Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/304/64/
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 20:32:47+00:00

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Since federal common law is invalid, federal courts sitting in diversity jurisdiction should apply substantive state law and federal procedural law, unless there is a conflict between substantive state and federal law.
The events giving rise to this case were relatively straightforward, but complexities arose from the surrounding circumstances. After being driven to a location near his home by a friend, Harry Tompkins was walking the remaining distance next to the Erie and Wyoming Valley Railroad tracks. The path was narrow and close to the tracks but frequently used. Since it was late at night, the darkness prevented Tompkins from seeing an object that protruded from a passing train. He was struck by the object and fell under the train, where his arm was crushed.
The accident happened in Pennsylvania, and Tompkins was a resident of Pennsylvania. However, in a likely instance of forum shopping, he filed a lawsuit against the railroad company in a federal court in New York, where the corporation was a resident. This was probably because Tompkins had a stronger chance of success in New York than in Pennsylvania. Federal courts sitting in diversity jurisdiction generally apply the statutory law of the states, but the 1842 Supreme Court decision in Swift v. Tyson ruled that they should apply federal common law to non-statutory causes of action. Whereas federal common law applied an ordinary negligence standard for the duty of care owed by railroads to people in his situation, Pennsylvania state law would have required him to show wanton negligence. Tompkins prevailed and received a damages award, but the payment of the award was stayed during the proceedings.
Deeply concerned about the potential of forum shopping, Brandeis decided that it was time to depart from the rule in Swift and seek greater uniformity in how the law was applied. He pointed out that Justice Story, who wrote the majority opinion in Swift, had believed that the laws of states eventually would become more similar to each other and to federal law, reducing the risk of forum shopping. This vision had not come to pass over the following century, partly because the Supreme Court did not often review issues hinging on state common law. By using diversity jurisdiction, moreover, parties could choose the law that they wanted by relocating or moving their business to a different state. There were even situations in which a party pursued litigation in federal court after failing to achieve its goals in state courts. As a result, the already overburdened dockets of both systems were placed under greater pressure through the manipulations of litigants.
Arguing that the Swift decision went beyond the boundaries of the appropriate constitutional role for the judicial branch, Brandeis wrote that federal courts are not entitled to create their own common law for issues that properly fall within state law. He also suggested that the impact of that decision created vertical separation of powers concerns involving the federal government and the states. Instead, he felt that applying state substantive law would lead to more predictable outcomes for litigants and greater efficiency for courts.
Reed had a minor quibble with the way in which the majority reached its conclusion, stating that the interpretation in Swift was merely erroneous rather than unconstitutional.
Ironically, Butler felt that Erie rather than Swift was a decision in which the Court had gone beyond its appropriate role. He pointed out that neither party had raised a constitutional question in the case, and thus the Court had decided it on inappropriate grounds. The decision in Swift had not been contested until the majority chose to introduce it.
While this is arguably the most important civil procedure decision in the history of the Supreme Court, its distinction between procedural and substantive law is not as sharp as it sounds and has led to a host of later decisions attempting to interpret and clarify it. Uncertainty remains when a federal court must review a case on an issue that a state court has not yet decided. The decisions of lower federal courts on such topics are not binding on state courts, whereas state court decisions often are binding on themselves. Should the state court later reach a different conclusion, a federal court reviewing the same issue in the future would be required to follow the state court's interpretation rather than the previous federal court interpretation. (However, the initial decision in federal court would remain in effect rather than being reopened.) In some instances, a federal court will certify a question to a state court on a matter of state law.
The initial price paid for the Court's shift by the lower levels of federal courts was high. Many decisions over the previous century had relied on Swift and needed to be overturned. Tompkins also paid a high price, since the New York court applied Pennsylvania law upon remand under its choice-of-law rules and dismissed his case.
1. The liability of a railroad company for injury caused by negligent operation of its train to a pedestrian on a much-used, beaten path on its right-of-way along and near the rails depends, in the absence of a federal or state statute, upon the unwritten law of the State where the accident occurred. Pp. 304 U. S. 71 et seq.
