Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company/Dissent Douglas

by William O. Douglas

United States Supreme Court

393 U.S. 129

Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen  v.  Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company

 Argued: Oct. 22, 1968. --- Decided: Nov 18, 1968

Mr. Justice DOUGLAS, dissenting.

I would agree with the Court that if the constitutionality of these Arkansas laws were to be judged as safety measures under the State's police power, they would have to be sustained. But as I indicated in my dissent in Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers v. Chicago, R.I. & P.R. Co., 382 U.S. 423, 438, 86 S.Ct. 594, 601, 15 L.Ed.2d 501, Congress in enacting Pub.L. 88-108, 77 Stat. 132, undertook to displace state 'full-crew' laws by delegating power to a national arbitration board to determine, for example, the necessity of firemen on diesel freights and the minimum size of train and switching crews.

I would, therefore, remand the cases to the District Court for further proceedings consistent with Pub.L. 88-108 and the awards that have been made under it.

Notes