Ex Parte Collett (337 U.S. 55)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 31, 1949 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 337 U.S. 55 · 69 S. Ct. 944
- Docket
- No. 206M
- Argued
- February 7, 1949
- Decided
- May 31, 1949
- Term
- October Term 1948
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Vinson
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Petition denied or appeal dismissed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson (wrote), Justice Burton, Justice R. H. Jackson, Justice Frankfurter, Justice Reed, Justice Murphy
- Concurring in the judgment
- Justice Rutledge (wrote)
- Dissenting
- Justice Douglas (wrote), Justice Black (wrote)
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Chief Justice Vinson delivered the opinion of the Court. In this case we must, decide whether the venue provisions of the Judicial Code render applicable the doctrine of jorum non conveniens to actions under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act. Petitioner instituted such an action against the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in October, 1947, in the court below, the United States District Court for . the Eastern District of Illinois. No trial was had before September 1, 1948, the effective date of the present Judicial Code. Thereafter the Railroad filed a motion to transfer the case to the District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The court below found that all 35 witnesses and the petitioner himself live in Irvine, Kentucky, which also was the scene of the accident; that Irvine is 420 miles, “approximately twenty-four hours ... by public transportation,” from East St. Louis, where the court below sits, but only 26 miles from Richmond and 48. from Lexington, in which two cities the District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky sits. Furthermore, the court below determined that jury schedules at both Richmond and Lexington made early trial possible. Thus concluding that the transfer would serve'the convenience of parties and witnesses, and would be in the interest of justice, the District Court granted the Railroad’s motion. Petitioner then filed…
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