ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - JOHNSON ACT - JURISDICTION OF FEDERAL COURTS WHERE STATE REVIEW PROCEDURE PROHIBITS ISSUE OF SUPERSEDEAS

Authors

William J. Isaacson, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Complainant power company attacked as confiscatory the decrease in rates ordered by the Public Service Commission of Montana. The company demanded an interloctory injunction pending a final decree. It appeared that there was on the statute book of Montana a statute prohibiting supersedeas pending judicial review in such cases. The district court granted the commission's motion to dismiss on the ground that a plain, speedy, and efficient remedy was available to the plaintiff in the state courts, and hence the requirements of the Johnson Act of May 14, 1934, were met. Therefore, so it was contended, federal jurisdiction was precluded. Held, a plain, speedy and efficient remedy was not available in the state court in view of the prohibition on supersedeas, and further, that the Court would not assume that the state court would declare the prohibiting statute unconstitutional and thus leave available appropriate preliminary relief. The jurisdiction of the federal courts, as provided for by the Judiciary Act of 1875, remained unimpaired, since this case came within the exception of the Johnson Act. Mountain States Power Co. v. Public Service Commission of Montana, 299 U.S. 167, 57 S. Ct. 168 (1936).

Recommended Citation

William J. Isaacson, ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - JOHNSON ACT - JURISDICTION OF FEDERAL COURTS WHERE STATE REVIEW PROCEDURE PROHIBITS ISSUE OF SUPERSEDEAS, 35 Mich. L. Rev. 825 (1937).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol35/iss5/10