Thurgood Marshall

“ In its complaint, Newman-Green had invoked 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (a) (3) , which confers jurisdiction in the District Court when a citizen of one State sues both aliens and citizens of a State (or States) different from the plaintiff's. In order to be a citizen of a State within the meaning of the diversity statute, a natural person must both be a citizen of the United States and be domiciled within the State. ”

“ Appellate-level amendments to correct jurisdictional defects may not be the most intellectually satisfying approach to the spoiler problem, but, as Judge Posner eloquently noted, because "law is an instrument of governance rather than a hymn to intellectual beauty, some consideration must be given to practicalities." ”

“ We decline to disturb that deeply rooted understanding of appellate power, particularly when requiring dismissal after years of litigation would impose unnecessary and wasteful burdens on the parties, judges, and other litigants waiting for judicial attention. ”

“ It was guaranteed a new run at the subject in state court, against all defendants, by retaining Bettison as a defendant. [Newman-Green] instead filed a motion to dismiss Bettison and take its chances on the merits. If it was willing to pursue this suit in federal court without Bettison when all it had to show for itself was a loss, and to abandon any hope of reaching Bettison's assets if it should prevail, what is it going to do now that it has an opinion in its favor on the merits? Go to state court, where things could get worse but are not likely to get better? ”

“ We decide today that a court of appeals may grant a motion to dismiss a dispensable party whose presence spoils statutory diversity jurisdiction.
* Petitioner Newman-Green, Inc., an Illinois corporation, brought this state-law contract action in District Court against a Venezuelan corporation, four Venezuelan citizens, and William L. Bettison, a United States citizen domiciled in Caracas, Venezuela. ”

“ We discuss each potential exception in turn.
Title 28 U.S.C. § 1653, enacted as part of the revision of the Judicial Code in 1948, provides that " [d] efective allegations of jurisdiction may be amended, upon terms, in the trial or appellate courts." At first blush, the language of this provision appears to cover the situation here, where the complaint is amended to drop a nondiverse party in order to preserve statutory jurisdiction. ”

“ The only person who faces any prejudice is Bettison himself, who has participated in this litigation from the start, and who would face the possibility of suit in a state or Venezuelan court. The panel solved this problem by terminating the litigation against Bettison with prejudice, thus leaving the other guarantors with the burden of pursuing Bettison to obtain contribution or indemnity. 832 F.2d, at 420. The panel's disposition was entirely appropriate. Nothing but a waste of time and resources would be engendered by remanding to the District Court or by forcing these parties to begin anew. ”

“ While Justice Story's opinion dealt generally with the amendment power of appellate courts, Chief Justice Marshall's opinion for this Court in Carneal v. Banks, 10 Wheat. 181, 6 L.Ed. 297 (1825) , dealt with the issue at hand-the power of appellate courts to grant motions to dismiss dispensable nondiverse parties. The case involved a suit by plaintiff Banks against two groups of defendants, the heirs of Harvie and the heirs of Carneal. Only the heirs of Carneal had citizenship diverse from the plaintiff. After noting this jurisdictional problem, the Court stated: "The bill . . . ”