634 WARREN, C. J., dissenting. stantial punitive damages.16 Whatever the law in other States, Alabama seems to hold to the view that evidence of a previous punitive recovery is inadmissible as a defense in a subsequent action claiming punitive damages for the 16 Petitioner has supplied the Court with the following list of those cases. All are held in abeyance pending decision of the instant case. Unless otherwise noted each action is in the Circuit Court of Morgan County, Alabama. The amount shown is the total damages asked, which is composed of a relatively insubstantial loss-of-wages claim. and a balance of punitive damages. Petitioners' Appendices, pp. 7a-9a. 1. Burl McLemore v. United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, AFL-CIO, et al., #6150, $50,000. Verdict and judgment of $8,000. New trial granted because of improper argument of plaintiff's counsel. 264 Ala. 538, 88 So. 2d 170. 2. James W. Thompson v. Same, #6151, $50,000. Appeal from $10,000 verdict and judgment pending in Supreme Court of Alabama. 3. N. A. Palmer v. Same, #6152, $50,000. Appeal from $18,450 verdict and judgment pending in Supreme Court of Alabama. 4. Lloyd E. McAbee v. Same, #6153, $50,000. 5. Tommie F. Breeding v. Same, #6154, $50,000. 15. E. L. Thompson, Jr. v. Same, #6164, $50,000. WARREN, C. J., dissenting. 356 U. S. same conduct." Thus, the defendant union may be held for a whole series of punitive as well as compensatory recoveries. The damages claimed in the pending actions total $1,500,000, and to the prospect of liability for a fraction of that amount may be added the certainty of large legal expenses entailed in defending the suits. By reason of vicarious liability for its members' ill-advised conduct on the picket lines, the union is to be subjected to a series of judgments that may and probably will reduce it to bankruptcy, or at the very least deprive it of the means necessary to perform its role as bargaining agent of the employees it represents. To approve that risk is to exact a result Laburnum does not require. 24. T. H. Abercrombie v. Same, #6173, $50,000. 29. Russell L. Woodard v. Same, #6178, $50,000. 17 Alabama Power Co. v. Goodwin, 210 Ala. 657, 99 So. 158. That was an action by a passenger against a streetcar company for injuries sustained in a collision. As a defense to a count for punitive damages, the defendant sought to show that punitive damages had already been awarded against it in another suit growing out of the same collision. The court held that the evidence was properly excluded, for "in its civil aspects the single act or omission forms as many distinct and unrelated wrongs as there are individuals injured by it." 210 Ala., at 658-659, 99 So., at 160. While conceding the logical relevancy of a previous recovery, the court felt that the rule of exclusion was the better rule since it would prevent the introduction of such collateral issues as whether and to what extent punitive damages had been included in a previous verdict. This rule of exclusion was applied in Southern R. Co. v. Sherrill, 232 Ala. 184, 167 So. 731. Cf. McCormick, Damages, § 82, and 2 Sutherland, Damages (4th ed. 1916), § 402, discussing the majority rule that evidence of prior criminal punishment is inadmissible in an action for punitive damages for the same misfeasance. 634 WARREN, C. J., dissenting. From the foregoing I conclude that the Laburnum case, to which the majority attributes such extravagant proportions, is not controlling here. In my judgment, the effect of allowing the state courts to award compensation and fix penalties for this and similar conduct will upset the pattern of rights and remedies established by Congress and will frustrate the very policies the Federal Act seeks to implement. The prospect of that result impels me to dissent. Syllabus. 356 U.S. NOWAK v. UNITED STATES. CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT. No. 72. Argued January 28, 1958.-Decided May 26, 1958. Petitioner was brought to the United States from Poland in 1913 at the age of 10 years and was admitted to citizenship in 1938. In 1952, the Government sued under § 338 (a) of the Nationality Act of 1940 to set aside the naturalization decree on the ground that it had been obtained fraudulently and illegally. The District Court granted the relief sought, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. Held: The judgment is reversed, because the Government has failed to prove its charges by the "clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence" which is required in denaturalization cases. Schneiderman v. United States, 320 U. S. 118. Pp. 661-668. 1. An affidavit showing "good cause," filed with the complaint by a responsible official of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, who swore that the allegations were based upon facts disclosed by official records of the Service to which he had had access, satisfied the purpose of § 338 (a) to protect those proceeded against from ill-considered action. P. 662. 2. The finding of fraudulent procurement of citizenship, based on petitioner's answers to a question in a preliminary naturalization form filed in 1937, could not be sustained. The Government claimed that the question required petitioner to disclose that he was a member of the Communist Party; but the question was so ambiguous that it may have been understood by him as relating solely to membership in anarchistic organizations. Pp. 663-665. 3. Though the Government proved that petitioner was a member of the Communist Party for five years preceding his naturalization, it failed to prove sufficiently that he was not "attached to the principles of the Constitution," because it did not prove by "clear, unequivocal, and convincing" evidence that he knew that the Party advocated the violent overthrow of the Government. Pp. 665–668. 238 F.2d 282, reversed and cause remanded. Ernest Goodman argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the brief was George W. Crockett, Jr. 660 Opinion of the Court. J. F. Bishop argued the cause for the United States. With him on the brief were Solicitor General Rankin, Acting Assistant Attorney General McLean, Beatrice Rosenberg and Carl H. Imlay. Briefs of amici curiae were filed by Osmond K. Fraenkel for the National Lawyers Guild, and Frank J. Donner, Arthur Kinoy and Marshall Perlin for Begun et al. MR. JUSTICE HARLAN delivered the opinion of the Court. In 1913, at the age of 10 years, petitioner was brought to the United States as an immigrant from Poland. In June 1938 the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan entered its order admitting him to citizenship. More than 14 years later, in December 1952, the United States brought this suit under § 338 (a) of the Nationality Act of 19401 to set aside the naturalization decree, alleging that Nowak had obtained his citizenship both fraudulently and illegally. The Government filed with its complaint an "affidavit showing good cause," as required by § 338 (a). After a trial the District Court granted the relief requested by the United States on the grounds that Nowak (1) fraudulently obtained citizenship by making a false answer to a question in his Preliminary Form for Petition for Naturalization, filed in July 1937; and (2) illegally obtained citizenship, in that for a period of five years preceding his 154 Stat. 1137, 1158: "It shall be the duty of the United States district attorneys for the respective districts, upon affidavit showing good cause therefor, to institute proceedings . . . for the purpose of revoking and setting aside the order admitting such person to citizenship and canceling the certificate of naturalization on the ground of fraud or on the ground that such order and certificate of naturalization were illegally procured." |