Bourdieu v. Pacific Western Oil Co.

Bourdieu v. Pacific Western Oil Co., 299 U.S. 65 (1936), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court, which held that an inquiry into indispensability would be unnecessary where the complaint did not state a cause of action.

Bourdieu v. Pacific Western Oil Co.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued October 12, 1936 Decided November 9, 1936
Full case name	Bourdieu v. Pacific Western Oil Co.
Citations	299 U.S. 65 (more) 57 S. Ct. 51; 81 L. Ed. 42
Holding
An inquiry into indispensability would be unnecessary where the complaint did not state a cause of action.
Court membership
Chief Justice Charles E. Hughes Associate Justices Willis Van Devanter · James C. McReynolds Louis Brandeis · George Sutherland Pierce Butler · Harlan F. Stone Owen Roberts · Benjamin N. Cardozo
Case opinion
Majority	Sutherland
Stone took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Background

Pacific Western Oil Corporation was established by Edward L. Doherty in 1928 before later coming under the control of J. Paul Getty and owned oil and gas drilling rights for large sections of Fresno County, California. An agricultural landowner had "mining" rights for the same area and sued. The oil companies asserted that, since their leases were issued by the United States Secretary of State, that they could not be sued without including the U.S. government but the court disagreed.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 299

Further reading

• Colby, Wm. E. (1942). "The Law of Oil and Gas: With Special Reference to the Public Domain and Conservation". California Law Review. 30 (3): 245–271. doi:10.2307/3477673. JSTOR 3477673.

Text of Bourdieu v. Pacific Western Oil Co., 299 U.S. 65 (1936) is available from: CourtListener Findlaw Google Scholar Justia