Iowa Central Railway Co. v. Bacon, 236 U.S. 305 (1915)

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Iowa Central Railway Co. v. Bacon

No. 130

Submitted January 19, 1915
Decided February 23, 1915
236 U.S. 305

ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT

OF THE STATE OF IOWA

Syllabus

If the suit be one of which the circuit court can rightfully take jurisdiction, the state court loses jurisdiction on the filing of the petition and bond, and subsequent proceedings in that court are void; but if, on the face of the record, including the petition for removal, it does not appear that the suit is removable, the state court is not bound to surrender its jurisdiction, and may proceed as if no application for removal had been made. Traction Co. v. Mining Co., 196 U.S. 239.

Although the petition may allege that plaintiff sustained damages in excess of two thousand dollars, if the prayer for recovery is for less than that sum, the jurisdictional amount is not involved, and the filing of a petition and bond does not effect a removal of the case.

Although the federal court may have made orders continuing a case in which a petition and bond had been filed, and even dismissed it for want of prosecution, if the question of its authority had never been presented to or decided by it, the state court is not bound to respect such orders as conclusive of the question of jurisdiction, and so held in a case which, on the face of the record, was not removable, as the amount claimed was less than $2,000, although the damages were stated in the petition as having exceeded that sum. Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. v. McCabe, 213 U.S. 207, distinguished.

157 Ia. 493 affirmed.

The facts, which involve the jurisdiction of the state and federal courts and the effect of an attempted removal of the case to the federal court where the amount in controversy was less than $2,000, are stated in the opinion.