Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 

Supreme Court of the United States

1952

Chapter

4

Title

The Distribution of Nation Power

Page

359

Topic

Presidential Seizure

Quick Notes

President Truman ordered Sawyer (D), the Secretary of Commerce, to take possession of the nation's steel mills and keep them running on the eve of a steelworkers' strike .

Rule

o         The Constitution does not permit the President to seize private property to prevent the consequences of a labor dispute.

Article I, Section I (Legislative Power)

o         All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.

Article I, Section 8 (Necessary and Proper Clause)

o    To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

Application

o         The president may not order the continued operation of an industry that was otherwise shutdown by a labor dispute.

CONCURRENCE Justice Jackson

Analyze Scope of Presidential Powers (Place Executive acts into three categories)

(1)   Acts pursuant to express or implied authorization of Congress,

(2)   Acts on which Congress is silent OR there is concurrent authority, and

(3)   Acts incompatible with the express or implied will of Congress.

Discussion Third Category

o         The seizure at issue here falls into the third category.

o         It can be sustained only if a seizure power is within the power of the executive and outside the power of Congress.

Emergency Legislation belongs to Congress

o         The power to legislate in emergencies belongs to Congress.

o         Therefore, the President was not authorized to seize the steel mills.

Maxim Essence of our Government

o         Leave to live by no mans leave, underneath the law.

Book Name

Constitutional Law : Stone, Seidman, Sunstein, Tushnet.  ISBN:  978-0-7355-7719-0

Issue

o         Whether the President of the United States has the authority to order the seizure of the nation's steel

o         mills?  No.

Procedure

District

o         Court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Secretary from continuing the seizuire of the plaints.

Appellant

o         Courts order was stayed.

Supreme

o         Affirmed

Facts

Discussion

Key Phrases

Rules

Pl Youngstown

Df Sawyer

Description

o         During the Korean War, a dispute arose between American steel companies and their employees over the terms of new collective bargaining agreements.

o         After other efforts to resolve the dispute failed, the Steelworkers Union gave notice of a nationwide strike.

o         President Harry Truman believed that a strike in the steel industry would jeopardize the national defense.

o         Steel was an important part of nearly all weapons and war materials.

o         A few hours before the strike was to begin, Truman issued Executive Order 10340, which directed Sawyer (Df), the Secretary of Commerce, to take possession of the steel mills and keep them running.

o         The presidents of the various steel mills protested but obeyed, staying on as operating managers for the US.

o         Within a few weeks, however, the steel companies sued Sawyer (Df), claiming that the seizure was unlawful.

o          

(Pl - Mill Owners Argued

o         The mill owners argued that Truman's order amounted to lawmaking, a function delegated to Congress by the Constitution.

(Df - Truman Contended

o         Truman contended that he was acting within the scope of his powers as Commander in Chief of the US Armed Forces.

Justice Black

President Not Authority to Order Seizure

o         The President of the United States is not authorized to order the seizure of the nation's steel mills.

For the President to issue an order (Congressional Act or Constitution)

o         Must come from an act of Congress, OR

o         Must come from the Constitution.

Congress rejected a seizure technique amendment

o         No act of Congress permits such an action, and in debating the Taft-Hartley Act, Congress rejected an amendment which would have allowed the seizure technique to be used in labor disputes to prevent work stoppages.

Constitution does not mention seizure, and it cannot be inferred

o         The Constitution does not contain express language authorizing a seizure, and a seizure power cannot be inferred from the aggregate of the President's powers under the Constitution.

Cannot seizure private property during a labor dispute

o         It is true that Presidents do have broad powers as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, but the Constitution does not permit the President to seize private property to prevent the consequences of a labor dispute.

It is Congresss job to make law, not the President

o         In issuing his order, President Truman was making law, which is the role of Congress. The President is limited to vetoing or signing the laws Congress has made, and Congress would be authorized to take private property for public use if it saw fit.

o         Here,  President Truman has usurped the legislative power of Congress.

President Limited Law Making Function

o         Recommend laws he thinks is wise.

o         Veto laws he thinks are bad.

Article I, Section I

o         All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.

Court - Holding

Affirmed.

CONCURRENCE Justice Frankfurter

Look beyond constitutional text

o         It is proper to look beyond the constitutional text in deciding the scope of the President's powers.

No extra-textual tradition

o         Since here there is no extra-textual tradition of a presidential seizure power, seizure cannot be considered within the scope of executive power.

CONCURRENCE Justice Jackson

Analyze Scope of Presidential Powers (Place Executive acts into three categories)

(1)   Acts pursuant to express or implied authorization of Congress,

o    A seizure executed by the President pursuant to an Act of Congress.

o    The President authority would be at a maximum.

(2)   Acts on which Congress is silent [absent] OR there is concurrent authority

o    Depends on the imperatives of events.

(3)   Acts incompatible with the express or implied will of Congress.

o    Lowest ebb [decline]

o    His Cont. powers MINUES Congress Const powers.

Discussion Third Category

o         The seizure at issue here falls into the third category.

o         It can be sustained only if a seizure power is within the power of the executive and outside the power of Congress.

Emergency Legislation belongs to Congress

o         The power to legislate in emergencies belongs to Congress.

o         Therefore, the President was not authorized to seize the steel mills.

CONCURRENCE Justice Douglas

o         Congress has the power to pay compensation for a seizure.

o         Congress can make a law that the president can enact.

o         Otherwise, this would expand Article II.

DISSENT Justice Vinson

o         The entire nations steel industry would have been shut down.

o         The President possess the Nations organ for foreign affairs.

o         The President sent a message to Congress stating his purpose of the temporary action he took, until Congress could act, so Congress would have something left.

o         The President was acting to execute a legislative program, the Korean War that Congress had established.

o         That is within the President's power, and past Presidents have taken similar prompt actions when it was necessary

Rules

Rule

o         The Constitution does not permit the President to seize private property to prevent the consequences of a labor dispute.

CONCURRENCE Justice Jackson

Analyze Scope of Presidential Powers (Place Executive acts into three categories)

(1)   Acts pursuant to express or implied authorization of Congress,

(2)   Acts on which Congress is silent OR there is concurrent authority, and

(3)   Acts incompatible with the express or implied will of Congress.

Class Notes