Feely v. Sidney S. Schupper Interstate Hauling System

Decision Date09 June 1947
Docket Number3158.,Civil Actions No. 3157
Citation72 F. Supp. 663
PartiesFEELY v. SIDNEY S. SCHUPPER INTERSTATE HAULING SYSTEM, Inc. BREEDING v. SAME.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Maryland

Benjaman Swogell, of Baltimore, Md., for plaintiffs.

James J. Lindsay, of Baltimore, Md., for defendant.

WILLIAM C. COLEMAN, District Judge.

These two proceedings are personal injury suits. Although having different plaintiffs, each plaintiff is a citizen and resident of the City of Washington. The defendant, the same in both cases, is a Maryland corporation; and, on its behalf, in each case a motion has been filed to dismiss the action on the ground that this Court is without jurisdiction to hear the suits, since the prerequisite of jurisdiction is diversity of citizenship which, it is asserted, requires that the opposing parties be citizens of different States, and is not met by citizenship of the District of Columbia. The two proceedings were consolidated for the purposes of these motions which have been heard as one.

The sole question thus presented by the motions for decision is as to the constitutionality of the following part of Section 24 of the Judicial Code, 28 U.S.C.A. § 41 (1), providing for original jurisdiction of the District Courts, as amended by the Act of April 20, 1940, c. 117, 54 Stat. 143: "First. Of all suits of a civil nature, at common law or in equity, * * * where the matter in controversy exceeds, exclusive of interest and costs, the sum or value of $3,000, and * * * (b) is between citizens of different States, or citizens of the District of Columbia, the Territory of Hawaii, or Alaska, and any State or Territory, * * *." The words which we have emphasized constitute the change made in this part of the statute by the 1940 amendment. Thus, if Congress had power to extend the jurisdiction of the District Courts as it has done by this added language, the motions before us are without merit. Otherwise, the motions must be granted.

Until Congress enacted the amendment to 28 U.S.C.A. § 41(1) in 1940, 54 Stat. 143, the courts had consistently held that a citizen of the District of Columbia was not a citizen of a State within the meaning of the Constitution, Article III, Sec. 2. Hooe v. Jamieson, 1897, 166 U.S. 395, 17 S.Ct. 596, 41 L.Ed. 1049; Barney v. Baltimore City, 1867, 6 Wall. 280, 18 L.Ed. 825; Hepburn v. Ellzey, 1805, 2 Cranch 445, 2 L.Ed. 332; see also O'Donoghue v. United States, 1933, 289 U.S. 516, 543, 53 S.Ct. 740, 77 L.Ed. 1356. And neither the Constitution, the Judiciary Act of 1789, nor the Judicial Code prior to the 1940 amendment, provided for federal jurisdiction on the ground of diversity of citizenship, of suits involving citizens of the District of Columbia. By the 1940 amendment to 28 U.S. C.A. § 41(1), however, Congress attempted to make provision for such jurisdiction. Whether or not this attempt can be considered effective to give the District Courts jurisdiction of a suit by or against a citizen of the District of Columbia depends upon a consideration of the constitutionality of what Congress attempted to do.

Thus far, there are reported opinions from five District Courts on the constitutionality of this amendment, two courts upholding the statute and three striking it down as unconstitutional. The cases in which these opinions have been rendered are as follows: Winkler v. Daniels, D.C. E.D.Va. 1942, 43 F.Supp. 265 (upholding the amendment); McGarry v. City of Bethlehem, D.C.E.D.Pa. 1942, 45 F.Supp. 385 (holding the amendment unconstitutional); Glaeser v. Acacia Mutual Life Ass'n, D. C.N.D.Cal. 1944, 55 F.Supp. 925 (upholding the amendment); Behlert v. James Foundation of New York, D.C.S.D.N.Y. 1945, 60 F.Supp. 706 (holding the amendment unconstitutional); and Ostrow v. Samuel Brilliant Co., D.C.Mass. 1946, 66 F. Supp. 593 (holding the amendment unconstitutional). None of these cases has gone beyond the District Courts. Apparently, in cases where jurisdiction was denied, the plaintiff found it more economical to bring suit in the appropriate State tribunal rather than to appeal; and, in those cases where jurisdiction had been found to exist, the ultimate outcome of the trial upon the merits made an appeal unnecessary or not advisable.

Constitutional provisions relied upon by the various District Courts, both in upholding and in invalidating the 1940 amendment, are as follows:

Article I, Section 8. "The Congress shall have Power * * *

Clause 17 To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, * * * —And

Clause 18 To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."

Article III, Section 1. "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. * * *"

Section 2. "The judicial Power shall extend * * * to Controversies * * * between citizens of different States, * * *."

The Winkler case, supra, upholding the amendment, and the Behlert case, supra, which held the amendment unconstitutional, present more fully than do any of the other decisions, the leading arguments on either side of the controversy, with District Judge Conger in the Behlert case having had the benefit of the cases previously decided.

In the Winkler case District Judge Way, in upholding the amendment, relies for his reasoning upon the argument presented by the proponents of the amendment (H.R. Report No. 1756, March 12, 1940, Committee on the Judiciary, 76th Cong., 3rd Sess.) in Congress. Judge Way, adopting the Congressional report, says (1) that Article III of the Constitution must be construed in connection with Article I, Section 8, relating to the exclusive power of Congress to legislate in all cases over the District of Columbia. He says (2) that by Article III, the Constitution guarantees the right to a citizen of a State to demand the exercise of the powers of the federal judiciary when he is involved in a case or controversy with a citizen of another State; and (3) that the mere fact that the Constitution guarantees this right to citizens of a State in no way prohibits the Congress from extending the same privilege to others who are not technically citizens of a State.