2. A federal court exercising jurisdiction over such a case on the ground of diversity of citizenship, is not free to treat this question as one of so-called "general law," but must apply the state law as declared by the highest state court. Swift v. Tyson, 16 Pet. 1, overruled. Id.
3. There is no federal general common law. Congress has no power to declare substantive rules of common law applicable in a State whether they be local in their nature or "general," whether they be commercial law or a part of the law of torts. And no clause in the Constitution purports to confer such a power upon the federal courts. Except in matters governed by the Federal Constitution or by Acts of Congress, the law to be applied in any case is the law of the State. And whether the law of the State shall be declared by its legislature in a statute or by its highest court in a decision is not a matter of federal concern. P. 304 U. S. 78.
4. In disapproving the doctrine of Swift v. Tyson, the Court does not hold unconstitutional § 34 of the Federal Judiciary Act of 1789 or any other Act of Congress. It merely declares that, by applying the doctrine of that case, rights which are reserved by the Constitution to the several States have been invaded. P. 304 U. S. 79.
The question for decision is whether the oft-challenged doctrine of Swift v. Tyson [Footnote 1] shall now be disapproved.
Tompkins, a citizen of Pennsylvania, was injured on a dark night by a passing freight train of the Erie Railroad Company while walking along its right of way at Hughestown in that State. He claimed that the accident occurred through negligence in the operation, or maintenance, of the train; that he was rightfully on the premises as licensee because on a commonly used beaten footpath which ran for a short distance alongside the tracks, and that he was struck by something which looked like a door projecting from one of the moving cars. To enforce that claim, he brought an action in the federal court for southern New York, which had jurisdiction because the company is a corporation of that State. It denied liability, and the case was tried by a jury.
"upon questions of general law, the federal courts are free, in the absence of a local statute, to exercise their independent judgment as to what the law is, and it is well settled that the question of the responsibility of a railroad for injuries caused by its servants is one of general law. . . . 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. . . . It is likewise generally recognized law that a jury may find that negligence exists toward a pedestrian using a permissive path on the railroad right of way if he is hit by some object projecting from the side of the train. "
instrument, or what is the just rule furnished by the principles of commercial law to govern the case."
was sustained by the Court of Appeals, and this Court, citing many decisions in which the doctrine of Swift v. Tyson had been applied, affirmed the decree.
or in the federal court, and the privilege of selecting the court in which the right should be determined was conferred upon the noncitizen. [Footnote 9] Thus, the doctrine rendered impossible equal protection of the law. 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.
the State could avail itself of the federal rule by reincorporating under the laws of another State, as was done in the Taxicab case.
of the course pursued has now been made clear, and compels us to do so.
in their judicial departments. Supervision over either the legislative or the judicial action of the States is in no case permissible except as to matters by the Constitution specifically authorized or delegated to the United States. Any interference with either, except as thus permitted, is an invasion of the authority of the State and, to that extent, a denial of its independence."
"but law in the sense in which courts speak of it today does not exist without some definite authority behind it. The common law so far as it is enforced in a State, whether called common law or not, is not the common law generally, but the law of that State existing by the authority of that State without regard to what it may have been in England or anywhere else. . . ."
"the authority and only authority is the State, and, if that be so, the voice adopted by the State as its own [whether it be of its Legislature or of its Supreme Court] should utter the last word."
"an unconstitutional assumption of powers by courts of the United States which no lapse of time or respectable array of opinion should make us hesitate to correct."
unconstitutional § 34 of the Federal Judiciary Act of 1789 or any other Act of Congress. We merely declare that, in applying the doctrine, this Court and the lower courts have invaded rights which, in our opinion, are reserved by the Constitution to the several States.
