The following excerpt is from Bettis v. Patterson-Ballagh Corporation, 16 F. Supp. 455 (S.D. Cal. 1936):
Back of this principle is the fact that judicial power can be applied only to actual controversies. It can be invoked only where there are claims of litigants seeking to protect or enforce rights or to prevent or redress wrongs. As said in Marye v. Parsons (1885) 114 U.S. 325, 5 S.Ct. 932, 934, 962, 29 L.Ed. 205: "But no court sits to determine questions of law in thesi. There must be a litigation upon actual transactions between real parties, growing out of a controversy affecting legal or equitable rights as to person or property."
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