State v. American Can Co.
State v. American Can Co.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
In 1960 a partial judgment in the sum of $37,950.99 was entered in the plaintiff’s favor with the defendant’s consent. In June 1961 a judgment for the plaintiff in the additional sum of $1,896.19 was entered. No appeal was taken from either judgment within the time allowed, or indeed at any time, and both judgments were fully paid. Thereafter in July 1962 the defendant moved for relief under R. R. 4:62-2. Its motion was denied by Judge Kingfield and its appeal from the order of denial was certified by us before argument in the Appellate Division.
The plaintiff State of New Jersey’s complaint was filed in 1959; it sought custodial escheat under N. J. S. 2A:37-29 et seq. of unclaimed dividends, interest, wages and other cash obligations in the possession of the defendant American Can Company, a corporation of New Jersey. In due course the defendant filed an answer which set forth that it possessed unclaimed property in the sum of $39,972.98 which might be
On March 29, 1961 Judge Kingfield passed on the issues which related to the sum claimed by California as well as New Jersey. He determined that the New Jersey court had jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter, that California was not an indispensable party, that New Jersey could take custody under its custodial escheat act without depriving the defend
On December 4, 1961 the Supreme Court filed its opinion in Western Union Tel. Co. v. Pennsylvania, 368 U. S. 71, 82 S. Ct. 199, 7 L. Ed. 2d 139 (1961), reversing Pennsylvania’s judgment of escheat in Commonwealth v. Western Union Tel. Co., supra. On July 17, 1962 the defendant American Can Company filed a notice of motion under R. R. 4:62-2 seeking to be relieved of the escheat judgment against it. The grounds set forth in the notice were (1) the judgment was void, (2) it was entered in violation of due process and the defendant’s rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, and (3) for “other reasons justifying relief.” After hearing argument Judge Kingfield denied the motion. In attacking his ensiling order, the defendant’s brief embodies points which
The early common law doctrine of escheat was associated with real property; it was an incident of tenure and related to the right of the lord to take for want of a tenant. Later the doctrine was extended to personal property which had no owner or whose owner or owner’s whereabouts was unknown. In 1946 the New Jersey Legislature asserted its sovereign power to appropriate such personal property within its borders by the passage of an absolute escheat act. L. 1946, c. 155; N. J. S. 2A:37-11 et seq. That act was held to be a constitutional exercise of legislative power and many proceedings were brought under it. State by Parsons v. Standard Oil Co., 5 N. J. 281 (1950), aff’d sub nom., Standard Oil Co. v. New Jersey, 341 U. S. 428, 71 S. Ct. 822, 95 L. Ed. 1078 (1951). In 1951 the New Jersey Legislature passed a custodial escheat act which provided an alternative method for taking custody of (and thereafter escheating) personal property. L. 1951, c. 304; N. J. S. 2A:37-29 et seq. This act was upheld and hundreds of Superior Court proceedings were prosecuted in accordance with its terms. See State v. Thermoid Co., 16 N. J. 274 (1954); State v. American-Hawaiian Steamship Co., 29 N. J. Super. 116 (Ch. Div. 1953); cf. State by Parsons v. United States Steel Corp., 22 N. J. 341, 347 (1956). Thus when in 1959 the State of New Jersey instituted its custodial escheat action against the defendant American Can Company there was no question as to the jurisdiction of the Superior Court to entertain it. Personal jurisdiction was present because there was due service
Western Union limited the sweep of Standard Oil (cf. Note, 62 Colum. L. Rev. 708 (1962)) by holding that where two or more states are actually seeking to escheat the same property, state courts may not entertain jurisdiction, thus leaving the disputing states to seek original relief in the Supreme Court. It would appear to have no bearing what
In the course of his opinion in Chicot County, Chief Justice Hughes relied on principles of res judicata and pointed out that by approving the readjustment, the district court had passed on its own jurisdiction and that, while its determination could have been reviewed on appeal, it could not be attacked collaterally as void even though the statute under which the court had acted was later declared unconstitutional.
