In the 1944 case Herb v. Pitcairn et al., Receivers for Wabash Railway Co., the United States Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a federal court in Illinois had jurisdiction over a suit brought by an Indiana resident against receivers of a Missouri-based railway company appointed by another federal court in Missouri. The plaintiff, Herb, sought damages for injuries sustained while working on the railroad's tracks in Indiana. The defendants argued that they were not subject to jurisdiction outside of Missouri as they were officers of that state's courts. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Illinois court did have jurisdiction over this matter because it involved interstate commerce and therefore fell under federal law rather than state law. Furthermore, it held that when individuals are appointed as receivers by one district court and then sued elsewhere within their official capacity, those suits can be transferred back to the appointing district if justice so requires or convenience dictates.

In the dissenting opinion for Herb v. Pitcairn et al., Justice Frank Murphy argued that the majority's decision was a departure from established principles of federal jurisdiction and procedure. He contended that, under normal circumstances, an appeal to the Supreme Court should be made only after final judgment in a lower court. However, he acknowledged exceptions could be made when there is clear evidence of abuse or misuse of judicial power by lower courts which would cause irreparable harm if not immediately corrected. In this case though, he did not believe such conditions existed as no rights were being violated nor any harm done to parties involved due to delay in proceedings at state level while awaiting outcome at federal level. Furthermore, he criticized the majority's interpretation of Section 266 (now 28 U.S.C §1253) as overly broad and warned it could lead to unnecessary interference with state courts' ability to manage their own dockets effectively.