United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Pickens v. Roy, 187 U.S. 177 (1902)

Pickens v. Roy

No. 78

Submitted November 10, 1902

Decided December 1, 1902

187 U.S. 177

Syllabus

Where a judgment creditor filed a bill in a state court to set aside a conveyance made by a person who, during the pendency of the action and years after its commencement, is adjudged a bankrupt, and to apply the proceeds of the property affected towards the payment of the debt, the state court acquires such complete jurisdiction and control over the bankrupt and his property that jurisdiction is not divested by proceedings in bankruptcy, and it is the duty of the state court to proceed to final decree notwithstanding the adjudication in bankruptcy, under the rule that the court which first acquires rightful jurisdiction over the subject matter should not be interfered with, and the district court of the United States in which the bankruptcy proceedings are pending has no jurisdiction to restrain the complainants in the state court from executing their decree obtained in that court.

Nor does the mere fact that the complainant in such an action in a state court proved up her judgment as a preferred debt in bankruptcy "without waiving her preference" operate to deprive the state court of jurisdiction or amount to a consent to the exercise of jurisdiction by the district court to restrain her from executing the judgment.

See also Metcalf Brothers & Co. v. Barker, decided this term, p. 187 U. S. 165, ante.

The case is stated in the opinion of the court.

Page 187 U. S. 178