Horace Gray, Kimball v. Kimball — Opinion of the Court
“ But this court dismissed the writ of error, saying: 'The duty of this court, as of every judicial tribunal, is limited to determining rights of persons or of property, which are actually controverted in the particular case before it. When, in determining such rights, it becomes necessary to give an opinion upon a question of law, that opinion may have weight as a precedent for future decisions. ”
Horace Gray, Kimball v. Kimball — Opinion of the Court
“ The reasons are quite as strong, to say the least, for applying the rule to a writ of error to a state court, on which the jurisdiction of this court is limited to federal questions only, as to a writ of error to a circuit court of the United States, on which the jurisdiction of this court extends to the whole case. ”
Horace Gray, Kimball v. Kimball — Opinion of the Court
“ The decree admitting the will to probate, in terms, revoked the former letters of administration, and, by its legal effect, superseded the necessity and the possibility of granting any letters of administration as of an intestate estate to the petitioner or to any one else. Code Civ. Proc. N. Y. §§ 2476, 2626, 2684. The whole subject-matter of the writ of error is thus withdrawn, and the writ of error must be dismissed for want of anything upon which it can operate. Railroad Co. ”
