UNITED STATES v. CLASSIC

Print this Page
Case Basics
Docket No. 
618
Appellant 
United States
Appellee 
Patrick B. Classic et al.
Decided By 
Hughes Court (1941)
Opinion 
313 U.S. 299 (1941)
Argued 
Monday, April 7, 1941
Decided 
Monday, May 26, 1941
Advocates
Herbert Wechsler
(argued the cause for the United States)
Warren O. Coleman
(argued the cause for the appellees)
Term:
Location: New Orleans 10th Ward
Facts of the Case 

Two federal indictments were brought against Patrick B. Classic and five other election commissioners for the Louisiana second congressional district alleging conspiracy and corruption in the Democratic primary contest for U.S. Representative. The charges stated that the commissioners willfully miscounted and altered ballots cast in the primary. A federal statute makes it a crime to deny citizens rights guaranteed to them under the U.S. Constitution, and this includes the right to choose representatives. The defendants successfully challenged the indictment, citing the 1921 decision Newberry v. United States which held that primaries were not subject to the same Congressional oversight as general elections.

Question 

Does Article I, section 4 permit Congress to regulate primary elections, specifically to protect voters from the fraudulent misrepresentation or alteration of their ballot?

Conclusion 

Yes. In an opinion authored by Justice Harlan Fiske Stone, the marjority argued that Newberry was deeply divided over the matter of primaries. He chose instead to rely on logic applied in concurring opinions. Stone rejected the narrow interpretation that Congressional power did not extend to primaries because the framers were unaware of the primary process. Instead, the Stone argued that primary contests are fundamental to elections in that they are the only real chance voters have of choosing whomever they prefer without ballot access limitations.

Cite this Page
UNITED STATES v. CLASSIC. The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. 26 April 2013. <http://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1949/1940/1940_618>.
UNITED STATES v. CLASSIC, The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1949/1940/1940_618 (last visited April 26, 2013).
"UNITED STATES v. CLASSIC," The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, accessed April 26, 2013, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1949/1940/1940_618.