(Download) "Schwartz v. Romnes" by United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Schwartz v. Romnes
- Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Release Date : January 02, 1974
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 77 KB
Description
MANSFIELD, Circuit Judge: At issue on this appeal is whether the expenditure of $50,000 by the New York Telephone Company (""NYT"") in 1971 for the purpose of publicizing views with respect to a proposed state public transportation bond issue to be submitted to the voters of New York for a referendum vote violated a New York statute (§ 460, N.Y. Election Law, McKinney's Consol. Laws c. 171) prohibiting corporate contributions for political purposes. If so, we are asked to decide whether the statute, as so construed, would deny NYT its First Amendment rights of free speech and petition. Since NYT and its parent, American Telephone and Telegraph Company (""AT&T""), are public utilities, we are also called upon to determine whether the $50,000 contribution was barred by a state statute (§ 107, N.Y. Public Service Law, McKinneys's Consol. Laws2) which prohibits public utilities, except with the consent of the state public service commission, from expending funds other than for certain specified purposes. In a derivative suit on behalf of NYT and AT&T against directors who approved the $50,000 expenditure plaintiff, an AT&T shareholder invoking diversity jurisdiction, sued to recover the $50,000 contribution on the ground that it violated the aforementioned state statutes. The district court granted summary judgment in plaintiff's favor. For reasons stated below, we reverse the grant of summary judgment and remand with instructions that summary judgment be entered in favor of the defendants.