North American Cold Storage Co. v. City of Chicago
United States Supreme Court
211 U.S. 306 (1908)
Relevant factsFree
Chicago (defendant) officials, believing poultry stored by North American Cold Storage (plaintiff) was unsafe under a city ordinance, ordered its immediate surrender without any pre-seizure hearing, and halted Cold Storage's business pending compliance; Cold Storage refused, believing the poultry was safe, and sued claiming the ordinance's lack of any pre-seizure hearing violated due process. A circuit court dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, and Cold Storage appealed directly to the Supreme Court.
IssueFree
Whether, in an emergency, a post-seizure hearing about the legality of a government seizure of property can be sufficient to satisfy due process, without a hearing beforehand.