Zank v. Landon, 13739.

Decision Date19 June 1953
Docket NumberNo. 13739.,13739.
Citation205 F.2d 615
PartiesZANK v. LANDON.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Ronald Walker and Marshall E. Kidder, Los Angeles, Cal., for appellant.

Walter S. Binns, U. S. Atty., Clyde C. Downing and Robert K. Grean, Asst. U. S. Attys., Los Angeles, Cal., for appellee.

Before DENMAN, Chief Judge, and STEPHENS and HEALY, Circuit Judges.

DENMAN, Chief Judge.

This is a motion by appellant to remand the cause to the district court with instructions to vacate the judgment and to dismiss the action.

Appellant Zank brought an action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division, against the District Director of Immigration and Naturalization Service, Herman R. Landon, for declaratory relief and for a review of the deportation hearing in which it was held that Zank should be deported. The district court rendered a judgment adverse to Zank and he appealed. Included in the findings of fact below were the following: That there were no procedural irregularities in the hearing; that there was substantial evidence to support the warrant of deportation and that the hearing was fair.

The district court's decision was entered on December 24, 1952. Subsequently, on March 16, 1953, the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Heikkila v. Barber, 345 U.S. 229, at pages 234, 235, 73 S.Ct. 603, holding, that a deportation may be attacked only in a habeas corpus proceeding. Zank apprehends that because of this decision we will be constrained to affirm the judgment and that the facts found will be held res judicata against him.

There is no warrant for Zank's apprehension. An appellate court, in disposing of a case, must consider any change of law or fact which has occurred since the judgment was entered. Patterson v. State of Alabama, 294 U.S. 600, 607, 55 S.Ct. 575, 79 L.Ed. 1082.

Where, as here, the subsequent decision of the Supreme Court shows that the district court, and hence this court, has no jurisdiction of the subject matter, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(h), 28 U.S.C.A., applies. The pertinent portion of that rule is "* * * whenever it appears by suggestion of the parties or otherwise that the court lacks jurisdiction of the subject matter, the court shall dismiss the action. * * *" Likewise it follows that since the district court lacked jurisdiction to take any action on the facts respecting the Immigration Bureau's right to deport Zank, its findings of fact and...

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12 cases
  • Smith v. Sperling
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of California
    • 16 Diciembre 1953
    ...56 Harv.L.Rev. 1, 18-22 (1942); cf. United States v. International Bldg. Co., 1953, 345 U.S. 502, 504-505, 73 S.Ct. 807; Zank v. Landon, 9 Cir., 1953, 205 F.2d 615; Sachs v. Ohio Nat. Life Ins. Co., 7 Cir., 1945, 148 F.2d 128, 158 A.L.R. 688; certiorari denied, 1945, 326 U.S. 753, 66 S.Ct. ......
  • Ramadan v. Gonzales
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • 22 Febrero 2007
    ...Nationality Act ("INA"), a habeas petition was the only mechanism by which an alien could challenge a deportation order. Zank v. Landon, 205 F.2d 615, 616 (9th Cir.1953) (noting that "a deportation may be attacked only in a habeas corpus proceeding"); Heikkila v. Barber, 345 U.S. 229, 235, ......
  • Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco v. Hall
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • 26 Octubre 1955
    ...the subject matter, it is appropriate to remand the proceedings to the District Court with directions for their disposition. Zank v. Landon, 9 Cir., 205 F.2d 615." Final Conclusions and It is clear that Respondent District Judge and Respondent litigants herein have at all times erroneously ......
  • O'Donnell v. Wien Air Alaska, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • 6 Abril 1977
    ...Fed.R.Civ.P., Rule 12(b); McNutt v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., 298 U.S. 178, 56 S.Ct. 780, 80 L.Ed. 1135 (1936); Zank v. Landon, 205 F.2d 615 (9th Cir. 1953); 2A Moore, Federal Practice, P 12.09(3) (2d ed. 1976).4 In our view, this result was both inconsistent in itself and improper. ......
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