John v. Paullin

Citations

• 231 U.S. 583
• 34 S. Ct. 178
• 58 L. Ed. 381
• 1913 U.S. LEXIS 2522

Syllabus

<p>No Federal right is denied by an appellate court of a State in dismissing an appeal from a lower court, because its jurisdiction was not invoked in accordance with the laws of the State, and this court cannot review such a judgment under § 709, Rev. Stat., now Judicial Code, § 237. •'</p> <p>.... It rests with each State to prescribe the jurisdiction of its appellate courts, and the mode of invoking it, and their rules are equally applicable when Federal, as when only local, rights are involved..</p> <p>Section 12 of the act of March 3, 1905, 33 Stat. 1048, 1081, providing for the review of judgments of the. courts temporarily established in the Indian Territory, related only to such judgments and has no application to judgments rendered by the state courts after Statehood.</p> <p>The method of subjecting the judgments of a subordinate state court' to review by appellate courts of the State is a matter of local concern and not within the control of Congress. Coyle v. Smith, 221 U. S. 559.</p> <p>In this case, as nothing was decided but a preliminary question of the jurisdiction .of a state appellate court which turned entirely upon a question of local law, the writ of error is dismissed.</p>