United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Lankford v. Platte Iron Works Co., 235 U.S. 461 (1915)

Lankford v. Platte Iron Works Company

No. 381

Argued October 14, 15, 1914

Decided January 5, 1915

235 U.S. 461

Syllabus

The decision of state tribunals in regard thereto is an important element to be considered in determining the interest which the state has in a fund administered by a state board.

The state courts of Oklahoma having held that the statute creating the State Banking Board intended to give the state a definite title to the Depositors' Guaranty Fund, the fact that the fund is to be used to satisfy claims of beneficiaries does not take its administration from the officers of the state or subject them to judicial control. This Court will not assume that the fund will not be faithfully managed and applied. Murray v. Wilson Distilling Co., 213 U. S. 151. A suit by a depositor in a bank in Oklahoma against members of the State Banking Board and the Bank Commissioner of Oklahoma to compel payments from, distribution of, and assessments for the Depositors Guaranty Fund is a suit against the state, and, under the Eleventh Amendment, cannot be maintained in the federal court.

The facts, which involve the application of the Eleventh Amendment to suits brought in the federal courts against the members of the State Banking Board of Oklahoma to compel payments from, and distribution of, the Depositors' Guaranty Fund of that state, are stated in the opinion.

Page 235 U. S. 468