Fourth. The defendant contended that, by the common law of Pennsylvania as declared by its highest court in Falchetti v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 307 Pa. 203; 160 A. 859, the only duty owed to the plaintiff was to refrain from willful or wanton injury. The plaintiff denied that such is the Pennsylvania law. [Footnote 24] In support of their respective contentions the parties discussed and cited many decisions of the Supreme Court of the State. The Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the question of liability is one of general law, and on that ground declined to decide the issue of state law. As we hold this was error, the judgment is reversed and the case remanded to it for further proceedings in conformity with our opinion.
16 Pet. 1 (1842). Leading cases applying the doctrine are collected in Black & White Taxicab Co. v. Brown & Yellow Taxicab Co., 276 U. S. 518, 276 U. S. 530, 276 U. S. 531. Dissent from its application or extension was expressed as early as 1845 by Mr. Justice McKinley (and Mr. Chief Justice Taney) in Lane v. Vick, 3 How. 464, 44 U. S. 477. Dissenting opinions were also written by Mr. Justice Daniel in Rowan v. Runnels, 5 How. 134, 46 U. S. 140; by Mr. Justice Nelson in Williamson v. Berry, 8 How. 495, 49 U. S. 550, 49 U. S. 558; by Mr. Justice Campbell in Pease v. Peck, 18 How. 595, 59 U. S. 599, 59 U. S. 600, and by Mr. Justice Miller in Gelpcke v. City of Dubuque, 1 Wall. 175, 68 U. S. 207, and Butz v. City of Muscatine, 8 Wall. 575, 75 U. S. 585. Vigorous attack upon the entire doctrine was made by Mr. Justice Field in Baltimore & Ohio R. Co. v. Baugh, 149 U. S. 368, 149 U. S. 390, and by Mr. Justice Holmes in Kuhn v. Fairmont Coal Co., 215 U. S. 349, 215 U. S. 370, and in the Taxicab Case, 276 U.S. at 276 U. S. 532.
"has been uniformly held to be no more than a declaration of what the law would have been without it: to-wit, that the lex loci must be the governing rule of private right, under whatever jurisdiction private right comes to be examined."
See also Bank of Hamilton v. Dudley's Lessee, 2 Pet. 492, 27 U. S. 525. Compare Jackson v. Chew, 12 Wheat. 153, 25 U. S. 162, 25 U. S. 168; Livingston v. Moore, 7 Pet. 469, 32 U. S. 542.
Pepper, The Border Land of Federal and State Decisions (1889) 57; Gray, The Nature and Sources of Law (1909 ed.) §§ 533-34; Trickett, Non-Federal Law Administered in Federal Courts (1906) 40 Am.L.Rev. 819, 821-24.
Street, Is There a General Commercial Law of the United States (1873) 21 Am.L.Reg. 473; Hornblower, Conflict between State and Federal Decisions (1880) 14 Am.L.Rev. 211; Meigs, Decisions of the Federal Courts on Questions of State Law (1882) 8 So.L.Rev. (n.s.) 452, (1911) 45 Am.L.Rev. 47; Heiskell, Conflict between Federal and State Decisions (1882) 16 Am.L.Rev. 743; Rand, Swift v. Tyson versus Gelpcke v. Dubuque (1895) 8 Harv.L.Rev. 328, 341-43; Mills, Should Federal Courts Ignore State Laws (1900) 34 Am.L.Rev. 51; Carpenter, Court Decisions and the Common Law (1917) 17 Col.L.Rev. 593, 602-603.
Charles Warren, New Light on the History of the Federal Judiciary Act of 1789 (1923) 37 Harv.L.Rev. 49, 51-52, 81-88, 108.
Shelton, Concurrent Jurisdiction -- Its Necessity and its Dangers (1928) 15 Va.L.Rev. 137; Frankfurter, Distribution of Judicial Power Between Federal and State Courts (1928) 13 Corn.L.Q. 499, 524-30; Johnson, State Law and the Federal Courts (1929) 17 Ky.L.J. 355; Fordham, The Federal Courts and the Construction of Uniform State Laws (1929) 7 N.C.L.Rev. 423; Dobie, Seven Implications of Swift v. Tyson (1930) 16 Va.L.Rev. 225; Dawson, Conflict of Decisions between State and Federal Courts in Kentucky, and the Remedy (1931) 20 Ky.L.J. 1; Campbell, Is Swift v. Tyson an Argument for or against Abolishing Diversity of Citizenship Jurisdiction (1932) 18 A.B.A.J. 809; Ball, Revision of Federal Diversity Jurisdiction (1933) 28 Ill.L.Rev. 356, 362-64; Fordham, Swift v. Tyson and the Construction of State Statutes (1935) 41 W.Va. L.Q. 131.
