Owen Equipment & Erection Company v. Kroger

Warren E. Burger:

The judgments and opinion of the Court in 76-677, Owen Equipment and Erection Company against Kroger will be announced by Mr. Justice Stewart, and also number 77-5353, Mincey against Arizona will be announced by Mr. Justice Stewart.

Potter Stewart:

First of these cases, Owen Equipment and Erection Company against Geraldine Kroger whose is the administratrix of the estate of her late husband, is here by a way of the grant of a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit.

The question in this case is whether in an action in which federal jurisdiction is based on diversity of citizenship, the plaintiff may assert a claim against a third party defendant when there is no independent basis for federal jurisdiction over that claim.

The Court of Appeals held in this case that such a claim is within the ancillary jurisdiction of the federal courts.

We granted certiorari because this decision conflicts with several recent decisions of other courts of appeals.

This is not a case very obviously that lends itself to interesting or even intelligible oral announcement.

I will confine myself to saying therefore that for the reasons set out and considerable detail in the court’s written opinion filed with the clerk this morning, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

Mr. Justice White has filed a dissenting opinion which Mr. Justice Brennan has joined.