened. The bringing in of such additional parties shall be without prejudice to the present motions of the United States and Louisiana, subject only to such terms as justice may require vis-á-vis the additional parties. Meanwhile such motions are continued.
The Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Clark took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
What follows is an opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States. Your task is to determine the issue area of the Court's decision. Determine the issue area on the basis of the Court's own statements as to what the case is about. Focus on the subject matter of the controversy rather than its legal basis. In specifying the issue in a legacy case, choose the one that best accords with what today's Court would consider it to be. Choose among the following issue areas: "Criminal Procedure" encompasses the rights of persons accused of crime, except for the due process rights of prisoners. "Civil rights" includes non-First Amendment freedom cases which pertain to classifications based on race (including American Indians), age, indigency, voting, residency, military or handicapped status, gender, and alienage. "First Amendment encompasses the scope of this constitutional provision, but do note that it need not involve the interpretation and application of a provision of the First Amendment. For example, if the case only construe a precedent, or the reviewability of a claim based on the First Amendment, or the scope of an administrative rule or regulation that impacts the exercise of First Amendment freedoms. "Due process" is limited to non-criminal guarantees. "Privacy" concerns libel, comity, abortion, contraceptives, right to die, and Freedom of Information Act and related federal or state statutes or regulations. "Attorneys" includes attorneys' compensation and licenses, along with trhose of governmental officials and employees. "Unions" encompass those issues involving labor union activity. "Economic activity" is largely commercial and business related; it includes tort actions and employee actions vis-a-vis employers. "Judicial power" concerns the exercise of the judiciary's own power. "Federalism" pertains to conflicts and other relationships between the federal government and the states, except for those between the federal and state courts. "Federal taxation" concerns the Internal Revenue Code and related statutes. "Private law" relates to disputes between private persons involving real and personal property, contracts, evidence, civil procedure, torts, wills and trusts, and commercial transactions. Prior to the passage of the Judges' Bill of 1925 much of the Court's cases concerned such issues. Use "Miscellaneous" for legislative veto and executive authority vis-a-vis congress or the states.
Criminal Procedure Civil Rights First Amendment Due Process Privacy Attorneys Unions Economic Activity Judicial Power Federalism Interstate Relations Federal Taxation Miscellaneous Private Action