Compare Mr. Justice Miller in Gelpcke v. City of Dubuque, 1 Wall. 175, 68 U. S. 209. The conflicts listed in Holt, The Concurrent Jurisdiction of the Federal and State Courts (1888) 160 et seq. cover twenty-eight pages. See also Frankfurter, supra, note 6 at 524-530; Dawson, supra, note 6; Note Aftermath of the Supreme Court's Stop, Look and Listen Rule (1930) 43 Harv.L.Rev. 926; cf. Yntema and Jaffin, Preliminary Analysis of Concurrent Jurisdiction (1931) 79 U. of Pa.L.Rev. 869, 881-86. Moreover, as pointed out by Judge Augustus N. Hand in Cole v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 43 F.2d 953, 956-57, decisions of this Court on common law questions are less likely than formerly to promote uniformity.
"Probably no decision of the Court has ever given rise to more uncertainty as to legal rights, and though doubtless intended to promote uniformity in the operation of business transactions, its chief effect has been to render it difficult for business men to know in advance to what particular topic the Court would apply the doctrine. . . ."
It was even possible for a nonresident plaintiff defeated on a point of law in the highest court of a State nevertheless to win out by taking a nonsuit and renewing the controversy in the federal court. Compare Gardner v. Michigan Cent. R. Co., 150 U. S. 349; Harrison v. Foley, 206 Fed. 57 (C.C.A. 8); Interstate Realty & Inv. Co. v. Bibb County, 293 Fed. 721 (C.C.A. 5); see Mills, supra, note 4 at 52.
For a recent survey of the scope of the doctrine, see Sharp & Brennan, The Application of the Doctrine of Swift v. Tyson since 1900 (1929) 4 Ind.L.J. 367.
Black & White Taxicab Co. v. Brown & Yellow Taxicab Co., 276 U. S. 518; Rowan v. Runnels, 5 How. 134, 46 U. S. 139; Boyce v. Tabb, 18 Wall. 546, 85 U. S. 548; Johnson v. Chas. D. Norton Co., 159 Fed. 361 (C.C.A. 6); Keene Five Cent Sav. Bank v. Reid, 123 Fed. 221 (C.C.A. 8).
Railroad Co. v. Lockwood, 17 Wall. 357, 84 U. S. 367-368; Liverpool & G. W. Stearn Co. v. Phenix Ins. Co., 129 U. S. 397, 129 U. S. 443; Eels v. St. Louis, K. & N.W. Ry. Co., 52 Fed. 903 (C.C.S.D. Iowa); Fowler v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 229 Fed. 373 (C.C.A. 2).
Chicago v. Robbins, 2 Black 418, 67 U. S. 428. Compare 77 U. S. Milwaukee, 10 Wall. 497, 77 U. S. 506-507; Yeates v. Illinois Cent. R. Co., 137 Fed. 943 (C.C.N.D.Ill.); Curtis v. Cleveland, C.C. & St. L. Ry. Co., 140 Fed. 777 (C. G. E.D.Ill.). See also Hough v. Railway Co., 100 U. S. 213, 100 U. S. 226; Baltimore & Ohio R. Co. v. Baugh, 149 U. S. 368; Gardner v. Michigan Cent. R. Co., 150 U. S. 349, 150 U. S. 358; Beutler v. Grand Trunk Junction Ry. Co., 224 U. S. 85; Baltimore & Ohio R. Co. v. Goodman, 275 U. S. 66; Pokora v. Wabash Ry. Co., 292 U. S. 98; Cole v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 43 F. (2d) 953 (C.C.A. 2).
