Grubb v. Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, 281 U.S. 470 (1930)
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Grubb v. Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
No. 491
Motion to Dismiss or Affirm submitted January 27, 1930
Decided May 19, 1930
281 U.S. 470
APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
Syllabus
1. A judgment of the Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed, upon review under Gen.Code, §§ 544, 545, an order of the state Public Utilities Commission which, in granting to the appellant a license to operate a line of passenger motor buses within the state, forbade his adding to the route a loop to a point in an adjacent state near the state line and back. Held conclusive as res judicata in a suit in the federal court upon the questions whether the prohibition in the order violated rights of the appellant under the commerce clause of the federal Constitution and under the privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. P. 475.
2. The state and federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction over civil suits arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States, including the commerce clause, save in exceptional instances where the jurisdiction has been restricted by Congress to the federal courts. P. 475.
3. Where control over specific property is not involved, the fact that suit is begun first in a federal court does not preclude a state court from entertaining a suit involving the same subject and parties. The final judgment first rendered in either case becomes conclusive in the other as res judicata. P. 476.
4. In determining the effect of a judgment of a state court as an estoppel in the federal court, the state court’s decision as to the jurisdiction intended to be conferred on it by state statutes is conclusive in the district court and in this Court on appeal. P. 477.
5. A judgment of a state court affirming an order of a state commission over an objection distinctly raised under the Constitution is necessarily an adjudication of the federal question, although that question be not mentioned by the court in its opinion. Id.
6. Upon a judicial review attacking the validity of an order of an administrative body, the party attacking must present every available ground of which he has knowledge. He is not at liberty to prosecute his right by piecemeal. P. 478.
7. A judgment upon the merits in one suit is res judicata in another where the parties and subject matter are the same not only as respects matters actually presented to sustain or defeat the right asserted, but also as respects any other available matter which might have been presented to that end. P. 479.
33 F.2d 323 affirmed.
Appeal from a decree of the district court of three judges dismissing the bill in a suit to enjoin, in part, an order of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio defining the appellant’s right to operate a line of passenger buses.