Baltimore & Ohio Railroad v. Interstate Commerce Commission

Citations

• 215 U.S. 216
• 54 L. Ed. 164
• 30 S. Ct. 86
• 1909 U.S. LEXIS 1749

Syllabus

<p>Only distinct points of law that can be distinctly answered without regard to other issues can be certified to this court on division of opinion: the whole case cannot be certified even when its' decision turns upon matter of Jaw only.</p> <p>Appellate jurisdiction implies the determination of the case by an ' inferior court, and the transfer of the case to the appellate court without such determination amounts to giving the appellate court original jurisdiction.</p> <p>Congress cannot extend the original jurisdiction of this court beyond that prescribed by the Constitution; and an act providing for certifying questions of law will not be construed as permitting certification of the entire case before any judgment has been rendered below.</p> <p>Under § 1 of the expediting act of February 11, 1903, c. 544, 32 Stat. 823, the case, although turning only on a point of law cannot be certified to this court, in absence of any judgment, opinion, de-' cisión, or order determinative of the case below.</p>