Lake Shore & M. S. Ry. Co. v. Prentice, 147 U. S. 101, 147 U. S. 106; Norfolk & P. Traction Co. v. Miller, 174 Fed. 607 (C.C.A. 4); Greene v. Keithley, 86 F. (2d) 239 (C.C.A. 8).
Foxcroft v. Mallet, 4 How. 353, 45 U. S. 379; Midland Valley R. Co. v. Sutter, 28 F. (2d) 163 (C.C.A. 8); Midland Valley R. Co. v. Jarvis, 29 F. (2d) 539 (C.C.A. 8).
Kuhn v. Fairmont Coal Co., 215 U. S. 349; Mid-Continent Petroleum Corp. v. Sauder, 67 F. (2d) 9, 12 (G. C.A. 10), reversed on other grounds, 292 U. S. 272.
Lane v. Vick, 3 How. 464, 44 U. S. 476; Barber v. Pittsburgh, F. W. & C. R. Co., 166 U. S. 83, 166 U. S. 99-100; Messinger v. Anderson, 171 Fed. 785, 791-792 (C.C.A. 6), reversed on other grounds, 225 U. S. 225 U.S. 436; Knox & Lewis v. Alwood, 228 Fed. 753 (S.D.Ga.).
Compare, also, 49 U. S. Berry, 8 How. 495; Watson v. Tarpley, 18 How. 517; Gelpcke v. City of Dubuqe, 1 Wall. 175.
See Cheever v. Wilson, 9 Wall. 108, 76 U. S. 123; Robertson v. Carson, 19 Wall. 94, 86 U. S. 106-107; Morris v. Gilmer, 129 U. S. 315, 129 U. S. 328; Dickerman v. Northern Trust Co., 176 U. S. 181, 176 U. S. 192; Williamson v. Osenton, 232 U. S. 619, 232 U. S. 625.
See, e.g., Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on S. 937, S. 939, and S. 3243, 72d Cong., 1st Sess. (1932) 6-8; Hearing Before the House Committee on the Judiciary on H.R. 10594, H.R. 4526, and H.R. 11508, 72d Cong., 1st Sess., ser. 12 (1932) 97-104; Sen.Rep. No. 530, 72d Cong., 1st Sess. (1932) 4-6; Collier, A Plea Against Jurisdiction Because of Diversity (1913) 76 Cent.L.J. 263, 264, 266; Frankfurter, supra, note 6; Ball supra, note 6; Warren Corporations and Diversity of Citizenship (1933) 19 Va.L.Rev. 661, 686.
Thus, bills which would abrogate the doctrine of Swift v. Tyson have been introduced. S. 4333, 70th Cong., 1st Sess.; S. 96, 71st Cong., 1st Sess.; H.R. 8094, 72d Cong., 1st Sess. See also Mills, supra, note 4 at 68-69; Dobie, supra, note 6 at 241; Frankfurter, supra, note 6 at 530; Campbell, supra, note 6 at 811. State statutes on conflicting questions of "general law" have also been suggested. See Heiskell, supra, note 4 at 760; Dawson, supra, note 6; Dobie supra, note 6 at 241.
The doctrine has not been without defenders. See Eliot, The Common Law of the Federal Courts (1902) 36 Am.L.Rev. 498, 523-25; A. B. Parker, The Common Law Jurisdiction of the United States Courts (1907) 17 Yale L.J. 1; Schofield, Swift v. Tyson: Uniformity of Judge-Made State Law in State and Federal Courts (1910) 4 Ill.L.Rev. 533; Brown, The Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts Based on Diversity of Citizenship (1929) 78 U. of Pa.L.Rev. 179, 189-91; J. J. Parker, The Federal Jurisdiction and Recent Attacks Upon It (1932) 18 A.B.A.J. 433, 438; Yntema, The Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts in Controversies Between Citizens of Different States (1933) 19 A.B.A.J. 71, 74-75; Beutel, Common Law Judicial Technique and the Law of Negotiable Instruments -- Two Unfortunate Decisions (1934) 9 Tulane L.Rev. 64.
