Rice et al. v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp. et al.

Decided May 5, 1947. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 470 · 331 U.S. 218 (1947) · Cited 2,636 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Union Brokerage Co. v. Jensen · 322 U.S. 202 (1944)
• Federal Compress & Warehouse Co. v. McLean · 291 U.S. 17 (1934)
• Munn v. Illinois · 94 U.S. 113 (1877)
• Allen-Bradley Local No. 1111 v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Board · 315 U.S. 740 (1942)
• Bethlehem Steel Co. v. New York State Labor Relations Board · 330 U.S. 767 (1947)
• Hines v. Davidowitz · 312 U.S. 52 (1941)
• Spector Motor Service, Inc. v. McLaughlin · 323 U.S. 101 (1944)
• Thompson v. Magnolia Petroleum Co. · 309 U.S. 478 (1940)
• South Carolina State Highway Department v. Barnwell Bros. · 303 U.S. 177 (1938)
• Prudential Insurance v. Benjamin · 328 U.S. 408 (1946)
• New York Central Railroad Company v. Winfield · 244 U.S. 147 (1916)
• Napier v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad · 272 U.S. 605 (1926)
• Kelly v. Washington Ex Rel. Foss Co. · 302 U.S. 1 (1937)
• First Iowa Hydro-Electric Cooperative v. Federal Power Commission · 328 U.S. 152 (1946)
• Penn Dairies, Inc. v. Milk Control Comm'n of Pa. · 318 U.S. 261 (1943)
• Davies Warehouse Co. v. Bowles · 321 U.S. 144 (1944)
• Cloverleaf Butter Co. v. Patterson, Commissioner of Agriculture & Industries · 315 U.S. 148 (1942)
• Charleston & Western Carolina Railway Co. v. Varnville Furniture Co. · 237 U.S. 597 (1915)
• Southern Railway Co. v. Railroad Commission of Indiana · 236 U.S. 439 (1915)
• Pennsylvania Railroad v. Public Service Commission · 250 U.S. 566 (1919)
• Townsend v. Yeomans · 301 U.S. 441 (1937)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Watters v. Wachovia Bank, N. A. · 550 U.S. 1 (2007)
• Schneidewind v. ANR Pipeline Co. · 485 U.S. 293 (1988)
• United States v. Locke · 529 U.S. 89 (2000)
• Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. · 505 U.S. 504 (1992)
• Pennsylvania v. Nelson · 350 U.S. 497 (1956)
• Cuomo v. Clearing House Ass'n, LLC · 557 U.S. 519 (2009)
• Wisconsin Public Intervenor v. Mortier · 501 U.S. 597 (1991)
• Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc. · 570 U.S. 1 (2013)
• Will v. Michigan Department of State Police · 491 U.S. 58 (1989)
• Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Resources Conservation & Development Commission · 461 U.S. 190 (1983)
• Gade v. National Solid Wastes Management Assn. · 505 U.S. 88 (1992)
• Jones v. Rath Packing Co. · 430 U.S. 519 (1977)
• Hillsborough County v. Automated Medical Laboratories, Inc. · 471 U.S. 707 (1985)
• Wyeth v. Levine · 555 U.S. 555 (2009)
• Arizona v. United States · 567 U.S. 387 (2012)
• California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement v. Dillingham Construction, N. A. · 519 U.S. 316 (1997)
• Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc. · 552 U.S. 312 (2008)
• Ray v. Atlantic Richfield Co. · 435 U.S. 151 (1978)
• At&T Corp. v. Iowa Utilities Board · 525 U.S. 366 (1999)
• Bond v. United States · 572 U.S. 844 (2014)
• Kansas v. Garcia · 589 U.S. 191 (2020)
• United States v. Lopez · 514 U.S. 549 (1995)
• Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr · 518 U.S. 470 (1996)
• New York State Conference of Blue Cross & Blue Shield Plans v. Travelers Insurance · 514 U.S. 645 (1995)
• English v. General Electric Co. · 496 U.S. 72 (1990)
• Boyle v. United Technologies Corp. · 487 U.S. 500 (1988)
• Maryland v. Louisiana · 451 U.S. 725 (1981)
• CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Easterwood · 507 U.S. 658 (1993)
• Louisiana Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. FCC · 476 U.S. 355 (1986)
• Geier v. American Honda Motor Co. · 529 U.S. 861 (2000)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).