United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Norwood v. Kirkpatrick, 349 U.S. 29 (1955)

Norwood v. Kirkpatrick

No. 337

Argued March 4, 1955.-Decided April 11, 1955

349 U.S. 29

Syllabus

1. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), which provides that,

"For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it might have been brought,"

the district court has a broader discretion than under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. Pp. 349 U. S. 29-33.

2. 28 U.S.C. § 1(a) is not merely a codification of the doctrine of forum non conveniens. P. 349 U. S. 32.

3. Three dining car employees who were injured in the derailment of an interstate railroad's train near Dillon, S.C., brought separate suits against the railroad under the Federal Employers' Liability Act in a Federal District Court in Pennsylvania. The defendant filed motions to dismiss or, in the alternative, to transfer the cases to the Eastern District of South Carolina. The District Court denied the motions to dismiss and granted the motions to transfer under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).

Held: the judgment of the District Court was correct in law and warranted by the facts. Pp. 349 U. S. 29-33.

Affirmed.