Kuhn v. Fairmont Coal Co., 215 U. S. 349, 215 U. S. 370-372; Black & White Taxicab Co. v. Brown & Yellow Taxicab Co., 276 U. S. 518, 276 U. S. 532-536.
Tompkins also contended that the alleged rule of the Falchetti case is not, in any event, applicable here because he was struck at the intersection of the longitudinal pathway and a transverse crossing. The court below found it unnecessary to consider this contention, and we leave the question open.
approaching and had time and space enough to step aside and so avoid danger. To justify his failure to get out of the way, he says that, upon many other occasions he had safely walked there while trains passed.
Invoking jurisdiction on the ground of diversity of citizenship, plaintiff, a citizen and resident of Pennsylvania, brought this suit to recover damages against defendant, a New York corporation, in the federal court for the southern district of that State. The issues were whether negligence of defendant was a proximate cause of his injuries and whether negligence of plaintiff contributed. He claimed that, by hauling the car with the open door, defendant violated a duty to him. The defendant insisted that it violated no duty and that plaintiff's injuries were caused by his own negligence. The jury gave him a verdict on which the trial court entered judgment; the circuit court of appeals affirmed. 90 F (2d) 603.
"We need not go into this matter since the defendant concedes that the great weight of authority in other states is to the contrary. This concession is fatal to its contention, for upon questions of general law the federal courts are free, in absence of a local statute, to exercise their independent judgment as to what the law is, and it is well settled that the question of the responsibility of a railroad for injuries caused by its servants is one of general law.
Upon that basis the court held the evidence sufficient to sustain a finding that plaintiff's injuries were caused by the negligence of defendant. It also held the question of contributory negligence one for the jury."
Defendant's petition for writ of certiorari presented two questions: whether its duty toward plaintiff should have been determined in accordance with the law as found by the highest court of Pennsylvania, and whether the evidence conclusively showed plaintiff guilty of contributory negligence. Plaintiff contends that, as always heretofore held by this Court, the issues of negligence and contributory negligence are to be determined by general law against which local decisions may not be held conclusive; that defendant relies on a solitary Pennsylvania case of doubtful applicability and that, even if the decisions of the courts of that State were deemed controlling, the same result would have to be reached.
No constitutional question was suggested or argued below or here. And as a general rule, this Court will not consider any question not raised below and presented by the petition. Olson v. United States, 292 U. S. 246, 292 U. S. 262. Johnson v. Manhattan Ry. Co., 289 U. S. 479, 289 U. S. 494. Gunning v. Cooley, 281 U. S. 90, 281 U. S. 98. Here it does not decide either of the questions presented but, changing the rule of decision in force since the foundation of the Government, remands the case to be adjudged according to a standard never before deemed permissible.
"the question for decision is whether the oft-challenged doctrine of Swift v. Tyson [1842, 16 Pet. 1] shall now be disapproved."
the United States in cases where they apply."
before stated, and does not extend to contracts and other instruments of a commercial nature, the true interpretation and effect whereof are to be sought not in the decisions of the local tribunals, but in the general principles and doctrines of commercial jurisprudence. 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."
"Whatever differences of opinion may have been expressed have not been on the question whether a matter of general law should be settled by the independent judgment of this court, rather than through an adherence to the decisions of the state courts, but upon the other question, whether a given matter is one of local or of general law."
court of the United States was bound to exercise its own independent judgment in the construction of a conveyance made before the state courts had rendered an authoritative decision as to its meaning and effect. Kuhn v. Fairmont Coal Co., 215 U. S. 349. But that dissent accepted (p. 215 U. S. 371) as "settled" the doctrine of Swift v. Tyson, and insisted (p. 215 U. S. 372) merely that the case under consideration was, by nature and necessity, peculiarly local.
"I should leave Swift v. Tyson undisturbed, as I indicated in Kuhn v. Fairmont Coal Co., but I would not allow it to spread the assumed dominion into new fields."
