Cite as: 508 U. S. 581 (1993)
Stevens, J., concurring in judgment
In short, I agree with the United States, appearing as amicus curiae, that petitioners did not violate § 302(c)(5) when they refused to transfer some proportional share of assets to the Southern Funds. The Court eschews this straightforward rule of decision, however, in favor of a far broader approach, quite unanticipated by the submissions of the parties. Without the benefit of argument on the point by either litigant, the Court reaches out to overrule decades of case law by deciding that § 302(e) does not authorize a civil remedy for violations of § 302(c)(5). In my view, this reinvention of § 302 of the LMRA is as unwise as it is uninvited.
Section 302(c)(5) performs two distinct functions in the statutory scheme. First, as an exception to the criminal prohibitions of §§ 302(a) and (b), § 302(c)(5) provides a "safe harbor" for contributions to legitimate pension funds. See ante, at 586. Second, § 302(c)(5) sets forth certain standards that must be observed in the ongoing administration of such funds. The importance of both these functions is illustrated by our decision in Arroyo v. United States, 359 U. S. 419 (1959), which involved a contribution lawful when made and thereafter diverted to an unlawful use. Because the payment was to a legitimate trust fund, we held, the transaction fell within § 302(c)(5)'s exception, so that receipt of the payment was not a criminal violation of § 302(b). Id., at 423- 424. At the same time, however, § 302(e) was available to provide a civil remedy for the violation of § 302(c)(5) that occurred when the funds subsequently were diverted. Id., at 426-427.1
1 The majority relies heavily on one half of Arroyo while disregarding the other. See ante, at 589, n. 3. I note here only that the Court in Arroyo never determined that funds diverted after establishment of a trust are "held in trust for the purpose" of benefiting employees, ante, at 589, n. 3; to the contrary, its reliance on § 302(e) to remedy such abuses supports quite the opposite conclusion. In any event, what Arroyo held is that payment
595
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