Also known as: ancillaries · ancilla
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
Supplementary or subordinate to a primary matter or proceeding.
Angela Acosta sold her metal fabrication shop to Atlas Ventures. The sale agreement included her promise not to work in the industry across three states for ten years. When she later took a welding job nearby, the court examined whether the promise was ancillary to the sale and whether its scope exceeded what was needed to protect the buyer's interests.
Amelia Amari, a journalist, refused to reveal sources in a grand jury proceeding. She argued that her research notes deserved protection ancillary to First Amendment freedoms of belief and inquiry. The court considered whether that ancillary interest justified withholding the information.
In November 1969, Paul Branzburg, a staff reporter for the Courier-Journal newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky, published an article describing his observations of two individuals synthesizing hashish from marijuana in Jefferson County. The article included a photograph and stated that Branzburg had promised not to reveal the identities of the two. He was subsequently subpoenaed by the Jefferson County grand jury and refused to identify the individuals he had observed. A state trial court ordered him to answer, and the Kentucky Court of Appeals denied his petition for relief. In January 1971, Branzburg published a second article detailing drug use in Frankfort, Kentucky, based on interviews with several dozen users over two weeks. He was subpoenaed by the Franklin County grand jury to testify about violations of drug statutes. The Court of Appeals denied the requested writs and rejected his First Amendment claim. This Court granted certiorari. In July 1970, Paul Pappas, a television newsman-photographer, was assigned to cover civil disorders in New Bedford, Massachusetts, involving the Black Panthers. He entered Panther headquarters under an agreement not to disclose what he saw or heard inside except for an anticipated police raid, which did not occur. Two months later, he was summoned before the Bristol County grand jury but refused to answer questions about his observations inside the headquarters. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that he must appear and testify. In February 1970, Earl Caldwell, a New York Times reporter covering the Black Panther Party in San Francisco, received a subpoena to appear before a federal grand jury investigating possible violations of federal law by the group, including threats against the President. The District Court denied the motion to quash but issued a protective order. Caldwell refused to appear and was held in contempt. The Court of Appeals reversed, recognizing a qualified privilege. This Court granted certiorari and consolidated the cases.
View caseAdrian Aguilar challenged a city's demand for a greenway easement along his commercial property. The city claimed the recreational path was ancillary to its primary goal of reducing flooding. The court assessed whether the ancillary easement was sufficiently related to the stated public purpose.
Petitioner Florence Dolan owns a plumbing and electric supply store located on a 1.67-acre parcel of land in the business district of the city of Tigard, Oregon. The store is on a parcel that includes a 9,700-square-foot building, and Fanno Creek flows through the southwestern corner of the lot within the 100-year floodplain. In the early 1970's, the city developed a comprehensive plan for managing surface water drainage in the Fanno Basin serving the area where the property is located. The comprehensive plan also contained provisions for a pedestrian and bicycle pathway system throughout the city, one of which was to follow along Fanno Creek. In 1988, petitioner applied for a permit to expand her store and pave the parking lot. The city planning commission granted the permit but required petitioner to dedicate a portion of her property for the construction of a public greenway along Fanno Creek and an additional 15-foot strip of land adjacent to the greenway for a pedestrian and bicycle pathway. The dedication required encompasses approximately 7,000 square feet, or roughly 10% of the property. Petitioner requested a variance from the city's dedication requirements. The planning commission denied the variance, and the city council affirmed the denial. Petitioner then filed suit in Oregon state court claiming an uncompensated taking. The Oregon trial court upheld the city's requirements. The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed, as did the Oregon Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari. The question presented was what standard of review applies to a claim that a city's exaction of a dedication of private property as a condition of a building permit constitutes an uncompensated taking of property in violation of the Fifth Amendment.
View caseAlexis Archer received a grant of immunity before testifying before a grand jury. The government later sought to use evidence derived from that testimony in a prosecution. The court examined whether the immunity was broad enough to cover ancillary uses of the compelled statements.
