Matarazzo v. Hustis

256 F. 882, 1919 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 923
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. New York
DecidedMarch 18, 1919
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 256 F. 882 (Matarazzo v. Hustis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matarazzo v. Hustis, 256 F. 882, 1919 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 923 (N.D.N.Y. 1919).

Opinion

RAY, District Judge.

The plaintiff, Emilio Matarazzo, is, as yet, a citizen and subject of the kingdom of Italy, but now is and for some years has been an actual resident and inhabitant of the county of Sara-[884]*884toga, state of New York. He has applied for citizenship by filing his first papers. He was appointed administrator of the estate of his deceased son, Ruffelo Matarazzo, by the surrogate and Surrogate’s Court of the said county of Saratoga, N. Y., and as such brought this action under the provisions of the New York Code of Civil Procedure to recover damages alleged to have been sustained by him by reason of the death of said son, a resident of said county, caused, as alleged, by the negligence of the defendant, who as receiver appointed by the federal court in the state and district of Massachusetts was and is operating the Boston & Maine Railroad, which is a corporation of the said state, and of which state the defendant James H. Hustis is a citizen and a resident. The damages are laid at the sum of $15,000. The said railroad operates to some extent in the state of New York. The venue of the action so brought was laid in the said county of Saratoga, N. Y., which county is in the Northern district of New York. In the complaint the plaintiff stated he was a resident of said county of Sara-toga.

[1] The defendant, from the allegations of the complaint and the information he then had, assumed that the plaintiff was a citizen of the United States and of the state of New York, and such were the allegations of the petition of removal. On this motion to remand the plaintiff states he is not a citizen of the United States, but an alien, a citizen and subject of the kingdom of Italy, and a resident and an inhabitant of said county of Saratoga, N. Y. The defendant moves to amend his petition of removal to accord with the facts, and that motion to amend is granted. Wilbur v. R. J. C. C. & C. Co. (C. C.) 153 Fed. 662, 664; Southern Pac., etc., v. Stewart, 245 U. S. 359, 363, 38 Sup. Ct. 130, 203, 62 L. Ed. 345, 472.

[2] On the main question the plaintiff contends that the cause is not a removable one, as the plaintiff is not a citizen of the United States or of the state of New York, but, as stated, a citizen and subject of the kingdom of Italy.

Under the Constitution of the United States (section 2, art. 3) the judicial power extends to all cases in law and equity “between a state, or the citizens thereof and foreign states, citizens or subjects.” The Judicial Code (Act March 3, 1911, c. 231, 36 Stat. 1091 [Comp. St. § 968 et seq.]) provides (section 24 [Comp. St. § 991]) that—

“Tire District Courts shall have original jurisdiction as follows: * * * Where the matter in controversy exceeds, exclusive of interest and costs, the sum or value of three thousand dollars, * * * or * * * is between citizens of different states, or * , * * is between citizens of a state and foreign states, citizens, or subjects.”

Hence this is a case to which the judicial power of the United States extends, and one of which the United States District Court has original jurisdiction. There is no chance for quibble over this language. The plaintiff is a citizen and a subject of the kingdom of Italy, a foreign state, and defendant is a citizen of the state of Massachusetts. The cause of action alleged arose in the Northern district of the state of New York, of which the plaintiff is an actual resident and inhabitant, and the suit is of a civil nature. The plaintiff brought his action in the county of Saratoga in that judicial district.

[885]*885What suits may be removed from the state court to the United States court? The Judicial Code, defining removable causes, provides:

“Anv other suit of a civil nature, at law or in equity, of which the District Courts of the United States are given jurisdiction by this title, and which are now pending or which may hereafter be brought, in any state court, may be removed into the District Court of the United States for the proper district by the defendant or defendants therein, being nonresidents of that state.” Section 28, Judicial Code, subdivision 2, title, The Judiciary, c. 3 (Comp. St. § 1010).

The first subdivision of the section relates to “any suit of a civil nature, at law or in equity, arising under the Constitution or laws of the United Stales, or treaties made, or which shall be made, under Iheir authority of which the District Courts of ihc United States are given original jurisdiction by this title,” etc. This suit, clearly, is one of the class “any other suit of a civil nature,” and it is an action at law, and one of which the District Courts of the United States is given jurisdiction by “this title.” Title, “The Judiciary.”

