Pendergast v. United States, 317 U.S. 412 (1943)

The Supreme Court reverses the contempt convictions of Pendergast, O'Malley and McCormack on limitations grounds; its statement of facts describes Pendergast as 'a "political boss"' and the $750,000 'fee' agreed to influence the settlement of the 1930 insurance rate suits.

Date: 1943-01-04
Kind: court-opinion
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, via CourtListener
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
Docket: Nos. 183, 186, 187
Rights: A federal court opinion. A work of the United States government, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The text was read on CourtListener; no publisher headnote is used.

Argued 14-15 December 1942 and decided 4 January 1943. The statement of facts describes Pendergast as “a ‘political boss,’” recounts a $750,000 “fee” agreed to be paid to influence the settlement of the 1930 insurance rate suits, and says the Justice Department “caused Pendergast and O’Malley to be indicted for evasion of income taxes,” to which they pleaded guilty and were “fined and imprisoned late in May, 1939.” The opinion ends “Reversed,” on the ground that any contempt occurred no later than 1 February 1936 and was barred by the statute of limitations. Justice Jackson dissented and Justice Murphy took no part.

The reversal turns on limitations. The opinion’s description of the underlying payments is the Court’s account of the record below.

itemUnited States v. Pendergast; United States v. O'Malley, 28 F. Supp. 601 (W.D. Mo. 1939)Judge Otis's memorandum on the income-tax prosecutions of Thomas J. Pendergast and Robert Emmet O'Malley, describing '1908 Main Street' as 'synonymous with power' and printing the sentences imposed on Pendergast on 22 May 1939.itemUnited States v. Pendergast (contempt judgment), 39 F. Supp. 189 (W.D. Mo. 1941)The three-judge court adjudges Pendergast, O'Malley and McCormack in contempt over the insurance-rate settlement; the Supreme Court later records two years' imprisonment for Pendergast and O'Malley and two years' probation for McCormack.