American Book Co. v. State of Kansas Ex Rel. Nichols

Background

A county attorney in Kansas sued a New Jersey company that published and sold schoolbooks, asking the state court to oust the company from doing business in Kansas and to declare its contracts with the State Text Book Commission void. The Kansas court issued a preliminary injunction and later held the company lacked required foreign-corporation formalities, ordered the company ousted until it complied, but refused to annul existing contracts. The company argued its sales were interstate commerce and that applying the statute would impair its contracts, raising a federal constitutional claim.

Reasoning

The U.S. Supreme Court considered whether it could give any effective relief after the state judgment had been obeyed. Relying on prior decisions, the Court explained that when a judgment has been complied with, there is no live controversy for it to decide. The Court rejected the company’s claim that feeling “coerced” into compliance kept the appeal viable and held compliance defeated the appeal, so the writ of error was dismissed as moot.

Real world impact

The decision is procedural and leaves the Kansas judgment in place without resolving the constitutional or contract questions on their merits. It means a party that complies with a state judgment may lose the chance for federal review. A separate suit raising similar issues remains pending in state courts and was not decided by this dismissal.