FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION v. COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA, INC. (1940)

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION v. COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA, INC.
	Term: 1940
Important Dates
	Argued: November 15, 1940
	Decided: November 25, 1940
Outcome
	Reversed
Vote
	9-0
Majority
	Hugo Black • William Douglas • Felix Frankfurter • Charles Evans Hughes • James Clark McReynolds • Frank Murphy • Stanley Reed • Owen Josephus Roberts • Harlan Fiske Stone

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION v. COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA, INC. is a case that was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on November 25, 1940. The case was argued before the court on November 15, 1940.

In a 9-0 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the lower court. The case originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit (includes the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia but not the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, which has local jurisdiction).

For a full list of cases decided in the 1940s, click here. For a full list of cases decided by the Hughes Court, click here.

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About the case

Subject matter: Economic Activity - Federal and some few state regulation of public utilities regulation: radio and television (cf. cable television)
Petitioner: Federal Communications Commission (including a predecessor, Federal Radio Commission)
Petitioner state: Unknown
Respondent type: Radio station
Respondent state: Unknown
Citation: 311 U.S. 132
How the court took jurisdiction: Cert
What type of decision was made: Opinion of the court (orally argued)
Who was the chief justice: Charles Evans Hughes
Who wrote the majority opinion: Felix Frankfurter

These data points were accessed from The Supreme Court Database, which also attempts to categorize the ideological direction of the court's ruling in each case. This case's ruling was categorized as liberal.