Securities and Exchange Commission v. Variable Annuity Life Insurance Co. of America

359 U.S. 65 · Decided March 23, 1959 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Variable Annuity Life Insurance Co. of America was decided on March 23, 1959 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice William O. Douglas wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Securities regulation” in the Economic Activity area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Variable Annuity Life Insurance Co. of America et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1958-059, docket 1958-059-01.

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Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error