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Hinderlider v. La Plata River & Cherry Creek Ditch Co.

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Hinderlider v. La Plata River & Cherry Creek Ditch Co.
Argued January 31, 1938
Decided April 25, 1938
Full case nameHinderlider v. La Plata River & Cherry Creek Ditch Co.
Citations304 U.S. 92 (more)
58 S. Ct. 803; 82 L. Ed. 1202
Case history
Prior101 Colo. 73, 70 P.2d 849 (1937)
Holding
Federal common law applies to resolve water rights governed by an interstate compact.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Charles E. Hughes
Associate Justices
James C. McReynolds · Louis Brandeis
Pierce Butler · Harlan F. Stone
Owen Roberts · Benjamin N. Cardozo
Hugo Black · Stanley F. Reed
Case opinion
MajorityBrandeis
Cardozo took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Hinderlider v. La Plata River & Cherry Creek Ditch Co., 304 U.S. 92 (1938), is a US Supreme Court case that said a "general common law" or "general federal common law" no longer exists in the American legal system and is unconstitutional. However, federal courts retain the power to create federal common law in specific areas related to federal rights and interests.[1]

Facts

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This dispute revolved around diverting water from the La Plata River, a tributary to the Colorado River.

Judgment

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Significance

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An archetypical example of such federal common law is that relating to disputes between states of the United States. Hinderlider was the first case to reaffirm the existence of federal common law for other purposes, specifically here, the interpretation of an interstate compact governing water rights between states.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Erwin Chemerinsky, Federal Jurisdiction (5th ed. 2007), Aspen Publishers, p. 365-366.
  2. ^ Chemerinsky, p. 385-386.
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