In Re Pollitz

Background

A New York resident sued a railroad company incorporated in Ohio and other New York defendants in state court over a dispute above the required dollar amount. The Ohio railroad asked to move the case to federal court, arguing its controversy with the plaintiff could be decided without the other defendants. The federal circuit court agreed and denied a motion to send the case back to state court. The railroad then faced an application to this Court asking for an order forcing the circuit court to reverse that decision.

Reasoning

The central question was whether this Court should use an extraordinary writ to make the circuit court change its judicial decision about moving the case to federal court. The Court explained that such an extraordinary order cannot be used to control how a lower court decides a matter that is properly before it. Mandamus or similar writs are appropriate only when a court refuses to take jurisdiction it plainly must take or when the record shows absolutely no authority to act. If the circuit court merely made an incorrect judgment about separable controversies, that error should be corrected by appeal after a final judgment, not by an immediate special order from this Court.

Real world impact

The decision means parties cannot bypass ordinary appeals by seeking immediate special orders to reverse routine judicial rulings about moving cases to federal court. Litigants must generally finish the case or obtain a final decision before seeking review, except in narrow situations where a court plainly has no power to act.