No more unqualified application of the doctrine can be found than in decisions of this Court speaking through Mr. Justice Holmes. United Zinc Co. v. Britt, 258 U. S. 268. Baltimore & Ohio R. Co. v. Goodman, 275 U. S. 66, 275 U. S. 70. Without in the slightest departing from that doctrine, but implicitly applying it, the strictness of the rule laid down in the Goodman case was somewhat ameliorated by Pokora v. Wabash Ry. Co., 292 U. S. 98.
depends are questions of general law. Hough v. Railway Co., 100 U. S. 213, 100 U. S. 226. Lake Shore & M. S. Ry. Co. v. Prentice, 147 U. S. 101. Baltimore & Ohio R. Co. v. Baugh, supra. Gardner v. Michigan Central R. Co., 150 U. S. 349, 150 U. S. 358. Central Vermont Ry. Co. v. White, 238 U. S. 507, 238 U. S. 512. Baltimore & Ohio R. Co. v. Goodman, supra. Pokora v. Wabash Ry. Co., supra.
"If only a question of statutory construction were involved, we should not be prepared to abandon a doctrine so widely applied throughout a century. But the unconstitutionality of the course pursued has now been made clear, and compels us to do so."
courts to exert the judicial power of the United States, and especially § 34 of that Act as construed, is unconstitutional; that federal courts are now bound to follow decisions of the courts of the State in which the controversies arise, and that Congress is powerless otherwise to ordain. It is hard to foresee the consequences of the radical change so made. Our opinion in the Taxicab case cites numerous decisions of this Court which serve in part to indicate the field from which it is now intended forever to bar the federal courts. It extends to all matters of contracts and torts not positively governed by state enactments. Counsel searching for precedent and reasoning to disclose common law principles on which to guide clients and conduct litigation are, by this decision, told that, as to all of these questions, the decisions of this Court and other federal courts are no longer anywhere authoritative.
Baker v. Grice, 169 U. S. 284, 169 U. S. 292; Martin v. District of Columbia, 205 U. S. 135, 205 U. S. 140.
So far as appears, no litigant has ever challenged the power of Congress to establish the rule as construed. It has so long endured that its destruction now without appropriate deliberation cannot be justified. There is nothing in the opinion to suggest that consideration of any constitutional question is necessary to a decision of the case. By way of reasoning, it contains nothing that requires the conclusion reached. Admittedly, there is no authority to support that conclusion. Against the protest of those joining in this opinion, the Court declines to assign the case for reargument. It may not justly be assumed that the labor and argument of counsel for the parties would not disclose the right conclusion and aid the Court in the statement of reasons to support it. Indeed, it would have been appropriate to give Congress opportunity to be heard before divesting it of power to prescribe rules of decision to be followed in the courts of the United States. See Myers v. United States, 272 U. S. 52, 272 U. S. 176.
party and the liabilities of a party as to court costs to the extent necessary for a proper presentation of the facts and law relating to the constitutionality of such Act."
That provision extends to this Court. § 5. If defendant had applied for and obtained the writ of certiorari upon the claim that, as now held, Congress has no power to prescribe the rule of decision, § 34 as construed, it would have been the duty of this Court to issue the prescribed certificate to the Attorney General in order that the United States might intervene and be heard on the constitutional question. Within the purpose of the statute and its true intent and meaning, the constitutionality of that measure has been "drawn in question." Congress intended to give the United States the right to be heard in every case involving constitutionality of an Act affecting the public interest. In view of the rule that, in the absence of challenge of constitutionality, statutes will not here be invalidated on that ground, the Act of August 24, 1937, extends to cases where constitutionality is first "drawn in question" by the Court. No extraordinary or unusual action by the Court after submission of the cause should be permitted to frustrate the wholesome purpose of that Act. The duty it imposes ought here to be willingly assumed. If it were doubtful whether this case is within the scope of the Act, the Court should give the United States opportunity to intervene and, if so advised, to present argument on the constitutional question, for undoubtedly it is one of great public importance. That would be to construe the Act according to its meaning.
