Suttle, Administratrix, v. Reich Bros. Construction Co. et al. (333 U.S. 163)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 8, 1948 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 333 U.S. 163 · 68 S. Ct. 587
- Decided
- March 8, 1948
- Term
- October Term 1947
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Vinson
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Me. Chief Justice Vinson delivered the opinion of the Court. We granted certiorari in this case to consider a question arising under the federal venue statutes. Petitioner, a resident and citizen of the State of Mississippi, brought a negligence action based on diversity of citizenship in the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The defendants in that suit were the respondents Reich Bros. Construction Company, a partnership, and its individual members, residents of the Western District of Louisiana, and Highway Insurance Underwriters, a Texas corporation which had qualified to do business in Louisiana pursuant to a statute of that State. Section 51 of the Judicial Code provides that . . where the jurisdiction is founded only on the fact that the action is between citizens of different States, suit shall be brought only in the district of the residence of either the plaintiff or the defendant.” This general provision is qualified by § 52 of the Judicial Code, which states that “. . . if there are two or more defendants, residing in different districts of the State, . . . [suit] may be brought in either district, . . .” It is conceded by the parties that the Texas corporation, Highway Insurance, having qualified to do business in Louisiana is amenable to suit in the federal courts for either the Eastern or Western District of that State. The critical issue of…
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