Scott v. Neely

Citations

• 140 U.S. 106
• 11 S. Ct. 712
• 35 L. Ed. 358
• 1891 U.S. LEXIS 2440

Syllabus

<p>The Circuit Court-of the United States in Mississippi cannot, under the operation of sections 1843 and 1845 of the Code of Mississippi of 1880, take jurisdiction of a bill in equity to subject the property of the defendants to the payment of a simple contract debt of one of them, in advance of any proceedings at law, either to establish the validity and amount of the debt, or to enforce its collection; in which proceedings the defendant is entitled, under the Constitution, to a trial by jury.</p> <p>The general proposition that new equitable rights created by the States may be enforced in the Federal courts is correct, but it is subject to the qualification that such enforcement does not impair any right conferred, or conflict with any prohibition imposed by the Constitution or laws of the United States.</p> <p>Clark v. Smith, 13 Pet. 195, distinguished from this case.</p> <p>Holland v. Challen, 110 U. S. 15, exp' ,ined and shown to contain nothing ■ sanctioning the enforcement in the Federal courts of any rights created by state law, which impair the separation established by the Constitution between actions for legal demands and suits for equitable relief.</p>