Ragan v. Merchants Transfer & Warehouse Co.

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Ragan v. Merchants Transfer & Warehouse Co.
Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
Argued April 20, 1949
Decided June 20, 1949
Full case nameRagan v. Merchants Transfer & Warehouse Co.
Citations337 U.S. 530 ( more )
69 S. Ct. 1233; 93 L. Ed. 1520; 1949 U.S. LEXIS 2147
Court membership
Chief Justice
Fred M. Vinson
Associate Justices
Hugo Black  · Stanley F. Reed
Felix Frankfurter  · William O. Douglas
Frank Murphy  · Robert H. Jackson
Wiley B. Rutledge  · Harold H. Burton
Case opinions
MajorityDouglas, joined by Vinson, Black, Reed, Frankfurter, Murphy, Jackson, Burton
DissentRutledge

Ragan v. Merchants Transfer & Warehouse Co., 337 U.S. 530 (1949), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that federal courts sitting in diversity should begin the running of the statute of limitations for a claim according to state law instead of according to the federal rules of civil procedure. The court reasoned that a claim could not be given longer life in federal court than it would have had in a state court while being consistent with the holding in Erie Railroad v. Tompkins . [1]

References

  1. Yeazell, S.C. Civil Procedure, Seventh Edition. Aspen Publishers, New York, NY: 2008, p. 236.