United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Company

United States v. Detroit Timber and Lumber Company
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 7, 1905 Decided February 19, 1906
Full case name	United States, appellant, v. Detroit Timber and Lumber Company, et al.; and Martin-Alexander Lumber Company, et al. appellants, v. United States
Citations	200 U.S. 321 (more) 26 S.Ct. 282, 50 L.Ed. 499,
Prior history	Cross-Appeal from the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Holding
The headnotes to opinions of the Supreme Court are not the work of the Court but are simply the work of the Reporter of Decision, giving his understanding of the decision, prepared for the convenience of the legal profession.
Court membership
Chief Justice Melville Fuller Associate Justices John M. Harlan · David J. Brewer Henry B. Brown · Edward D. White Rufus W. Peckham · Joseph McKenna Oliver W. Holmes, Jr. · William R. Day
Case opinions
Majority	Brewer, joined by Fuller, Brown, White, Peckham, Holmes, and Day
Dissent	Harlan, McKenna
Laws applied
Timber Act of June 3, 1878

United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Company, 200 U.S. 321 (1906), is a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. Although the primary issue to the parties of the case was to determine ownership of 44 tracts of timberland, the case has become the standard reference to warn attorneys not to rely on the syllabus of a reported case.

Prior to Detroit Lumber, the Reporter of Decisions had mischaracterized the holding of Hawley v. Diller in its syllabus for that case. The attorneys representing the United States in Detroit Timber relied on the Hawley syllabus (which incorrectly reported the case) rather than the text of the actual decision (which actually represents the results). The Court pointed out that the headnote is not the work of the Supreme Court and cannot be relied upon to state the Court's decision. Also, for the case cited, the headnote in question had misinterpreted the scope of the decision.

All syllabi issued by the Supreme Court now include a paragraph of boilerplate text to warn readers not to rely on the syllabus for the actual meaning of the decision.