Yazoo & Mississippi Railroad v. Adams

Citations

• 180 U.S. 41
• 21 S. Ct. 256
• 45 L. Ed. 415
• 1901 U.S. LEXIS 1281

Syllabus

<p>A writ of error to the Supreme Court of a State cannot be sustained when the only question involved is the construction of' a charter or contract, although it appear that there were statutes subsequent to such charter which might have been, but were not, relied upon as raising a Federal question concerning the construction of the contract. If the sole question be whether the Supreme Court has properly interpreted the contract, and there be no question of subsequent legislative impairment, there is no Federal question to be answered. The court is not bound to search the statutes to find one which can be construed as impairing the obligation of the charter, when no such statute is set up in the pleadings or in the opinion of the court.</p> <p>Such omission cannot be supplied by the certificate of- the Chief Justice that, upon the argument of the case, the validity of the subsequent legislation was drawn in question, upon the ground of its repugnancy to the Constitution of the United States.</p>