Smith v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co., 270 U.S. 587 (1926) (No. 670)

Smith v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co., 270 U.S. 587 (1926) (No. 670)

Author: Supreme Court of the United States

Year: 1926

Case name: Smith v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co. Opinion filed: 1926-04-12 Docket No.: 670 Citations: • 270 U.S. 587 • 46 S. Ct. 408 • 70 L. Ed. 747 • 1926 U.S. LEXIS 433 Case holding summaries: • holding that order granting preliminary injunction was not appealable because permanent injunction was subsequently granted and thus "the interlocutory injunction had become merged in the final decree" • appeal from interlocutory injunction dismissed where injunction became merged in final decree, appeal of which was also pending before Court • 2-year delay in ending confiscatory rates • interlocutory injunction merged into final decree of permanent injunction and thus appealable • "(p)roperty may be as effectively taken by long-continued and unreasonable delay in putting an end to confiscatory rates as by an express affirmance of them" • two-year delay by administrative agency in acting on plaintiff's proposed rate schedule precluded agency's reliance on exhaustion of remedies doctrine where plaintiff claimed existing rates were confiscatory • petitioner "is not required indefinitely to await a decision of the rate-making tribunal before applying to a federal court for equitable relief" •