United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Hoffman v. Blaski, 363 U.S. 335 (1960)

Hoffman v. Blaski

No. 25

Argued April 19-20, 1960

Decided June 13, 1960*

363 U.S. 335

Syllabus

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), a federal district court in which a civil action has been properly brought is not empowered to transfer the action on the motion of the defendant to a district in which the plaintiff did not have a right to bring it. Pp. 363 U. S. 335-344.

(a) The phrase "where it might have been brought" in § 1404(a) cannot be interpreted to mean "where it may now be rebrought, with defendants' consent." Pp. 363 U. S. 342-343.

(b) Under § 1404(a), the power of a district court to transfer an action to another district is made to depend not upon the wish or waiver of the defendant, but upon whether the transferee district is one in which the action "might have been brought" by the plaintiff. Pp. 363 U. S. 343-344.

260 F.2d 317, 261 F.2d 467, affirmed.