Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. v. Interstate Commerce Commission
Supreme Court of the United States · 1910 · Constitutional Law
Constitutional LawFederal JurisdictionAppellate Jurisdictionappellate jurisdictionoriginal jurisdictioncertificate of divisionfinal judgment ruledistinct question of law
Facts
The Circuit Court did not render a final judgment, decree, or order on the merits. Instead, it ordered that the case be certified to the Supreme Court for review and sent up the transcript of the full record. The certification followed the language of the Act of February 11, 1903, which stated that when the judges were divided in opinion, the case should be certified to the Supreme Court for review as if taken there by appeal. The Supreme Court considered whether that attempted transfer was valid.
Issue
May a Circuit Court, when its judges are divided in opinion and no final judgment or decree has been entered, certify the entire case to the Supreme Court for determination? More broadly, can Congress authorize such a transfer in a way that gives the Supreme Court original rather than appellate jurisdiction?
Rule
Questions certified to the Supreme Court must be distinct points of law clearly stated so they can be answered independently, not questions of fact, mixed law and fact, or the whole case. The Supreme Court's jurisdiction in cases not within its constitutionally specified original jurisdiction must be appellate, which requires some judicial determination below, and absent express statutory authority an appeal or writ of error lies only from a final judgment or decree.
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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.
In a federal case in St. Louis, a three-judge trial court is split over whether a federal statute authorizes a private right of action. The court enters a final decree for the defendant and certifies that single legal issue to the Supreme Court in precise terms, without sending additional factual disputes for resolution.
Is Supreme Court review by certification most likely proper?
Explanation. The governing rule is that certified questions must be distinct points of law clearly stated so they can be answered without regard to other issues of law or fact. The majority opinion also emphasized that appellate review ordinarily presupposes a prior judicial determination below. Here, unlike an improper attempt to send up the whole case before any merits determination, the lower court entered a final decree and identified one sharply defined legal question. That makes review by certification proper. (Derived from Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. v. Interstate Commerce Commission (1910).)