Berry v. Davis

15 F.2d 488, 1926 U.S. App. LEXIS 2918
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedOctober 29, 1926
DocketNos. 7068, 7069
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 15 F.2d 488 (Berry v. Davis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Berry v. Davis, 15 F.2d 488, 1926 U.S. App. LEXIS 2918 (8th Cir. 1926).

Opinion

SANBORN, Circuit Judge.

The defendants in error in these eases have made motions to dismiss them on the ground that the judgment and order of thé United States District Court challenged by the writs was rendered in a “case that involves the construction or the application of the Constitution of the United States” (section 238, Judicial Code [section 1215, Compiled Statutes]); and the jurisdiction of the District Court below rested solely on the fact that the suit “arises under the Constitution or laws of the United States” (section 24 [1], [11], Judicial Code [section 991 (1), (11), Compiled Statutes]).

In Raton Waterworks Co. v. Raton, 249 U. S. 552, 39 S. Ct. 384, 63 L. Ed. 768, decided May 5, 1919, the parties were both corporations of New Mexico, and the jurisdiction of the District Court to entertain the suit was based solely on the ground that it was one arising under the Constitution of the United States. The case was presented to the Supreme Court on a certificate from this court, and the Supreme Court said:

“Resulting from these conditions the question which the certificate propounds is this: ‘Has this court [the Circuit Court of Appeals] jurisdiction of the appeal?’ The solution of the question is free from difficulty, since whatever at one time may have been the basis for hesitancy concerning the question the necessity for a negative answer is now conclusively manifest as the result of a line of decisions determining that, under the circumstances as stated, the Circuit Court of Appeals was without jurisdiction of the appeal, as the exclusive power to review was vested in this court. Judicial Code, §§ 128, 238; American Sugar Refining Co. v. New Orleans, 181 U. S. 277, 281 [21 S. Ct. 646, 45 L. Ed. 859]; Huguley Manufacturing Co. v. Galeton Cotton Mills, 184 U. S. 290, 295 [22 S. Ct. 452, 46 L. Ed. 546]; Union & Planters’ Bank v. Memphis, 189 U. S. 71, 73 [23 S. Ct. 604, 47 L. Ed. 712]; Vicksburg v. Vicksburg Waterworks Co., 202 U. S. 453, 458 [26 S. Ct. 660, 50 L. Ed. 1102, 6 Ann. Cas. 253]; Carolina Glass Co. v. South Carolina, 240 U. S. 305, 318 [36 S. Ct. 293, 60 L. Ed. 658].”

In McMillan Contracting Co. v. Abernathy, McMillan, etc., Co. v. Hagerman, 263 U. S. 438, 44 S. Ct. 200, 68 L. Ed. 378, and Fidelity National Bank & Trust Co. v. Swope (C. C. A.) 284 F. 354, the decree of the District Court was, as it is in this case, in favor of the complainants, and the question was again presented, this court said on October 23, 1922:

“It is settled that, where the jurisdiction of the court depends only upon the ground that the cause of action arises under the Constitution of the United States, the Circuit Court of Appeals has no jurisdiction to review the case, as an appeal in such a case must be sought in the Supreme Court of the United States, under sections 128 and 238 of the Judicial Code (Comp. St. §§ 1120,1215). American Sugar Refining Co. v. New Orleans, 181 U. S. 277, 281, 21 S. Ct. 646, 45 L. Ed. [489]*489859; Huguley Mfg. Co. v. Galeton Cotton Mills, 184 U. S. 290, 295, 22 S. Ct. 452, 46 L. Ed. 546; Union & Planters’ Bank v. Memphis, 189 U. S. 71, 73, 23 S. Ct. 604, 47 L. Ed. 712; Vicksburg v. Waterworks Co., 202 U. S. 453, 458, 26 S. Ct. 660, 50 L. Ed. 1102, 6 Ann. Cas. 253; Carolina Glass Co. v. South Carolina, 240 U. S. 305, 318, 36 S. Ct. 293, 60 L. Ed. 658; Raton Waterworks Co. v. Raton, 249 U. S. 552, 553, 39 S. Ct. 384, 63 L. Ed. 768; Lemke v. Farmers’ Grain Co., 258 U. S. 50, 42 S. Ct. 244, 66 L. Ed. 458; Grammer v. Fenton [C. C. A.] 268 F. 943, 945.”

This court transferred the eases decided under the paragraph just quoted to the Supreme Court, under section 238a of the Judicial' Code as added by Act Sept. 14, 1922 (Comp. St. § 1215a). That court said: “It suffices here to say that, under an unbroken line of authorities, when the plaintiff invokes the jurisdiction of the federal District Court on the sole ground that his case is one in which a substantial federal constitutional or treaty question arises, this court has exclusive appellate jurisdiction thereof under section 238.” The Supreme Court concluded that this court had no jurisdiction of the eases, and should have dismissed them, but it refused to consider the merits of the cases, because the parties had not applied for their appeals until after the expiration of the three months from the dates of the decrees then allowed for applications for direct review by the Supreme Court. McMillan Co. v. Abernathy, 263 U. S. 438, 441, 442, 44 S. Ct. 200, 68 L. Ed. 378.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution provides that: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, * * * nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The Fifteenth Amendment declares that: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

The Congress of the United States by section 24 (11), Judicial Code, vested the United States District Courts with jurisdiction of all suits “to enforce the right of citizens of the. United States to vote in the several states,” and by section 262 of the Judicial Code (section 1239, Compiled Statutes), empowered them “to issue all writs not specifically provided for by statute, which may be necessary for the exercise of their respective jurisdictions,” and the writ of mandamus is one of these writs.

Chief Justice Marshall said: “A case in law or equity consists of the right of the one party, as well as of the other, and may truly be said to arise under the Constitution or a law of the United States, whenever its correct decision depends on the construction of either.” Cohens v. Virginia, 6 Wheat. (19 U. S.) 264, 379 (5 L. Ed. 257). To the same effect are Osborn v. U. S. Bank, 9 Wheat. (22 U. S.) 737, 822, 6 L. Ed. 204, and Blackburn v. Portland Gold Min. Co., 175 U. S. 571, 580, 20 S. Ct. 222, 44 L. Ed. 276. In American Sugar Refining Co. v. New Orleans, 181 U. S.

Related

Mitchell v. Wright
154 F.2d 924 (Fifth Circuit, 1946)

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Bluebook (online)
15 F.2d 488, 1926 U.S. App. LEXIS 2918, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/berry-v-davis-ca8-1926.