Huron Portland Cement Company v. City of Detroit
United States Supreme Court
362 U.S. 440 (1960)

- Written by Alex Ruskell, JD
Facts
Huron Portland Cement Company (Huron) (plaintiff) operated vessels that sailed on the Great Lakes. The City of Detroit (Detroit) (defendant) had a smoke-pollution ordinance that the vessels violated by using hand-fired Scotch marine boilers for their engines. Detroit instigated criminal proceedings against Huron’s vessels when the vessels were docked at the Port of Detroit. Huron sued in state court to enjoin Detroit’s prosecution, arguing that the vessels were approved and sailing under a federal license that specifically allowed hand-fired Scotch marine boilers. The court ruled in favor of Detroit, finding that Huron was required to follow the Detroit smoke ordinance despite Huron’s federal license. Huron appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Stewart, J.)
Dissent (Douglas, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.