Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co, No. 295

CourtUnited States Supreme Court
Writing for the CourtVAN DEVANTER
Citation44 S.Ct. 149,68 L.Ed. 362,263 U.S. 413
PartiesROOKER et al. v. FIDELITY TRUST CO. et al
Docket NumberNo. 295
Decision Date10 December 1923

263 U.S. 413
44 S.Ct. 149
68 L.Ed. 362
ROOKER et al.

v.

FIDELITY TRUST CO. et al.

No. 295.

Submitted on Motion to Dismiss or Affirm Nov. 26, 1923.

Decided Dec. 10, 1923.

Page 414

Wm. V. Rooker, of Indianapolis, Ind., for appellants, in opposition to the motion.

Charles E. Cox, of Indianapolis, Ind., for appellees, in support of the motion.

Mr. Justice VAN DEVANTER delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is a bill in equity to have a judgment of a circuit court in Indiana, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the state, declared null and void, and to obtain other relief dependent on that outcome. An effort to have the judgment reviewed by this court on writ of error had failed because the record did not disclose the presence of any question constituting a basis for such a review. Rooker v Fidelity Trust Co., 261 U. S. 114, 43 Sup. Ct. 288. The parties to the bill are the same as in the litigation in the state court, but with an addition of two defendants whose presence does not need special notice. All are citizens of the same state. The grounds advanced for resorting to the District Court are that the judgment

Page 415

was rendered and affirmed in contravention of the contract clause of the Constitution of the United States (article 1, § 10, cl. 1) and the due process of law and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment (section 1), in that it gave effect to a state statute alleged to be in conflict with those clauses and did not give effect to a prior decision in the same cause by the Supreme Court of the State which is alleged to have become the 'law of the case.' The District Court was of opinion that the suit was not within its jurisdiction as defined by Congress, and on that ground dismissed the bill. The plaintiffs have appealed directly to this court under section 238 of the Judicial Code (Comp. St. § 1215).

The appellees move that the appeal be dismissed, or in the alternative that the decree be affirmed.

The appeal is within the first clause of section 238; so the motion to dismiss must be overruled. But the suit is so plainly not within the District Court's juridiction as defined by Congress that the motion to affirm must be sustained.

It affirmatively appears from the bill that the judgment was rendered in a cause wherein the circuit court had jurisdiction of both the subject-matter and the parties, that a full hearing was had therein, that the judgment was responsive to the issues, and that it was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the state on an appeal by the plaintiffs. 131 N. E. 769. If the constitutional questions stated in the bill actually arose in the cause, it...

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7704 practice notes
  • Hunter v. Supreme Court of New Jersey, Civ. No. 96-848 (WGB).
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 3th Circuit. United States District Courts. 3th Circuit. District of New Jersey
    • August 27, 1996
    ...or decrees rendered by the highest court of a State ... may be reviewed by the Supreme Court." In both Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co. et al, 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923) and District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983......
  • In re Pina, No. 06-12205-JNF.
    • United States
    • United States Bankruptcy Courts. First Circuit. U.S. Bankruptcy Court — District of Massachusetts
    • March 6, 2007
    ...recognizing that the state court orders are entitled to deference under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, see Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923),4 the Trustee maintains that the rights of the Debtor's creditors were not considered by the state court and......
  • Kloss v. RBS Citizens, N.A., Case No. 13–12833.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 6th Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of Michigan)
    • February 6, 2014
    ...follows: The doctrine originates from two Supreme Court decisions, which were rendered 60 years apart. See Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923); D.C. Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983). In both cases the ......
  • Elmasri v. England, No. CV 99-6868.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of New York)
    • August 16, 2000
    ...from exercising jurisdiction over cases that are "inextricably intertwined" with state court judgments. See Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923); District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983). I......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
7634 cases
  • Hunter v. Supreme Court of New Jersey, Civ. No. 96-848 (WGB).
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 3th Circuit. United States District Courts. 3th Circuit. District of New Jersey
    • August 27, 1996
    ...or decrees rendered by the highest court of a State ... may be reviewed by the Supreme Court." In both Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co. et al, 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923) and District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983......
  • In re Pina, No. 06-12205-JNF.
    • United States
    • United States Bankruptcy Courts. First Circuit. U.S. Bankruptcy Court — District of Massachusetts
    • March 6, 2007
    ...recognizing that the state court orders are entitled to deference under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, see Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923),4 the Trustee maintains that the rights of the Debtor's creditors were not considered by the state court and......
  • Kloss v. RBS Citizens, N.A., Case No. 13–12833.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 6th Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of Michigan)
    • February 6, 2014
    ...follows: The doctrine originates from two Supreme Court decisions, which were rendered 60 years apart. See Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923); D.C. Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983). In both cases the ......
  • Elmasri v. England, No. CV 99-6868.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of New York)
    • August 16, 2000
    ...from exercising jurisdiction over cases that are "inextricably intertwined" with state court judgments. See Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923); District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983). I......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • QUALIFIED IMMUNITY: TIME TO CHANGE THE MESSAGE.
    • United States
    • Notre Dame Law Review Vol. 93 Nbr. 5, May 2018
    • May 1, 2018
    ...from two Supreme Court decisions. See District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462 (1983); Rooker v. Fidelity Tr. Co., 263 U.S. 413 (1923). As Professor Rowe put it in his introduction to the Issue, the doctrine "restsinnocuously enough on the proposition that Congress has......

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