|
|
Coombes v. Getz, 285 U.S. 434 (1932)
Contents:
Show Summary
Hide Summary
General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Coombes v. Getz, 285 U.S. 434 (1932)
Please note: this case begins in mid-page. It therefore shares a citation with the last page of the previous case. If you are attempting to follow a link to the last page of 285 U.S. 427, click here.
Coombes v. Getz No. 528 Argued March 21, 1932 Decided April 11, 1932 285 U.S. 434
CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA
Syllabus
1. Where the contract clause of the Federal Constitution is involved, this Court will determine for itself whether there be a contract the obligation of which is within the protection of that clause, and whether that obligation has been impaired, and, likewise, will determine for itself the meaning and application of state constitutional or statutory provisions said to create the contract or by which it is asserted an impairment has been effected. P. 441.
2. One section of the California Constitution provided that directors of corporations should be liable to the creditors for all moneys embezzled or misappropriated by corporate officers. Another section reserved power to alter or repeal all existing or future laws concerning corporations. While creditors who contracted with a corporation, with these provisions in force, were suing to enforce their rights against a director for money misappropriated by the corporation’s officers, the section making the director liable was repealed.
Held:
(1) The right to enforce the liability was part of the creditors’ contracts, perfected and fully vested before the repeal, and was protected by the contract clause of the Constitution and by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Pp. 442, 448.
(2) When the contracts were made, the Supreme Court of California had not decided that the repeal of a law creating such a contractual liability extinguishes the cause of action. P. 445.
(3) The so-called reserved power of a state over corporations and their shareholders cannot be used to destroy the vested rights of third persons or to impair the obligations of their contracts. P. 441.
213 Cal. 164, 1 P. 2d 992, 4 P. 2d 157, reversed.
Certiorari 284 U.S. 613, to review a decision dismiss ing an appeal in a suit to enforce a director’s liability to creditors of a corporation.
Contents:
Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Coombes v. Getz, 285 U.S. 434 (1932) in 285 U.S. 434 285 U.S. 439. Original Sources, accessed November 22, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=7HA19GRYVXBDRQA.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Coombes v. Getz, 285 U.S. 434 (1932), in 285 U.S. 434, page 285 U.S. 439. Original Sources. 22 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=7HA19GRYVXBDRQA.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Coombes v. Getz, 285 U.S. 434 (1932). cited in 1932, 285 U.S. 434, pp.285 U.S. 439. Original Sources, retrieved 22 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=7HA19GRYVXBDRQA.
|