Court Opinion

ID: 9420018
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:52:34.49036+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:21.776002
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Rutledge,
concurring in part.
I join in the Court’s opinion insofar as it relates to the real estate. But, as to the personal property, I think the cause should be remanded to the District Court for determination of Alvina Wagner’s nationality, without expression of opinion here upon the constitutionality of the California statute.
The decision now made on that issue, by virtue of the Court’s hypothesizing that she was an American citizen, will be rendered both moot and advisory in character if it is found, as it may well be in the District Court’s further proceedings, that she was a German national. This Court has consistently declined to decide constitutional questions on hypothetical presentations. Rescue Army v. Municipal Court, 331 U. S. 549. The practice should be followed in this case, even though conceivably another appeal might be saved by indulging the presumption which the Court makes. It is more important that constitutional decisions be reserved until the issues calling for them are squarely and inescapably presented, factually as well as legally, than it is to expedite the termination of litigation or the procedural convenience of the parties.