[3] Section 53 of the Judicial Code (Comp. St. § 1035) provides:

“in all cases of the removal of suits from the courts of a state to the District Court of the United States such removal shall bo to the United States District Court in the division in which the county is situated from which the removal is made.”

Hence this case, if removable, was removed to the proper District Court. It is now settled that the words “for the proper district,” used in section 28 of the Judicial Code, refer to the “proper district” to which a cause may be removed as stated in section 53 of the Judicial Code, and not to the “proper district” for bringing such a suit originally, if brought in the District Court of the United States in the first instance. Ostrom v. Edison (D. C.) 244 Fed. 228. It would seem that the decided cases settle the question of the removability of the instant case. Matter of Tobin, Petitioner, 214 U. S. 506, 29 Sup. Ct. 702, 53 L. Ed. 1061. See, also, Matter of Nicola, 218 U. S. 668, 31 Sup. Ct. 228, 54 L. Ed. 1203; Rones v. Katalla Co. (C. C.) 182 Fed. 946, 947; Morris v. Clark Construction Co. (C. C.) 140 Fed. 756; Sherwood et al. v. Newport News & M. V. Co. et al. (C. C.) 55 Fed. 1; Manufacturers’ Com. Co. v. Brown A. Co. (C. C.) 148 Fed. 308; Iowa L. G. M. Co. v. Bliss et al. (C. C.) 144 Fed. 446; James v. Amarillo C. L. & W. Co. (D. C.) 251 Fed. 337; Louisville & N. R. Co. v. Western Union Tel. Co. (D. C.) 218 Fed. 91.

The Judicial Code not only fixes the place or district in which suits in the United States District Court are to be brought or commenced (sections 40 to 56 inclusive [Comp. St. § 1022-3038]), but fixes the place or District Court into which a cause commenced in the state court of a state must be removed, if removed (section 53, Judicial Code).

[4] The right to remove a cause commenced in a state court is purely statutory. Great Northern Ry. Co. v. Alexander, 246 U. S. 276, 38 S. Ct. 237, 62 L. Ed. 713; Ostrom v. Edison (D. C.) 244 Fed. 228. The place where suits brought in the United States courts must be brought is fixed by statute.

[886]*886[5] The right to be sued in a particular District Court of Hie United States is a personal privilege, and may be waived so far as jurisdiction of the person is concerned.

[6]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Big Robin Farms v. California Spray-Chemical Corp.
161 F. Supp. 646 (W.D. South Carolina, 1958)
No. 11638
228 F.2d 176 (Third Circuit, 1956)
Sarner v. Mason
228 F.2d 176 (Third Circuit, 1955)
Eddington v. Texas & New Orleans R. Co.
83 F. Supp. 230 (S.D. Texas, 1949)
Hunter v. United States Department of Agriculture
69 F. Supp. 377 (N.D. Texas, 1946)
Potts v. Elliott
61 F. Supp. 378 (E.D. Kentucky, 1945)
Barber v. Powell
135 F.2d 728 (Fourth Circuit, 1943)
Barber v. . Powell
22 S.E.2d 214 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1942)
Williamson v. E. R. Squibb & Sons
30 F. Supp. 629 (E.D. South Carolina, 1939)
Albion-Idaho Land Co. v. Naf Irr. Co.
97 F.2d 439 (Tenth Circuit, 1938)
Gay v. Ruff
292 U.S. 25 (Supreme Court, 1934)
Thompson v. St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co.
5 F. Supp. 785 (N.D. Oklahoma, 1934)
Ruff v. Gay
67 F.2d 684 (Fifth Circuit, 1933)
Uribe v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co.
3 F. Supp. 672 (D. Idaho, 1933)
Ruff v. Gay
3 F. Supp. 264 (S.D. Georgia, 1933)
Torquay Corporation v. Radio Corporation of America
2 F. Supp. 841 (S.D. New York, 1932)
Newell v. Byram
26 F.2d 200 (Eighth Circuit, 1928)
Berens v. Byram
26 F.2d 953 (D. South Dakota, 1927)
Newell v. Byram
18 F.2d 657 (D. Minnesota, 1927)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
256 F. 882, 1919 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 923, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matarazzo-v-hustis-nynd-1919.