resulting from that construction] compels" abandonment of the doctrine so long applied, and then near the end of the last page the Court states that it does not hold § 34 unconstitutional, but merely that, in applying the doctrine of Swift v. Tyson construing it, this Court and the lower courts have invaded rights which are reserved by the Constitution to the several States. But, plainly through the form of words employed, the substance of the decision appears; it strikes down as unconstitutional § 34 as construed by our decisions; it divests the Congress of power to prescribe rules to be followed by federal courts when deciding questions of general law. In that broad field it compels this and the lower federal courts to follow decisions of the courts of a particular State.
I am of opinion that the constitutional validity of the rule need not be considered, because under the law, as found by the courts of Pennsylvania and generally throughout the country, it is plain that the evidence required a finding that plaintiff was guilty of negligence that contributed to cause his injuries and that the judgment below should be reversed upon that ground.
Mr. Justice Field filed a dissenting opinion, several sentences of which are quoted in the decision just announced. The dissent failed to impress any of his associates. It assumes that adherence to § 34 as construed involves a supervision over legislative or judicial action of the states. There is no foundation for that suggestion. Clearly, the dissent of the learned Justice rests upon misapprehension of the rule. He joined in applying the doctrine for more than a quarter of a century before his dissent. The reports do not disclose that he objected to it in any later case. Cf. Oakes v. Mase, 165 U. S. 363.
In Salem Trust Co. v. Manufacturers' Finance Co., 264 U. S. 182, Mr. Justice Holmes and Mr. Justice Brandeis concurred (p. 264 U. S. 200) in the judgment of the Court upon a question of general law on the ground that the rights of the parties were governed by state law.
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 insofar as it relies upon the unconstitutionality of the "course pursued" by the federal courts.
"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."
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. As the majority opinion shows, by its reference to Mr. Warren's researches and the first quotation from Mr. Justice Holmes, that this Court is now of the view that "laws" includes "decisions," it is unnecessary to go further and declare that the "course pursued" was "unconstitutional," instead of merely erroneous.
The "unconstitutional" course referred to in the majority opinion is apparently the ruling in Swift v. Tyson that the supposed omission of Congress to legislate as to the effect of decisions leaves federal courts free to interpret general law for themselves. I am not at all sure whether, in the absence of federal statutory direction, federal courts would be compelled to follow state decisions. There was sufficient doubt about the matter in 1789 to induce the first Congress to legislate. No former opinions of this Court have passed upon it. Mr. Justice Holmes evidently saw nothing "unconstitutional" which required the overruling of Swift v. Tyson, for he said in the very opinion quoted by the majority, "I should leave Swift v. Tyson undisturbed, as I indicated in Kuhn v. Fairmont Coal Co., but I would not allow it to spread the assumed dominion into new fields." Black & White Taxicab Co. v. Brown & Yellow Taxicab Co., 276 U. S. 518, 276 U. S. 535. If the opinion commits this Court to the position that the Congress is without power to declare what rules of substantive law shall govern the federal courts, that conclusion also seems questionable. The line between procedural and substantive law is hazy, but no one doubts federal power over procedure. Wayman v. Southard, 10 Wheat. 1. The Judiciary Article and the "necessary and proper" clause of Article One may fully authorize legislation, such as this section of the Judiciary Act.
In this Court, stare decisis, in statutory construction, is a useful rule, not an inexorable command. Burnett v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co., 285 U. S. 393, dissent, p. 285 U. S. 406, note 1. Compare Read v. Bishop of Lincoln,  A.C. 644, 655; London Street Tramways Co. v. London County Council,  A.C. 375, 379. It seems preferable to overturn an established construction of an Act of Congress, rather than, in the circumstances of this case, to interpret the Constitution. Cf. United States v. Delaware & Hudson Co., 213 U. S. 366.
There is no occasion to discuss further the range or soundness of these few phrases of the opinion. It is sufficient now to call attention to them and express my own nonacquiescence.

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