Perkins v. Benguet Mining Company/Dissent Minton

by Sherman Minton

United States Supreme Court

342 U.S. 437

Perkins  v.  Benguet Mining Company

 Argued: Nov. 27, 28, 1951. --- Decided: March 3, 1952

Mr. Justice MINTON, with whom the CHIEF JUSTICE joins, dissenting.

As I understand the practice in Ohio, the law as agreed to by the court is stated in the syllabus. If an opinion is filed, it expresses the views of the writer of the opinion and of those who may join him as to why the law was so declared in the syllabus. Judge Taft alone filed an opinion in the instant case.

The law as declared in the syllabus, which is the whole court speaking, is clearly based upon adequate state grounds. Judge Taft in his opinion expresses the view that the opinions of this Court on due process grounds require the court to declare the law as stated in the syllabus. As the majority opinion of this Court points out, this is an erroneous view of this Court's decisions. 'This brings the situation clearly within the settled rule whereby this Court will not review a State court decision resting on an adequate and independent nonfederal ground even though the State court may have also summoned to its support an erroneous view of federal law.' Radio Station WOW v. Johnson, 326 U.S. 120, 129, 65 S.Ct. 1475, 1480, 89 L.Ed. 2092.

The case of State Tax Comm'n v. Van Cott, 306 U.S. 511, 59 S.Ct. 605, 83 L.Ed. 950, is not this case. There the case was not clearly decided on an adequate state ground, but the state ground and the federal ground were so interwoven that this Court was 'unable to conclude that the judgment rests upon an independent interpretation of the state law.' 306 U.S. at page 514, 59 S.Ct. at page 606. In the instant case, a clear statement of the state law is made by the court in the syllabus. Only Judge Taft has summoned the erroneous view of this Court's decisions to his support of the adequate state ground approved by the whole court.

What we are saying to Ohio is: 'You have decided this case on an adequate state ground, denying service, which you had a right to do, but you don't have to do it if you don't want to, as far as the decisions of this Court are concerned.' I think what we are doing is giving gratuitously an advisory opinion to the Ohio Supreme Court. I would dismiss the writ as improvidently granted.

Notes