United States v. Cardiff
United States Supreme Court
344 U.S. 174 (1952)
- Written by Alex Hall, JD
Facts
Ira Cardiff (defendant) refused to permit the Food and Drug Administration’s request to inspect the factory of his apple-processing plant. The Department of Justice convicted Cardiff for violating 301(f) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which made it unlawful for any party to refuse to permit factory inspection “as is authorized by section 704.” Section 704 allowed federal officers to conduct an inspection “after first making request and obtaining permission” of the factory owner or operator. The court of appeals reversed Cardiff’s conviction, finding that § 301(f), when read with § 704, criminalized refusing inspection only if permission was previously granted. The government appealed, arguing that this interpretation gave too much discretion to the factory owners to avoid inspections, which were the most effective way to discover violations. The United States Supreme Court granted writ of certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (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.
