Great Moments in American Jurisprudence

The U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in favor of Anna Nicole Smith, on the hopes that her litigation will continue and that her attorneys will appeal the case back up to the Court, giving them the chance to more fully examine her, umm, writs of certiaori.

John Marshall. John Marshall Harlan I. John Marshall Harlan II. Thurgood Marshall. Vickie Lynn Marshall (aka Anna Nicole Smith).

American legal history will never be the same.

UPDATE: Some thoughts on reading the opinion:

1. Shockers----I would have bet any amount of money that Clarence Thomas would have written the opinion, given his expertise in the area. But nooooooo----it's by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

2. How's this for a summary---it sounds like a really bad Mexican soap opera:

Petitioner, Vickie Lynn Marshall (Vickie), also known as Anna Nicole Smith, is the surviving widow of J. Howard Marshall II (J. Howard). Vickie and J. Howard met in October 1991. After a courtship lasting more than two years, they [*16] were married on June 27, 1994. J. Howard died on August 4, 1995. Although he lavished gifts and significant sums of money on Vickie during their courtship and marriage, J. Howard did not include anything for Vickie in his will. According to Vickie, J. Howard intended to provide for her financial security through a gift in the form of a "catch-all" trust.

Respondent, E. Pierce Marshall (Pierce), one of J. Howard's sons, was the ultimate beneficiary of J. Howard's estate plan, which consisted of a living trust and a "pourover" will. Under the terms of the will, all of J. Howard's assets not already included in the trust were to be transferred to the trust upon his death.

Competing claims regarding J. Howard's fortune ignited proceedings in both state and federal courts. In January 1996, while J. Howard's estate was subject to ongoing proceedings in Probate Court in Harris County, Texas, Vickie filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq., in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. See 275 B. R. 5, 8 (CD Cal. 2002). In June 1996, Pierce filed a proof of claim in the [*17] federal bankruptcy proceeding, id., at 9; see 11 U.S.C. § 501, alleging that Vickie had defamed him when, shortly after J. Howard's death, lawyers representing Vickie told members of the press that Pierce had engaged in forgery, fraud, and overreaching to gain control of his father's assets. 275 B. R., at 9. Pierce sought a declaration that the debt he asserted in that claim was not dischargeable in bankruptcy. Ibid. n1 Vickie answered, asserting truth as a defense. She also filed counterclaims, among them a claim that Pierce had tortiously interfered with a gift she expected. Ibid.; see App. 23-25. Vickie alleged that Pierce prevented the transfer of his father's intended gift to her by, among other things: effectively imprisoning J. Howard against his wishes; surrounding him with hired guards for the purpose of preventing personal contact between him and Vickie; making misrepresentations to J. Howard; and transferring property against J. Howard's expressed wishes. Id., at 24.

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n1 Among debts not dischargeable in bankruptcy, see 11 U.S.C. § 523(a), are those arising from "willful and malicious injury by the debtor," § 523(a)(6).

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Vickie's tortious interference counterclaim turned her objection to Pierce's claim into an adversary proceeding. Id., at 39; see Fed. Rule Bkrtcy. Proc. 3007. In that proceeding, the Bankruptcy Court granted summary judgment in favor of Vickie on Pierce's claim and, after a trial on the merits, entered judgment for Vickie on her tortious interference counterclaim. See 253 B. R. 550, 558-559 (2000). The Bankruptcy Court also held that both Vickie's objection to Pierce's claim and Vickie's counterclaim qualified as "core proceedings" under 28 U.S.C. § 157, which meant that the court had authority to enter a final judgment disposing of those claims. See 257 B. R. 35, 39-40 (2000). The court awarded Vickie compensatory damages of more than $ 449 million -- less whatever she recovered in the ongoing probate action in Texas -- as well as $ 25 million in punitive damages. Id., at 40.

Pierce filed a post-trial motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, asserting that Vickie's tortious interference claim could be tried only in the Texas probate proceedings. Id., at 36. The Bankruptcy [*19] Court held that "the 'probate exception' argument was waived" because it was not timely raised. Id., at 39. Relying on this Court's decision in Markham, the court observed that a federal court has jurisdiction to "adjudicate rights in probate property, so long as its final judgment does not undertake to interfere with the state court's possession of the property." 257 B. R., at 38 (citing Markham, 326 U.S., at 494).

Meanwhile, in the Texas Probate Court, Pierce sought a declaration that the living trust and his father's will were valid. 392 F.3d at 1124-1125. Vickie, in turn, challenged the validity of the will and filed a tortious interference claim against Pierce, ibid., but voluntarily dismissed both claims once the Bankruptcy Court entered its judgment, id., at 1128. Following a jury trial, the Probate Court declared the living trust and J. Howard's will valid. Id., at 1129.

Back in the federal forum, Pierce sought district-court review of the Bankruptcy Court's judgment. While rejecting the Bankruptcy Court's determination that Pierce had forfeited any argument based on the [*20] probate exception, the District Court held that the exception did not reach Vickie's claim. 264 B. R. 609, 619-625 (CD Cal. 2001). The Bankruptcy Court "did not assert jurisdiction generally over the probate proceedings . . . or take control over [the] estate's assets," the District Court observed, id., at 621, "thus, the probate exception would bar federal jurisdiction over Vickie's counterclaim only if such jurisdiction would 'interfere' with the probate proceedings," ibid. (quoting Markham, 326 U.S., at 494). Federal jurisdiction would not "interfere" with the probate proceedings, the District Court concluded, because: (1) success on Vickie's counterclaim did not necessitate any declaration that J. Howard's will was invalid, 264 B. R., at 621; and (2) under Texas law, probate courts do not have exclusive jurisdiction to entertain claims of the kind asserted in Vickie's counterclaim, id., at 622-625.

I love that, "Meanwhile, back in the Texas Probate Court"...

There's something funny about the word "courtship" here:

I bet I know what Justice Stevens was thinking when he saw that!