Circle Fisheries Co. v. Seabrooke

W.D. Pennsylvania

Circle Fisheries Co. v. Seabrooke

103 F. Supp. 734, 1952 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4558

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania

DecidedMarch 27, 1952

DocketCiv. 202

StatusPublished

Cited by1 cases

This text of 103 F. Supp. 734 (Circle Fisheries Co. v. Seabrooke) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Circle Fisheries Co. v. Seabrooke, 103 F. Supp. 734, 1952 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4558 (W.D. Pa. 1952).

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Opinion

BURNS, District Judge.

The complaint filed affirmatively shows that there is no diversity of citizenship, and that legal title to the property in question, an oil screw vessel named “Jackie Lee” still in the possession of plaintiff, has passed to defendant, by virtue of a bill of sale given defendant by the president of plaintiff. Plaintiff seeks cancellation of the bill of sale and -reconveyance to plaintiff.

The motion of defendant to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction must he granted. As is pointed out in The Captain Johnson, D.C.D.N.J.1946, 64 F.Supp. 559, the legal title to the res must rest with the libellant, in a petitory suit invoking the jurisdiction of a court of admiralty; and here plaintiff is in possession but concededly lacks legal title. As for jurisdiction on the law side of the court, there is here no diversity of citizenship. While it is true that plaintiff alleges that the vessel is documented and enrolled in the Port of Erie customs office, this court has been shown no statutory provision indicating that, in establishing rules governing the enrollment and documentation of vessels, the legislative branch intended to confer federal jurisdiction over suits challenging the legal or equitable title thereto. Cf. Gustason v. California Trust Co., 9 Cir., 1934, 73 F.2d 765, 767, certiorari denied 1935, 296 U.S. 607, 56 S.Ct. 123, 80 L.Ed. 430, and see Lima v. A. L. Burbank & Co., D.C.S.D.N.Y.1946, 69 F.Supp. 678.

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BURNS, District Judge.

The complaint filed affirmatively shows that there is no diversity of citizenship, and that legal title to the property in question, an oil screw vessel named “Jackie Lee” still in the possession of plaintiff, has passed to defendant, by virtue of a bill of sale given defendant by the president of plaintiff. Plaintiff seeks cancellation of the bill of sale and -reconveyance to plaintiff.

The motion of defendant to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction must he granted. As is pointed out in The Captain Johnson, D.C.D.N.J.1946, 64 F.Supp. 559, the legal title to the res must rest with the libellant, in a petitory suit invoking the jurisdiction of a court of admiralty; and here plaintiff is in possession but concededly lacks legal title. As for jurisdiction on the law side of the court, there is here no diversity of citizenship. While it is true that plaintiff alleges that the vessel is documented and enrolled in the Port of Erie customs office, this court has been shown no statutory provision indicating that, in establishing rules governing the enrollment and documentation of vessels, the legislative branch intended to confer federal jurisdiction over suits challenging the legal or equitable title thereto. Cf. Gustason v. California Trust Co., 9 Cir., 1934, 73 F.2d 765, 767, certiorari denied 1935, 296 U.S. 607, 56 S.Ct. 123, 80 L.Ed. 430, and see Lima v. A. L. Burbank & Co., D.C.S.D.N.Y.1946, 69 F.Supp. 678.

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103 F. Supp. 734, 1952 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4558, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/circle-fisheries-co-v-seabrooke-pawd-1952.

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