In February 1971 petitioners were subpoenaed to appear before a United States grand jury in the Central District of California investigating violations of federal gambling and related laws. The government believed that petitioners were likely to assert their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Prior to the scheduled appearances, the government applied to the District Court for an order directing petitioners to answer questions and produce evidence before the grand jury under a grant of immunity conferred pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 6002-6003. Petitioners opposed issuance of the order, contending that the scope of the immunity provided by the statute was not coextensive with the scope of the privilege against self-incrimination and therefore was not sufficient to supplant the privilege and compel their testimony. The District Court rejected this contention and ordered petitioners to appear before the grand jury and answer its questions under the grant of immunity. Petitioners appeared but refused to answer questions, asserting their privilege against compulsory self-incrimination. They were brought before the District Court, and each persisted in his refusal to answer the grand jury's questions notwithstanding the grant of immunity. The court found both in contempt and committed them to the custody of the Attorney General until either they answered the grand jury's questions or the term of the grand jury expired. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the contempt findings. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve whether testimony may be compelled by granting immunity from the use of compelled testimony and evidence derived therefrom or whether transactional immunity is necessary.
View caseAnika Anand and her spouse challenged state marriage laws that withheld hospital visitation and other benefits. They argued the denial affected rights ancillary to the core recognition of their marriage. The court considered whether those ancillary benefits altered the equal protection analysis.
The petitioners were fourteen same-sex couples and two men whose same-sex partners were deceased. They lived in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. Those states defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman under their constitutions and statutes. The petitioners filed suits in federal district courts in their home states. They sought marriage licenses or recognition of marriages lawfully performed elsewhere. James Obergefell and John Arthur traveled from Ohio to Maryland to marry aboard a medical transport plane because Arthur suffered from ALS; Obergefell later sought to be listed as surviving spouse on Arthur's death certificate. April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, Michigan nurses, adopted three children but could not both serve as legal parents under state adoption rules. Army Reserve Sergeant Ijpe DeKoe and Thomas Kostura married in New York before DeKoe's deployment to Afghanistan and later settled in Tennessee. Each district court ruled in the petitioners' favor. The respondents appealed. The Sixth Circuit consolidated the cases and reversed the district court judgments. The petitioners sought certiorari, which the Supreme Court granted. Same-sex couples had begun establishing families after substantial cultural and political developments in the late twentieth century. Earlier litigation had addressed the legal status of gays and lesbians, including challenges that reached the Supreme Court in Bowers v. Hardwick and Lawrence v. Texas.
View caseAndrew Avery joined additional plaintiffs whose individual claims fell below the amount-in-controversy threshold. The court evaluated whether it could exercise supplemental jurisdiction over those claims ancillary to the main diversity action. The analysis turned on whether Congress had authorized ancillary jurisdiction in that setting.
In 1991, about 10,000 Exxon dealers filed a class-action suit against the Exxon Corporation in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. They alleged an intentional and systematic scheme by which they were overcharged for fuel purchased from Exxon. The plaintiffs invoked the District Court's diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). Each dealer's claim was for slightly less than the $75,000 jurisdictional minimum. After a unanimous jury verdict in favor of the plaintiffs, the District Court certified the case for interlocutory review on the question of supplemental jurisdiction over class members who did not meet the jurisdictional minimum. In a separate action, a 9-year-old girl sued Star-Kist in a diversity action in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. She sought damages for unusually severe injuries she received when she sliced her finger on a tuna can. Her family joined in the suit seeking damages for emotional distress and medical expenses. The District Court granted summary judgment to Star-Kist, finding that none of the plaintiffs met the minimum amount-in-controversy requirement. The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld the District Court's extension of supplemental jurisdiction to the class members who did not meet the amount requirement. The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that the injured girl, but not her family members, had made allegations of damages in the requisite amount. It further held that section 1367 authorizes supplemental jurisdiction only when the district court has original jurisdiction over the action. In a diversity case, original jurisdiction is lacking if one plaintiff fails to satisfy the amount-in-controversy requirement. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve the conflict among the Courts of Appeals. The cases were consolidated before the Supreme Court.
View caseIt means the restraint on competition is subordinate to and arises out of an otherwise legitimate deal, such as the sale of a business. Courts then test whether the restraint's scope is no greater than needed to protect the buyer's interests and whether hardship or public injury outweighs those interests.
An ancillary proceeding allows third parties to assert their interests in property after the court has ordered forfeiture against the defendant. It is separate from sentencing and does not affect the defendant's rights but determines whether the government must return property to claimants.
A claim is ancillary when it is so related to the primary claims that it forms part of the same case or controversy. Congress authorized federal courts to hear such claims even when they do not independently satisfy jurisdictional requirements such as the amount in controversy.
…in judgment). It is important to note with precision which laws petitioners have challenged. Although they discuss some of the ancillary legal benefits that accompany marriage, such as hospital visitation rights and recognition of spousal status on official documents, petitioners’ lawsuits target the laws defining marriage…