Davis v. Wechsler, 263 U.S. 22 (1923)

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Davis v. Wechsler


No. 70


Argued October 12, 1923
Decided October 22, 1923
263 U.S. 22

CERTIORARI TO THE KANSAS CITY COURT OF APPEALS
STATE OF MISSOURI

Syllabus

1. A decision of a state court denying an objection to jurisdiction based on a federal regulation, upon the ground that the objection was waived by the appearance of the party making it, is reexaminable by this Court. P. 24.

2. Where the Director General of Railroads, being sued upon a cause of action for personal injuries in a state court whose practice permitted uniting a plea to the jurisdiction with a defense on the merits, pleaded a general denial and also that the court was without jurisdiction because the action was not brought in the proper county as required by a federal regulation governing the place for suits against carriers while under federal control, and his successors, designated by the President under the Transportation Act, 1920, successively entered appearance and adopted the answer theretofore filed, held that a decision of the state court, treating the objection to the jurisdiction as going to the venue of the cause and as waived by the appearances, could not be sustained as a decision disposing of the case on a local ground independent of the federal question raised. Id.

3. The Transportation Act, 1920, § 206, (a), (d), does not invalidate a defense good when it was passed. P. 25.

209 Mo.App 570 reversed.

Certiorari to a judgment of the Kansas City Court of Appeals (the Supreme Court of Missouri having declined to review) awarding damages to the plaintiff Wechsler for personal injuries suffered upon a railroad while it was under federal control.