McBoyle v. United States, 283 U.S. 25

Case citation

Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...

 (1931), was a United States Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

 case.

Background

McBoyle transported a plane that he knew to be stolen from Ottawa, Illinois

Ottawa, Illinois

Ottawa is a city located at the confluence of the Illinois River and Fox River in LaSalle County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 18,786...

 to Guymon, Oklahoma

Guymon, Oklahoma

Guymon is a city in and the county seat of Texas County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,442, making it the largest city on the Oklahoma Panhandle. Corporate hog farms and cattle feedlots dominate its economy....

.

Case

McBoyle was accused of violating the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act. The petitioners claimed that since the act did not specifically mention aircraft, it did not apply to aircraft.

Decision

The court held that, since other acts - such as the Tariff Act of 1930 - specifically excluded aircraft in its definition of a vehicle, the law must be interpreted narrowly. Justice Holmes stated:

Although it is not likely that a criminal will carefully consider the text of the law before he murders or steals, it is reasonable that a fair warning should be given to the world in language that the common world will understand, of what the law intends to do if a certain line is passed. To make the warning fair, so far as possible the line should be clear.

This case is a good example of the canon of ejusdem generis ("of the same kind, class, or nature").

External links

• Full text from Buffalo Center for Law