United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

SEC v. C. M. Joiner Leasing Corp., 320 U.S. 344 (1943)

Securities and Exchange Commission v.

C. M. Joiner Leasing Corporation

No. 24

Argued October 18, 1943

Decided November 22, 1943

320 U.S. 344

Syllabus

1. The transactions involved in this case were not simply sales and assignments of interests in land, but, by the nature of the offers, were within the terms "investment contracts" and "any interest or instrument commonly known as a security,'" and were therefore sales of "securities" within the meaning of § 2(1) of the Securities Act of 1933. P. 320 U. S. 351.

2. The ejusdem generis rule and the maxim expressio unius exclusio alterius are subordinate to the doctrine that courts will construe the details of an Act in conformity with its dominating general purpose, will read text in the light of context, and, so far as the meanings of the words fairly permit, will interpret the text so as to carry out in particular cases the generally expressed legislative policy. P. 320 U. S. 350.

Page 320 U. S. 345

3. The transactions were not beyond the scope of the Act merely because the offerings were of leases and assignments which, under state law, conveyed interests in real estate. P. 320 U. S. 352.

4. In a civil action, a preponderance of the evidence is sufficient to establish that what were being sold were "securities" under the Act. P. 320 U. S. 355.

133 F.2d 241 reversed.

Certiorari, 318 U.S. 755, to review the affirmance of a judgment denying an injunction in a suit instituted by the Commission to restrain violations of the Securities Act of 1933.