Helvering v. Davis

E954

United States Supreme Court case constitutional law case landmark decision

Helvering v. Davis is a 1937 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of the Social Security Act and broadly affirmed federal power to tax and spend for the general welfare.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form	Occurrences
Helvering v. Davis (1937)	1
Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Davis	1

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case ⓘ constitutional law case ⓘ landmark decision ⓘ
areaOfLaw	constitutional law ⓘ federal taxation ⓘ social welfare law ⓘ
category	United States Supreme Court cases of the Hughes Court ⓘ United States Supreme Court cases on Social Security ⓘ United States Supreme Court cases on the Taxing and Spending Clause ⓘ
citation	301 U.S. 619 ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted	Taxing and Spending Clause ⓘ surface form: Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1937-05-24 ⓘ
era	New Deal ⓘ
fullCaseName	Helvering v. Davis self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Davis
generalWelfareInterpretation	general welfare is a broad national concept not limited to enumerated powers ⓘ
hasJurisdiction	United States government ⓘ surface form: United States federal government
held	Congress has broad power to tax and spend for the general welfare ⓘ The Social Security program does not violate the Tenth Amendment ⓘ The discretion to decide what constitutes the general welfare primarily rests with Congress ⓘ The old-age benefits provisions of the Social Security Act are constitutional ⓘ
impact	provided constitutional foundation for later federal welfare and entitlement programs ⓘ
legalIssue	constitutionality of the Social Security Act of 1935 ⓘ interpretation of the General Welfare Clause ⓘ scope of the federal taxing and spending power ⓘ
locationOfCourt	Washington, D.C. ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy	Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo ⓘ
pageInUnitedStatesReports	619 ⓘ
petitioner	Guy T. Helvering ⓘ
petitionerRole	Internal Revenue Service ⓘ surface form: Commissioner of Internal Revenue
precedentFor	later cases involving federal spending power ⓘ
relatedCase	Steward Machine Co. v. Davis ⓘ
relatedLegislation	Social Security Act of 1935 ⓘ
respondent	George P. Davis ⓘ
result	Social Security Act provisions for old-age benefits were sustained ⓘ
significance	expanded interpretation of the General Welfare Clause ⓘ strengthened federal authority over national economic and social policy ⓘ upheld the constitutionality of the federal Social Security system ⓘ
topic	federal social insurance ⓘ old-age benefits ⓘ
typeOfDecision	upholding federal statute ⓘ
volumeInUnitedStatesReports	301 ⓘ
vote	7-2 ⓘ
yearDecided	1937 ⓘ

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

General Welfare Clause doctrine → clarifiedIn → Helvering v. Davis ⓘ

this entity surface form: Helvering v. Davis (1937)

Social Security Act of 1935 → constitutionalChallenge → Helvering v. Davis ⓘ

Helvering v. Davis → fullCaseName → Helvering v. Davis self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Davis

Guy T. Helvering → notableWork → Helvering v. Davis ⓘ

George P. Davis → partyTo → Helvering v. Davis ⓘ

Steward Machine Co. v. Davis → relatedCase → Helvering v. Davis ⓘ

General Welfare Clause doctrine → significantCase → Helvering v. Davis ⓘ

Taxing and Spending Clause → significantCase → Helvering v. Davis ⓘ