American National Red Cross v. S. G. and A. E. (505 U.S. 247)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 19, 1992 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 505 U.S. 247 · 112 S. Ct. 2465
- Decided
- June 19, 1992
- Term
- October Term 1991
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Souter
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Souter delivered the opinion of the Court. The Charter of the American National Red Cross authorizes the organization “to sue and be sued in courts of law and equity, State or Federal, within the jurisdiction of the United States.” 33 Stat. 600, as amended, 36 U. S. C. §2. In this case we consider whether that “sue and be sued” provision confers original jurisdiction on federal courts over all cases to which the Red Cross is a party, with the consequence that the organization is thereby authorized to remove from state to federal court any state-law action it is defending. We hold that the clause does confer such jurisdiction. J — I In 1988 respondents filed a state-law tort action in a court of the State of New Hampshire, alleging that one of respondents had contracted AIDS from a transfusion of contaminated blood during surgery, and naming as defendants the surgeon and the manufacturer of a piece of medical equipment used during the procedure. After discovering that the Red Cross had supplied the tainted blood, respondents sued it, too, again in state court, and moved to consolidate the two actions. Before the state court decided that motion, the Red Cross invoked the federal removal statute, 28 U. S. C. § 1441, to remove the latter suit to the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. The Red Cross claimed federal jurisdiction based both on the…
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