Let us analyze the reasoning of the Court in the Winkler case. In the first place, clause 17 (relating to the District of Columbia) of Article I, Section 8, with or without the help of clause 18 (necessary and proper clause) would not seem to be applicable to the exact situation before us. That the clause gives to Congress the power to exercise exclusive legislation "over" the District of Columbia, or, as stated in Neild v. District of Columbia, 1940, 71 App. D.C. 306, 110 F.2d 246, 249: "within the District for every proper purpose of government", is not denied. For example, Article I, Section 8, is clearly the basis of the power of Congress to give jurisdiction to the federal courts set up within the District. O'Donoghue v. United States, supra, 289 U.S. at page 545, 53 S.Ct. 740, 77 L.Ed. 1356; Keller v. Potomac Elec. Co., 1923, 261 U.S. 428, 442, 443, 43 S.Ct. 445, 67 L. Ed. 731; Kendall v. United States, 1838, 12 Pet. 524, 619, 9 L.Ed. 1181. But it is one thing to say that Congress may legislate with respect to jurisdictional matters within the District of Columbia where it is given express authority by Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, and quite another to say that Congress may extend that authority to an enlargement of the jurisdiction of federal courts outside the District of Columbia, beyond the limitations of power provided by Article III of the Constitution which created them. The O'Donoghue case, which for the first time held that a constitutional court could receive legislative jurisdiction, does not form a precedent for giving legislative jurisdiction to other District Courts, because the O'Donoghue case was concerned only with a peculiar situation expressly provided for by the Constitution. There the Court said (289 U.S. at page 546, 53 S.Ct. 748, 77 L.Ed. 1356): "If, in creating and defining the jurisdiction of the courts of the District, Congress were limited to article 3, as it is in dealing with the other federal courts, the administrative and other jurisdiction spoken of could not be conferred upon the former. But the clause giving plenary power of legislation over the District enables Congress to confer such jurisdiction in addition to the federal jurisdiction which the District courts exercise under article 3, notwithstanding that they are recipients of the judicial power of the United States under, and are constituted in virtue of, that article."

Thus, the O'Donoghue case is limited to holding that a court of the District of Columbia is the only court which is both constitutional and legislative. Article I, Section 8 there applied because Congress exercised its legislative powers "over such District."

In the second place, Article III of the Constitution does not guarantee diversity jurisdiction to citizens of a State as is suggested by Judge Way. It is erroneous to assume that Article III guarantees jurisdiction, because it is within the discretionary power of Congress to grant, or to withhold constitutionally limited jurisdiction. Diversity jurisdiction is not a right, but a privilege, resting upon the will of Congress. Lockerty v. Phillips, 1943, 319 U.S. 182, 187-188, 63 S.Ct. 1019, 87 L.Ed. 1339; Lauf v. E. G. Shinner & Co., 1938, 303 U.S. 323, 330, 58 S.Ct. 578, 82 L.Ed. 872; Kline v. Burke Constr. Co., 1922, 260 U.S. 226, 233, 234, 43 S.Ct. 79, 67 L.Ed. 226, 24 A. L.R. 1077; Sheldon v. Sill, 1850, 8 How. 441, 449, 12 L.Ed. 1147; ...

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6 cases
  • National Mut Ins Co of District of Columbia v. Tidewater Transfer Co Inc
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • June 20, 1949
    ...which in dismissing the complaint for lack of jurisdiction relied upon its former decision and opinion in Feely v. Sidney S. Schupper Interstate Hauling System, Inc., 72 F.Supp. 663. 3 165 F.2d 531. 4 The Act had been upheld in Winkler v. Daniels, D.C., 43 F.Supp. 265; Glaeser v. Acacia Mut......
  • Central States Co-ops. v. Watson Bros. Transp. Co., 9291.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit
    • January 20, 1948
    ...District Court of South Carolina in Wilson v. Guggenheim, 70 F.Supp. 417, a District Court of Maryland in Feeley v. Sidney S. Schupper Interstate Hauling System, D.C., 72 F.Supp. 663, and a District Court of Virginia in Willis v. Dennis, D.C., 72 F.Supp. 853, held the amendment unconstituti......
  • National Mut. Ins. Co. v. Tidewater Transfer Co., 5674.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit
    • March 29, 1948
    ...422. The statute was held to be unconstitutional in Willis v. Dennis, D. C., W.D.Va., 72 F.Supp. 853; Feely v. Sidney S. Schupper Interstate Hauling System, D.C., D.Md., 72 F.Supp. 663; Wilson v. Guggenheim, D.C., E.D.S.C., 70 F.Supp. 417; Ostrow v. Samuel Brilliant Co., D. C., D.Mass., 66 ......
  • Willis v. Dennis, Civil Action No. 215.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Western District of Virginia
    • August 18, 1947
    ...Co., D.C. of Mass., 66 F.Supp. 593; Wilson v. Guggenheim, D.C. E.D. of S.C., 70 F.Supp. 417; and in Feeley v. Sidney S. Schupper Interstate Hauling System, D.C.D. Md., 72 F. Supp. 663. So far as I can find these are all of the cases in which this question has been dealt I have read the opin......
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