Gordon James Russell
Judge Russell no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Russell decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
He treated federal commerce power as broad enough to prohibit harmful interstate transportation when no single state could regulate the whole activity.
“Then the only jurisdiction that can enact it is the Congress of the United States, and it is clearly within the power granted by the Constitution to Congress to regulate the commerce among the slates.”
He distinguished a court's judicial act from a clerk's mistaken ministerial entry.
“Where such differences do exist the judgment actually rendered must prevail over the judgment entry, because the former *614is the judicial finding of the court, while the latter is but the ministerial act of the clerk.”
He read a statutory safety exception to cover an unforeseeable derailment when the railroad had exercised due diligence.
“the track of the defendant at Wapanucka, where the derailment of train. No. 56 occurred, was in an apparently safe condition”
Procedural preferences
He respected final state-court judgments rather than treating federal district court as an appellate forum.
“this court is not vested with appellate jurisdiction over the state district court of Polk county.”
He decided the hours-of-service dispute on an agreed factual record focused on the statutory exception.
“This case is before me for decision on an agreed statement of facts”
Cautions
A purchaser with notice of a mistaken judgment entry took subject to correction of that entry.
“when he took the conveyance of the interest and estate which Weir had in the land, he took it subject to the right of the parties at interest to have that judgment entry corrected”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the exceptions of the defendants to the indictment ought to be overruled, and it is so ordered.”
The court held that the state court's rendered judgment controlled over a mistaken clerk's entry and directed a decree consistent with that conclusion.
“Dor the reasons given, I render judgment for the defendant.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
No case-level docket records are available for this pre-electronic tenure, so the profile makes no claim about caseload mix or case duration.
A historical record
Judge Russell no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.