Americold Logistics, LLC, v. Conagra Foods, Inc. (577 U.S. 378)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 7, 2016 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 577 U.S. 378 · 136 S. Ct. 1012
- Decided
- March 7, 2016
- Term
- October Term 2015
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Sotomayor
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice SOTOMAYOR delivered the opinion of the Court. Federal law permits federal courts to resolve certain nonfederal controversies between "citizens" of different States. This rule is easy enough to apply to humans, but can become metaphysical when applied to legal entities. This case asks how to determine the citizenship of a "real estate investment trust," an inanimate creature of Maryland law. We answer: While humans and corporations can assert their own citizenship, other entities take the citizenship of their members. I This action began as a typical state-law controversy, one involving a contract dispute and an underground food-storage warehouse fire. A group of corporations whose food perished in that 1991 fire continues to seek compensation from the warehouse's owner, now known as Americold Realty Trust. After the corporations filed their latest suit in Kansas court, Americold removed the suit to the Federal District Court for the District of Kansas. The District Court accepted jurisdiction and resolved the dispute in favor of Americold. On appeal, however, the Tenth Circuit asked for supplemental briefing on whether the District Court's exercise of jurisdiction was appropriate. The parties responded that the District Court possessed jurisdiction because the suit involved "citizens of different States." 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332(a)(1), 1441(b). The Tenth Circuit disagreed.…
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