Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/213/288/case.html
Timestamp: 2016-07-30 02:03:12
Document Index: 249670098

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 3893', '§ 5', '§ 6', '§ 5', '§ 6', '§ 5']

Macfadden v. United States :: 213 U.S. 288 (1909) :: Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center Log In
› Macfadden v. United States
Macfadden v. United States 213 U.S. 288 (1909)
U.S. Supreme CourtMacfadden v. United States, 213 U.S. 288 (1909)Macfadden v. United StatesNo. 14 OriginalSubmitted April 5, 1909Decided April 12, 1909213 U.S. 288APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF ERROR TO THE CIRCUIT
The facts are stated in the opinion. Page 213 U. S. 291
The petitioner, Bernarr Macfadden, was indicted in the District Page 213 U. S. 292 Court of the United States for the District of New Jersey for mailing obscene literature, in violation of § 3893 of the Revised Statutes. He pleaded not guilty, and upon trial before a jury was found guilty.
The object of the Act of March 3, 1891, 26 Stat. 826, c. 517, was to distribute the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court between it and the newly created circuit courts of appeal, and to abolish the appellate jurisdiction of the circuit courts. The first necessary step in this undertaking was to determine in what cases appeals (using the word in its broader sense) might be taken directly to this Court. This was done in § 5, which is as follows: Page 213 U. S. 293
Section 6 of the act provides that the circuit courts of appeal shall exercise appellate jurisdiction "in all cases other than those provided for in the preceding section of this act," and the fact that there were in the case questions which would have warranted a direct appeal to this Court does not deprive the circuit court of appeals of its jurisdiction. American Sugar Co. v. New Orleans, 181 U. S. 277. In the case at bar, the circuit court of appeals has assumed jurisdiction and rendered judgment. May the petitioner have a writ of error directed to Page 213 U. S. 294 that judgment? The answer to this question depends upon whether the judgment of the circuit court of appeals was final. The act contemplated that certain judgments of the circuit court of appeals might be reviewed on writ of error in this Court, and that certain other judgments could not be so reviewed. The line of division is marked in § 6 of the act. It is to be observed that the line of division between cases appealable directly to this Court and those appealable to the circuit court of appeals, made by § 5 of the act, is based upon the nature of the case or of the questions of law raised. But the line of division between cases appealable from the circuit court of appeals to this Court and those not so appealable, drawn by § 6, is different, and is determined not by the nature of the case or of the questions of law raised, but by the sources of jurisdiction of the trial court -- namely, the circuit court or the district court -- whether the jurisdiction rests upon the character of the parties or the nature of the case. Huguley Mfg. Co. v. Galeton Cotton Mills, 184 U. S. 290, where it was said by the CHIEF JUSTICE, citing cases, "The jurisdiction referred to is the jurisdiction of the circuit court as originally invoked." The difference in the test for determining whether a case is appealable from the trial court directly to this Court, and the test for determining whether a case is appealable from the circuit court of appeals to this Court, is important, and a neglect to observe it leads to confusion.
As this is a case arising under the criminal laws, the judgment of the circuit court of appeals, rendered within its lawful jurisdiction, Page 213 U. S. 295 is, by the very terms of the act, final. And so it was held in Cary Mfg. Co. v. Acme Flexible Clasp Co., 187 U. S. 427, this Court saying, through the CHIEF JUSTICE:
But it is argued that the right to this writ of error is supported by the decision of this Court in Spreckels Sugar Refining Co. v. McClain, 192 U. S. 397. An examination of that case, however, shows that the exact decision has no relevancy to the question now before us. The language of the opinion should be interpreted in the light of the facts of the case. The plaintiff there brought an action against the collector of internal revenue to recover certain taxes imposed by the revenue laws of the United States, paid by it under protest. The plaintiff's claim, as stated in his declaration, was two-fold: first that the taxes were not due under the act, as properly construed, and, second that the act itself was unconstitutional. The jurisdiction, therefore, of the trial court was invoked upon two grounds: first because it was a revenue case and second because it arose under the Constitution and laws of the United States (25 Stat. 433), which means that the plaintiff's case thus arose. Louisville & Nashville R. Co. v. Mottley, 211 U. S. 149, and cases cited. Judgment went against the plaintiff, and it was affirmed by the circuit court of appeals. A writ of error from this Court to the circuit court of appeals was sued out, and the question was whether it would lie. That question, as we have seen, is determinable by the jurisdiction of the trial court. If the jurisdiction depended solely upon the fact that it was a case arising Page 213 U. S. 296 under the revenue laws, the judgment of the circuit court of appeals was a final judgment. If, on the other hand, the jurisdiction depended solely upon the fact that it was a case arising out of the Constitution or laws of the United States, the jurisdiction of the circuit court of appeals was not final, and it was reviewable upon writ of error as matter of right in this Court.
The case decides nothing more than that, where the jurisdiction of the trial court is shown by the plaintiff's statement of his own case to rest upon two distinct grounds -- first, a ground where the appellate jurisdiction of the circuit court of appeals was made final by the statute and second a ground where the appellate jurisdiction of the circuit court of appeals was made by the statute reviewable in this Court -- the latter ground of jurisdiction would control, and the writ of error to the circuit court of appeals would lie. Thus construed, the case is consistent with all the decisions and has no application here, because the only ground of jurisdiction of the district court in the case Page 213 U. S. 297 at bar was that it was a case arising under the criminal laws. In such a case, the statute makes the judgment of the circuit court of appeals final, and it is no less final because the petitioner here might, if he had been so advised, originally have invoked directly, under § 5 of the act, the appellate jurisdiction of this Court.