United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Manley v. Georgia, 279 U.S. 1 (1929)

Manley v. Georgia

No 429

Argued December 4, 1928

Decided February 18, 1929

279 U.S. 1

Syllabus

Section 28, Art. XX, of the Georgia Banking Act declares that

"every insolvency of a bank shall be deemed fraudulent, and the president and directors shall be severally punished by imprisonment and labor in the penitentiary . . . provided that the defendant . . . may repel the presumption of fraud by showing that the affairs of the bank have been fairly and legally administered, and generally with the same care and diligence, that agents receiving a commission for their services are required and bound by law to observe. . . ."

The Act elsewhere declares that a bank is to be deemed insolvent when it cannot meet its liabilities as they become due in the regular course of business, or when the cash market value of its assets is insufficient to pay its liabilities, or when its reserve falls under a required amount and is not made good within the time prescribed. Held that the presumption created by § 28 is unreasonable and arbitrary, and conflicts with the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. P. 279 U. S. 5.

166 Ga. 563 reversed.

Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court of Georgia affirming a conviction of the appellant of an alleged violation of the state banking law.

Page 279 U. S. 3