Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · ¶33

That case involved the construction of the Judiciary Act of 1789, § 34: “The laws of the several states, except where the Constitution, treaties, or statutes of the. United States otherwise require or provide, shall be regarded as rules of decision in trials at common law in the courts of-the United States in cases where they apply.” Expressing the view of all the members of the Court, Mr. Justice Story said (p. 18): “In the ordinary use of language it will hardly be contended that the decisions of Courts constitute laws. They are, at most, only evidence of what- the laws are, and not. of themselves laws. They are often re-examined, reversed, and qualified by the Courts themselves, whenevér they are found to be either defective, or ill-founded, or otherwise incorrect. The laws of a -state are more usually understood to mean, the rules and enactments promulgated by the legislative…

U. S. Reports, bound volume
U. S. Reports, volume 304, at 64 (Library of Congress) · transcription: Caselaw Access Project
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