At trial, Erie argued that Tompkins was a trespasser and, under Pennsylvania state law, the company was not liable unless its conduct was wantonly negligent. "There is No Need to Erie-Guess When the Law Is Clear and Unambiguous. 1188, that held that in an action in a federal court, except as to matters governed by the U.S. Constitution and acts of Congress, the law to be applied in any case is the law of the state in which the federal court is situated. General law provides that "where the public has made open and notorious use of a railroad right of way for a long period of time and without objection, the company owes to persons on such permissive pathway a duty of care in the operation of its trains.". Justice Brandeis also noted problems for equal protection of the laws, but the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies only to states, and the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause was not read to include an equal protection component until the 1954 decision in Bolling v. Sharpe. A train approached in the darkness, and an object protruding from one of the cars struck Tompkins. Story apparently hoped that when hearing state law claims in diversity jurisdiction, federal district courts would fashion a uniform "general law." Decided April 25, 1938. This page was last edited on 20 June 2019, at 03:58. We have created a browser extension.

When there is no federal law to resolve the question in a lawsuit, they must follow the law of the state that is involved. Of course, this was a very difficult decision for the Court, since overruling Swift meant that a huge number of decisions by the Court and all lower federal courts were no longer valid law. 253. A passing train operated by the defendant, Erie Railroad, struck him and severed his arm. However, the Court did not declare the Rules of Decision Act itself unconstitutional. You can try any plan risk-free for 7 days. Cancel anytime.

The Pennsylvania rule was that people who use pathways along railroad right-of-ways, not railroad crossings, are trespassers to whom railroads were not to be held liable unless the trespassers were intentionally injured by the reckless and wanton acts of the railroads. First, as the Erie opinion noted, nothing in the Constitution actually grants jurisdiction to the federal judiciary to conduct plenary review of issues of state common law where no federal issue is present. In the worst cases a party who had lost in the state supreme court would simply begin all over again in federal courts; since the federal district court had its own set of common law rules, it could hold it was not bound by the state supreme court ruling. law provides that anyone walking along a trail that is parallel to the tracks is a trespasser, and the railroad is not liable to undiscovered trespassers. Erie Railroad is considered one of the major examples where the Supreme Court has exceptionally gone against the principle of party presentation, as neither party had suggested a need to review Swift but the Court took it up themselves to review and ultimately overturn it.[3]. To install click the Add extension button. Tompkins wanted to sue the railroad and recover monetary damages for his injuries. 817, 82 L.Ed. He held that it was more important for all federal courts to follow a uniform rule, rather than for each federal court to apply local state rules when there was no statute to resolve the case. In the latter case, future federal courts would be required to follow the state's precedents, although a final judgment in the "guessed" case would not be reopened. This Act, which began as Section 34 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, is now codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1652 and is as follows: In the Swift decision, Story had interpreted the words "laws of the several States" narrowly, treating them as referring to only the statutory law of states and not the judge-made law declared by states' appellate courts. Juni 1986 von Warner Home Video auf VHS veröffentlicht und dann ab dem 3. Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins. Cookies help us deliver our services. Thus, where the state legislature had not passed a statute that controlled the case, a federal district court was free to make up its own common law. Federal district courts sitting in diversity jurisdiction must apply both statutory and judge-man common law of the states where it does not conflict with federal law. I use WIKI 2 every day and almost forgot how the original Wikipedia looks like. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings, or use a different web browser like Google Chrome or Safari. He pointed out that no one in this case had directly challenged the Swift regime, which the Court had adhered to for so long in so many cases. If the plaintiff and defendant were citizens of different states, the plaintiff could take advantage of the right to sue in federal court. There was sufficient doubt about the matter in 1789 to induce the first Congress to legislate. It actually prevented uniformity and caused discrimination by non-citizens against citizens, as non-citizens had the privilege of deciding whether to have the case heard in state or federal court and thus whether federal common law would apply. The dissent section is for members only and includes a summary of the dissenting judge or justice’s opinion. There is no general federal common law. Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304U.S.64(1938), is a landmarkdecision by the Supreme Court of the United Statesin which the Court held that federal courtsdid not have the judicial power to create general federal common law when hearing state law claims under diversity jurisdiction. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff, which was upheld by the Second Circuit. A 1938 landmark decision by the Supreme Court, Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S. Ct. 817, 82 L. Ed.
The new rule of erie railroad co. v. tompkins provided that federal courts do not have the power to formulate their own rules of law. Therefore, the Court felt it was time to overrule the doctrine of Swift as an unconstitutional extension of its own powers. University of Chicago Law Review 64 (summer): 873–902.

865: 'Undoubtedly, the decisions of the local tribunals upon such subjects are entitled to, and will receive, the most deliberate attention and respect of this court; but they cannot furnish positive rules, or conclusive authority, by which our own judgments are to be bound up and governed.'. The concurrence section is for members only and includes a summary of the concurring judge or justice’s opinion. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. The case was remanded to the Second Circuit for a ruling on the merits of Pennsylvania law. The operation could not be completed. ERIE R. CO. v. Alternatively, federal courts can certify questions to a state supreme court, so long as the state itself has a procedure in place to allow this. Cf. 1188 (1938). The Court, in an opinion by Associate Justice Brandeis, examined the manipulations and opportunistic practices of litigants that had resulted from the rule of Swift v. Tyson and determined that "in attempting to promote uniformity of law throughout the United States, the doctrine had prevented uniformity in the administration of the law of the state." Nothing in the Constitution of the United States permits the U.S. Congress to empower federal courts to create their own common law for cases that do not involve an issue of federal law. 817, 82 L.Ed. In reaching this holding, the Court overturned almost a century of federal civil procedure case law, and established the foundation of what remains the modern law of diversity jurisdiction as it applies to United States federal courts. Oktober 1988 von Sat.1 ausgestrahlt. Associate Justice Pierce Butler filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Associate Justice James McReynolds, in which he argued the majority had engaged in judicial activism. For educational purposes only. Facts: Tompkins, the plaintiff, was walking alongside a railroad track. B This article has been rated as B-Class on the quality scale. 1 (1842), holding that federal courts were only bound to apply state statutory and customary law, not state common law. While Congress broadened the scope of Supreme Court review in 1914 to include state supreme court decisions allowing federal claims, Congress never actually authorized the Supreme Court to conduct plenary review of the merits of state law claims (and no one ever sought a constitutional amendment that would authorize Congress to do that).

practice questions in 1L, 2L, & 3L subjects, as well as 16,500+ case Tompkins argued that federal general law should apply and determine Erie’s duty and liability. Congratulations on this excellent venture… what a great idea! I concur in the conclusion reached in this case, in the disapproval of the doctrine of Swift v. Tyson, and in the reasoning of the majority opinion, except in so far as it relies upon the unconstitutionality of the 'course pursued' by the federal courts. To decide the case now before us and to 'disapprove' the doctrine of Swift v. Tyson requires only that we say that the words 'the laws' include in their meaning the decisions of the local tribunals.

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