Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority
- Decided
- February 17, 1936
- Docket
- 403 and 404
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 3,147 timesOverruled in part (not yet verified)Possible negative treatment: overruled in part (not yet verified) · Lashawn A. v. Marion S. Barry, Jr., as Mayor of the District of Columbia
What later courts said
- recognizing that court may grant COA "and then affirm the denial of habeas relief on procedural grounds" — Thompson v. Greene (2005)
- holding that the “Court will not pass upon a constitutional question although properly presented by the record, if there is also present some other ground upon which the case may be disposed of’ — Collins v. Bear (2017)
- establishing that constitutional questions should be avoided if there are narrower grounds for making a decision — Alaska Trademark Shellfish, LLC v. State (2004)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
[*315] Me. Chief Justice Hughes delivered the opinion of the Court.
On January 4, 1934, the Tennessee Valley Authority, an agency of the Federal Government,[1] entered into a contract with the Alabama Power Company, providing (1) for the purchase by the Authority from the Power Company of certain transmission lines, sub-stations, and auxiliary properties for $1,000,000, (2) for the purchase by the Authority from the Power Company of certain real property for $150,000, (3) for an interchange of hydro-electric energy, and in addition for the sale by the Authority to the Power Company of its “surplus power,” on stated terms, and (4) for mutual restrictions as to the areas to be served in the sale of power. The contract was amended and supplemented in minor particulars on February 13 and May'24, 1934.[2]
The Alabama Power Company is a corporation organized under the laws of Alabama and is engaged in the generation of electric energy and its distribution generally throughout that State, its lines reaching 66 counties. The transmission lines to be purchased by the Authority extend from Wilson Dam, at the Muscle Shoals plant owned by the United States on the Tennessee River in [*316] northern Alabama, into seven counties in that State, within a radius of about 50 miles. These lines serve a population of approximately 190,000, including about 10,000 individual' customers, or about one-tenth of the total number served directly by the Power Company. The real property to be acquired by the Authority (apart from the transmission lines above mentioned and related properties) is adjacent to the area known as the “Joe Wheeler dam site,” upon which the Authority is constructing the Wheeler Dam.
Cite this
Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288 (1936)Read the full opinion
Reading the library on this site uses your account’s daily calls, the same as the connector and the API. The Free plan needs no card. Calls a day on each plan.