EX PARTE JONES

U.S. | 1897-01-04
164 U.S. 691 Supreme Court of the United States (1897) Caution
Also reported at: 41 L. Ed. 601 · 17 S. Ct. 222 · 1897 U.S. LEXIS 1703 · SCDB 1896-070
Cited by 35 cases

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Synopsis

Jones sued a national bank incorporated under federal law, and the Circuit Court of Appeals declined to hear an appeal, holding that its jurisdiction rested solely on diversity of citizenship between the parties, making its decree final under the Court of Appeals Act of 1891. The Supreme Court affirmed that the 1888 amendments stripped national banks of their previous federal question jurisdiction and required them to be treated as state citizens for jurisdictional purposes, meaning that when diversity of citizenship alone supported jurisdiction, the Court of Appeals' decision was final and not appealable to the Supreme Court.


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Opinion of the Court
Mr. Justice Brown,

Mr. Justice Brown,

after stating the case, delivered the opinion of the court.

The Circuit Court of Appeals refused to allow an appeal in this case, upon the ground that its jurisdiction of the case was “ dependent entirely upon the opposite parties to the suit or controversy, being . . . citizens of different States,” and, therefore, under section six of the Court of Appeals act of March, 1891, its decree' was final and not the subject of an auneal to this court.

Prior to the act of July 12,. 1882, c. 290, 22 Stat. 162, and the jurisdictional act of March 3, 1887, c. 373, 21 Stat. 552, as revised by the act of August 13, 1888, c. 866, 25 Stat. 133, 136, it had always been held that suits against corporations, organized under acts of Congress, were suits arising under the laws of the United States, and, therefore, cognizable by the Circuit Courts, regardless of the citizenship of the parties. This doctrine was applied to the United States Bank more than seventy years ago in Osborn v. United States Bank, 9 Wheat. 738, 819, and more recently to railways chartered under acts of. Congress, Pacific Railroad Removal cases, 115 U. S. 1, even since the Court of Appeals act was passed. Northern Pacific Railroad v. Amato, 144 U. S. 465; Union Pacific Railway v. Harris, 158 U. S. 326.

But by the act of 1882, and more recently by section four of the acts of March 3, 1887, and August 13, 1888, the privilege of suing and being sued under this clause was taken away from national banks by the following language:

“ Seo. 4. That all national banking associations established under the laws of the United States shall, for the purposes of all actions by or against them, real, personal or mixed, and all suits in equity, be deemed citizens of the States in which they are respectively located; and in such cases the Circuit and District Courts shall not have jurisdiction, other than such as they would have in cases between individual citizens of the same States.”

In Leather Mfrs. Bank v. Cooper, 120 U. S. 778, it was held by this court that, under the act of 1882, which was similar in its terms, an action against a national bank could not be removed to the Federal court, “unless a similar suit could be entertained by the same court by or against a state bank in like situation with the national bank. Consequently, so long as the act of 1882 was in force, nothing in the way of jurisdiction could be claimed by a national bank because of the source of its incorporation. A national bank was by that statute placed before the law in this respect the same as a bank not organized under the laws of the United States.” See also Whittemore v. Amoskeag Nat. Bank, 134 U. S. 527; Petri v. Commercial Bank, 142 U, S. 644. The section above cited from the act of 1888 undoubtedly deprives these banks of the privilege of suing or being sued, except in cases where diversity of citizenship would authorize an action to be brought; and in such cases the decree of the Court of Appeals is final.

In this case the original bill averred the complainant to be a citizen of Pennsylvania and the defendant to be a national bank, duly established under the laws of the United States, having its place of business at Boston, and a citizen of the State of Massachusetts. As the bill was filed after the act of 1888 took effect, it must be deemed to be a suit dependent upon citizenship alone. But even if another ground were developed in the course of the proceedings, the judgment of the Court of Appeals would be final if the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court were originally invoked solely upon the ground of citizenship. Colorado Central Mining Co. v. Turck, 150 U. S. 138; Borgmeyer v. Idler, 159 U. S. 408.

The petition for mandamus must be

Denied.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (18 total)

  • …887, Chapter 373, 24 Stat. at L. 552. The Act of March 3, 1875, the Act of July 12, 1882, and the Act of August 13, 1888, all relate to the same subject matter which is unrelated to the subject matter of the Act of February 18, 1875. Ex Parte Jones, 164 U. S. 691, 17 Sup. Ct. 222, 41 Law Ed. 601. Continental National Bank of Memphis v. C. G. Buford, 191 U. S. 119, 24 Sup. Ct. 54, Petri v. Commercial National Bank of Chi [*322] cago, supra. The net result of the holding in these cases, as applied to the insta…
  • Loeb v. Columbia Twp. Trs., 179 U.S. 472 (U.S. 1900)
    …opposite parties to the suit or controversy being aliens and citizens of the United States or citizens of different States.” Colorado Central Consolidation Mining Co. v. Turck, 150. U. S. 138; Borgmeyer v. Idler, 159 U. S. 408, 414; Ex parte Jones, 164 U. S. 691, 693. "When the question is whether a judgment of the Circuit .Court of Appeals is final in a particular- case, it may well be that the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court is, within the meaning of that section, to be regarded as dependent entirely u…
  • Delaware v. Yurkonis, 238 U.S. 439 (U.S. 1915)

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