Subject Matter Jurisdiction Flashcards
What is Federal Subject-Matter Jurisdiction (3 Ways to establish)
Power of court over a particular case.
1. Federal Question
2. Diversity Jurisdiction
3. Supplemental Jurisdiction
What is Federal Question?
Plaintiff’s right to sue arises under a federal statute, federal regulation, or the Constitution.
Well-Pleaded Complaint Rule:
A question of federal law must arise in the plaintiff’s affirmative claim, regardless of any defense the defendant might raise.
Federal Question Inside State Law Claims:
A federal court can assert jurisdiction over a state law claim that raises a federal issue if the FQ is:
- Necessarily raised;
- Actually disputed;
- Substantial; and
- Capable of resolution in federal court without disrupting the federal-state balance approved by Congress.
What is Diversity Jurisdiction?
Diversity of citizenship between the parties (different states) + amount in controversy exceeds $75,000 (must be greater than, not equal to)
Determining Citizenship (People)
People:
-Only one place of citizenship.
-Citizen of where they reside and where they intend to remain (domicile)
-Wander Rule: Citizenship does not change until changing where resides and intending to remain.
Determining Citizenship (Corporations)
Corporations:
- Dual citizenship
- State of incorporation
- Principal place of business.The nerve center, where the heads of the business makes decisions.
Representative of Incapacitated party
Citizenship of the incapacitated party not the representative.
Unincorporated Association
Citizenship of every member (could be every state).
Amount in Controversy
- Must exceed $75,000
- Court will accept the plaintiffs’ allegations, unless it appears to a legal certainty that the amount in controversy will not be met.
- Plaintiff does not have to actually recover over 75,000 in damages.
- One plaintiff can aggregate multiple claims (related or not) against one defendant.
- Plaintiffs cannot aggregate multiple claims against multiple defendants.
What is Supplemental Jurisdiction
Allows a claim falling outside Federal Question or Diversity jurisdiction to piggyback onto a claim that does fall within Federal Question or Diversity.
Supplemental Jurisdiction (Step 1)
Determine Relatedness:
Does claim 2 arise from the same transaction/ occurrence as the claim that was granted Federal Question or Diversity Jurisdiction. If not, there is no supplemental jurisdiction. If yes, go to step 2.
Supplemental Jurisdiction (Step 2)
Sneaky Plaintiffs Where the Anchor Claim is Based on Diversity Jurisdiction.
A sneaky plaintiff is a plaintiff who is trying to circumvent the limitations of diversity jurisdiction.
Is the anchor claiming a Federal Question? If yes, advance to step 3.
Supplemental Jurisdiction (Step 3)
Consider State Prerogatives:
If steps 1 and 2 are satisfied, is there a good reason for the court to decline the Supplemental Jurisdiction anyway.
If yes, possible reasons:
Involves novel or complex issues of state law.
Claim substantially dominates over federal questions or diversity.
Anchor claim was dismissed.
Other compelling reasons.
Removal
A defendant can remove a case from state to federal court if the case could have originally been filed in federal court.
Home State Defendant Rule: a defendant cannot remove to federal court if:
- Subject matter jurisdiction would be grounded only in diversity jurisdiction and;
- Defendant is a citizen of the state where the Plaintiff originally filed suit in state court.
Multiple defendants: where there are multiple defendants, all of the defendants must agree to remove.
Timing: Defendant must remove within 30 days of when the grounds for removal become apparent.
But, if removal is based on diversity jurisdiction, the defendant must remove within one year of filing(unless the plaintiff attempted to thwart removal).
Counter claims, cross claims and impleader claims are not sufficient on their own to permit removal.