The defendant’s brief advances the contention that “the judgment entered in the court below authorizing the taking into custody of monies by the State of New Jersey was entered without due process of law.” This contention lacks merit. The defendant was duly served with process, it consented to the entry of the 1960 judgment, and it took no appeal from the 1961 judgment. Constitutional issues are “waivable” (cf. Roberts Elec., Inc. v. Foundations & Excavations, Inc., 5 N. J. 426, 429 (1950)) and they are the proper subject of principles of res judicata. See Chicot County Drainage Dist. v. Baxter, supra, 308 U. S. 371, 60 S. Ct. 317, 84 L. Ed. 329; Miller v. McCutcheon, supra, 117 N. J. Eq. 123. Due process does not grant the “right to litigate the same question twice.” Baldwin v. Iowa State Traveling Men’s Ass’n, supra, 283 U. S., at p. 524, 51 S. Ct., at p. 517, 75 L. Ed., at p. 1246. Judge Kingfield expressly determined that judgment of custodial escheat with appropriate reservation of jurisdiction would in nowise violate the due process clause. When the defendant chose not to appeal from the judgment it deliberately subjected itself to the binding effects of res judicata and its underlying policies of finality and stability. See Baldwin v. Iowa State Traveling Men’s Ass’n, supra, 283 U. S., at pp. 525-526, 51 S. Ct., at p. 518, 75 L. Ed., at p. 1247; cf. Ackermann v. United States, 340 U. S. 193, 71 S. Ct. 209, 95 L. Ed. 207 (1950). In now seeking to be relieved of the effects of the 1961 judgment, as well as the 1960 judgment, the defendant must necessarily rest on provisions in the judgments themselves or in the applicable court rules enabling such exceptional relief. See R. R. 4:62-2. This it has sought to do under the final point in its brief where it contends that the lower court “abused its
It is entirely clear that the lower court did not ignore the terms of either the 1960 or 1961 judgment. Both judgments contained reservations of jurisdiction to enable reimbursement in the event of double liability. The defendant has not been subjected to any double liability and is not claiming reimbursement because of any double payment. Cf. Solimine v. Hollander, 129 N. J. Eq. 264, 273 (Ch. 1941). So far as the property dealt with in the 1960 judgment is concerned, no state other than New Jersey has ever made or is now making claim. The remaining property was the subject of a claim heretofore made by California but so far as we know California may no longer be pressing its claim; at oral argument counsel for the defendant acknowledged that he had no information indicating that California had taken any action within the past few years or that it has any current interest in the matter. Cf. State by Van Riper v. American Sugar Refining Co., 20 N. J. 286 (1956). If California has any current interest it will presumably seek relief in accordance with Western Union, joining New Jersey and the defendant as parties to a proceeding before the Supreme Court. In such event, the defendant will clearly be in no jeopardy of double liability or payment. Indeed, it appears to us that in no event can the defendant be placed in any real danger in view of the reservation of jurisdiction; presumably, that was a factor leading the defendant to its conclusion that no appeal should be taken from the entry of the 1961 judgment.
R. R. 4:62-2 authorizes relief from final judgments as therein provided. Motions under the rule are addressed to the discretion of the court and are governed by principles of equity and justice. See Greenberg v. Owens, 31 N. J. 402, 405 (1960). If in the instant matter equity and justice called for the reopening of either of the judgments we would not hesitate to take appropriate action under subdivision (f) of R. R. 4:62-2. See Klapprott v. United States, 335 U. S.
Affirmed.
For reversal — Hone.
We are not at all concerned here with criminal proceedings where judgments have been subjected to post-conviction attack with increasing frequency because of the broadening concepts as to the proper scope of inquiry on habeas corpus. See Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U. S. 458, 58 S. Ct. 1019, 82 L. Ed. 1461 (1938); Fay v. Noia, 372 U. S. 391, 83 S. Ct. 822, 9 L. Ed. 2d 837 (1963); cf. State v. Cynkowski, 10 N. J. 571, 576 (1952); In re Rose, 122 N. J. L. 507, 509 (Sup. Ct. 1939). See also Note, “Federal Habeas Corpus for State Prisoners: The Isolation Principle,” 39 N. Y. U. L. Rev. 78 (1964).
No question has been raised as to whether the present attack by American Can Company is to be viewed technically as collateral or direct; assuming it to be direct (7 Moore, supra, at p. 261), the principles expressed in Chicot County are nonetheless applicable and dictate rejection of the efforts to vacate the 1960 and 1961 judgments as void. See Jackson v. Irving Trust Co., infra, 311 U. S. 494, 61 S. Ct. 326, 85 L. Ed. 297; Elgin Nat. Watch Co. v. Barrett, 213 F. 2d 776 (5 Cir. 1954); Miller v. McCutcheon, supra, 117 N. J. Eq. 123; cf. Comment, “The Value of the Distinction Between Direct and Collateral Attacks on Judgments,” 66 Yale L. J. 526 (1957).
See, e. g., Kalb v. Feuerstein, 308 U. S. 433, 60 S. Ct. 343, 84 L. Ed. 370 (1940), where a foreclosure decree against a farmer was subjected to collateral attack in a proceeding under a special bankruptcy act dealing with farm debtors and their property; the court noted that while it was generally true that a judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction bears a presumption of regularity and is not subject to collateral attack, Congress may by specific bankruptcy legislation “create an exception to that principle and render judicial acts taken with respect to the person or property of a debtor whom the bankruptcy law protects nullities and vulnerable collaterally.” 308 U. S., at pp. 438-439, 60 S. Ct., at p. 346, 84 L. Ed., at p. 374. See also Boskey & Braucher, “Jurisdiction and Collateral Attack,” 40 Colum. L. Rev. 1006, 1016 (1940).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE OF NEW JERSEY, BY HUGO A. HILGENDORFF, Jr., ATTORNEY-AT-LAW SPECIALLY DESIGNATED BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT v. AMERICAN CAN COMPANY, A NEW JERSEY CORPORATION
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published