Burford v. Sun Oil Co.

In this proceeding brought in a federal district court, the Sun Oil Co. attacked the validity of an order of the *317Texas Railroad Commission granting the petitioner Bur-ford a permit to drill four wells on a small plot of land in the East Texas oil field.1 Jurisdiction of the federal court was invoked because of the diversity of citizenship of the parties, and because of the Companies' contention that the order denied them due process of law. There is some argument that the action is an “appeal” from the State Commission to the federal court, since an appeal to a state court can be taken under…