Freeman v. Bee MacHine Co., Inc

Congress has power, of course, to authorize a suit arising under federal law to be brought in any of the federal district courts. Robertson v. Labor Board, 268 U. S. 619, 622. But from the beginning of the federal judicial system, Congress has provided that civil suits can be brought only in the district where the defendant is an inhabitant, except that where federal jurisdiction is based solely upon diversity of the parties’ citizenship, suit may be brought in the district of the residence of either the plaintiff or the defendant. Section 51 of the Judicial Code, 28 U. S. C. § 112, derived…