Western Union Telegraph Company v. Pennsylvania (1961)
- Docket
- 15
- Decided
- 1961-01-01
- Category
- General
Summary
Question: (1) Does Pennsylvania have the authority to escheat unclaimed money from Western Union where the intended payees do not reside in Pennsylvania and other states may attempt to escheat the same money? (2) Did the service of process by publication violate due process? Conclusion: Yes, No answer. In a unanimous decision, Justice Hugo L. Black wrote the majority opinion reversing the lower court. The Supreme Court held that the lower judgment violated due process because Pennsylvania had no power to protect Western Union from other states making similar claims over the same money. In fact, the state of New York had already done just that. The Court also held that the U.S. Supreme Court is authorized by Article 3, §2 of the Constitution to resolve dispute between states. The Court stated that the service question was irrelevant because Pennsylvania didn’t have the power to enforce the judgment anyway. Justice Potter Stewart wrote a concurrence, disagreeing with the Court’s reasoning, and stating the New York was clearly entitled to the property involved.