Vandalia Railroad v. Indiana Ex Rel. City of South Bend

Citations

• 207 U.S. 359
• 28 S. Ct. 130
• 52 L. Ed. 246
• 1907 U.S. LEXIS 1229

Syllabus

<p>The construction of a pleading, the meaning to be given to its various allegations, the determination of the validity of a contract in reference' to real estate within the State, and whether the form of remedy sought is proper, are, as a general rule, lo^al questions.</p> <p>If the judgment of the state court is based on a decision placed upon a sufficient non-Federal ground this court has no jurisdiction to review it.</p> <p>While this court is not concluded by the judgment of the state court and must determine for itself whether a Federal question is really involved, and may take jurisdiction if the state court has in an unreasonable manner avoided the Federal issue, the writ of error will be dismissed where no intent to so avoid the Federal question is apparent. ■</p> <p>Writ of error to review 166 Indiana, 219, dismissed.</p>