Home > Great American Court Cases > Helvering v. Davis

Legal Citation: 301 U.S. 619 (1937)

Petitioner
Guy T. Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Respondent
George P. Davis

Petitioner's Claim
That the Social Security Act of 1935, authorizing payroll taxes on employers to fund old-age benefits, was a constitutional expansion of Congress's taxing and spending power.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner
Homer S. Cummings, U.S. Attorney General

Chief Lawyer for Respondent
Edward F. McClennan

Justices for the Court
Louis D. Brandeis, Benjamin N. Cardozo (writing for the Court), Charles Evans Hughes, Owen Josephus Roberts, Harlan Fiske Stone, George Sutherland, Willis Van Devanter

Justices Dissenting
Pierce Butler, James Clark McReynolds

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
24 May 1937

Decision
The Supreme Court...