Felix Frankfurter

“ The sole question before us is whether there was standing to make the claim before the district court. We hold there was such standing. To enforce the rights conferred by Section IV was the purpose of the motion. Therefore, the codification of general doctrines of intervention contained in Rule 24 (a) does not touch our problem. And since the protection afforded Panhandle by Section IV of the decree could only be secured by the remedy designed by Section V, to wit, active participation in the suit, the denial of that protection is a definitive adjudication, and so appealable. ”

“ We recognize the duty of expeditious enforcement of the anti-trust laws. But expedition cannot be had at the sacrifice of rights which the original decree itself established. We assume that the district court will adjust the right which belongs to Panhandle with full regard to that public interest which underlay the original suit. ”

“ Plainly enough, the circumstances under which interested outsiders should be allowed to become participants in a litigation is, barring very special circumstances, a matter for the nisi prius court. But where the enforcement of a public law also demands distinct safeguarding of private interests by giving them a formal status in the decree, the power to enforce rights thus sanctioned is not left to the public authorities nor put in the keeping of the district court's discretion.
That is the present case. Panhandle's right to economic independence was at the heart of the controversy. ”