Blythe v. Hinckley

Citations

• 173 U.S. 501
• 19 S. Ct. 497
• 43 L. Ed. 783
• 1899 U.S. LEXIS 1456

Syllabus

<p>It appearing from the opinion of the Circuit Judge that the various bills in this case were dismissed on the grouiids: (1) That the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court could not be maintained because the state court, in the exercise of its general jurisdiction, determined the eligibility of the defendant Florence Blythe to inherit an estate which that court was called upon to distribute under the laws of the State, and that other propositions contended for by the complainants were for the same reason deemed insufficient to tafee this case out of the general rule that after a court of a State, with full jurisdiction over property in its possession, has finally determined all rights to that property, a court of the United States'will not entertain jurisdiction to annul such decree and disturb rights once definitely determined; and (2) That the remedy of complainants, if any, was at law, and -not in equity. Held, As neither ground went to the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court as a court of the United States, the appeal could not be sustained as within any class mentioned in § 5 of the Judiciary Act of 1891; and, if error was committed this was dot the proper mode for correcting it.</p>