Federal jurisdiction

“ Pendent jurisdiction, in the sense of judicial power, exists whenever there is a claim 'arising under (the) Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority * * *,' U.S.Const., Art. III, § 2, and the relationship between that claim and the state claim permits the conclusion that the entire action before the court comprises but one constitutional 'case.' [12] The federal claim must have substance sufficient to confer subject matter jurisdiction on the court. ”

“ If Congress speaks, state power is of course determined by what Congress says. If Congress makes the law of the state in which there is a federal site as foreign there as is the law of China, then federal jurisdiction would really be exclusive. But short of such Congressional assertion of overriding authority, the phrase 'exclusive jurisdiction' more often confounds than solves problems due to our federal system. ”

“ To permit a federal trial court to enter a judgment in a case removed without right from a state court where the federal court could not have original jurisdiction of the suit even in the posture it had at the time of judgment, would by the act of the parties work a wrongful extension of federal jurisdiction and give district courts power the Congress has denied them. ”

“ They are not organized under the Constitution, nor subject to its complex distribution of the powers of government, as the organic law; but are the creations, exclusively, of the legislative department, and subject to its supervision and control. Whether, or not, there are provisions in that instrument which extend to and act upon these Territorial governments, it is not now material to examine. We are speaking here of those provisions that refer particularly to the distinction between Federal and State jurisdiction. ”

“ This section embodies the view thus expressed by Mr. Justice CLIFFORD, speaking for the court, in Baker v. Morton, 12 Wall. 150, 153: 'Whenever a territory is admitted into the Union as a state, the cases pending in the territorial courts of a federal character or jurisdiction are transferred to the proper federal court, but all such as are not cognizable in the federal courts are transferred to the tribunals of the new state. ”

“ If the statute is to be repealed or rewritten, it must be done by Congress, not this Court.
Ex parte Young makes clear that the most significant factor determining the propriety of federal intervention is whether a state proceeding exists that was initiated before the federal suit was filed. The Court there upheld a federal court's injunction against future state proceedings where the injunction was in aid of the federal court's jurisdiction, but the Court expressly excepted from its holding the case where a state proceeding exists which was pending at the time federal jurisdiction attached. ”

“ Not only do we find no violence done to federal right or frustration of federal intent by the State's construction of its statute, but the evidence is clear that the Federal Government contemplated the continued existence of state jurisdiction consistent with federal functions and invited the cooperation of the State in providing an appropriate exercise of local authority over the territory. ”

“ The state courts can do their business without federal assistance. I do not know how far any gentleman may suppose that I may, from my office, be biased in favor of the state jurisdiction. I am no more interested than any other individual. ”

“ The jurisdiction of the federal courts-their power to adjudicate-is a grant of authority to them by Congress and thus beyond the scope of litigants to confer. But the locality of a law suit-the place where judicial authority may be exercised-though defined by legislation relates to the convenience of litigants and as such is subject to their disposition. This basic difference between the court's power and the litigant's convenience is historic in the federal courts. ”

“ The position taken in support of the jurisdiction assumes that the admission of the State, and consequent transfer of all actions and causes of action belonging to the State authorities, had the effect, not only to separate the Federal from the State subjects of jurisdiction, but also to remodel the judicial system of the Territory itself, and adapt its jurisdiction to the trial of Federal causes,-assumptions that need only to be stated to carry with them their refutation. ”

“ And, because the issue of the applicable law is controlled by a formal expression of the will of Congress, we need not pause to consider the question whether the conflict-of-laws rule applied in suits where federal jurisdiction rests upon diversity of citizenship shall be extended to a case such as this, in which jurisdiction is based upon a federal statute. ”

“ There are numerous assignments of error by each party, but, without specifying these, the questions raised will be disposed of in the order of convenience. Of course, the Federal jurisdiction, having been invoked upon substantial grounds of Federal law, extends to the determination of all questions involved in the case, whether resting upon state or Federal law. ”

“ Congress created the right of action. It might have provided that the right shall be enforceable only in a federal court. It might have provided that state courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction only of those cases which, by the applicable federal law, could, under the same circumstances, have been commenced in a federal court for the particular state. ”

“ State law cannot define the remedies which a federal court must give simply because a federal court in diversity jurisdiction is available as an alternative tribunal to the State's courts. [3] Contrariwise, a federal court may afford an equitable remedy for a substantive right recognized by a State even though a State court cannot give it. ”

“ The supreme court sensible, fellow citizens, that a jurisdiction was not given to it in its original character, as to this case between a state and one of its own citizens, by the specification contained in the third article of the constitution, of the cases in which a jurisdiction was granted to the federal courts over the several states, seeks to remedy the deficiency. ”

“ In furtherance of this policy, the Attorney General and the Secretary, in their discretion and to the extent consistent with law, shall ensure that jurisdictions that willfully refuse to comply with 8 U.S.C. 1373 (sanctuary jurisdictions) are not eligible to receive Federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes by the Attorney General or the Secretary. The Secretary has the authority to designate, in his discretion and to the extent consistent with law, a jurisdiction as a sanctuary jurisdiction. ”

“ Legislative history, in its relevant aspects, thus reinforces the meaning conveyed by the statute itself as a mere procedural provision.
2. From this conclusion inevitably emerge questions regarding the constitutionality of a grant of jurisdiction to federal courts over a contract governed entirely by state substantive law, a jurisdiction not based on diversity of citizenship yet one in which a federal court would, as in diversity cases, administer the law of the State in which it sits. ”

“ Whatever springes the State may set for those who are endeavoring to assert rights that the State confers, the assertion of Federal rights, when plainly and reasonably made, is not to be defeated under the name of local practice. Even if the order went only to the venue and not to the jurisdiction of the Court, each Director General in turn plainly indicated that he meant to adopt the position of his predecessor, and to insist that the suit was brought in the wrong county. ”

“ As was said in Ex parte McNiel, 13 Wall. 236, 243: 'A state law cannot give jurisdiction to any federal court, but that is not a question in this case. A state law may give a substantial right of such a character that, where there is no impediment arising from the residence of the parties, the right may be enforced in the proper federal tribunal, whether it be a court of equity, of admiralty, or of common law. The statute, in such cases, does not confer the jurisdiction. That exists already, and it is invoked to give effect to the right by applying the appropriate remedy. ”

“ Where a federal court's jurisdiction is properly invoked, and the relevant state constitutional and statutory provisions are plain and unambiguous, there is no necessity for the federal court to abstain pending determination of the state law questions in a state court. ”

“ Federal judicial power, beyond all doubt, has its origin in the Constitution, but the organization of the system and the distribution of the subjects of jurisdiction among such inferior courts as Congress may from time to time ordain and establish, within the scope of the judicial power, always have been, and of right must be the work of the Congress. ”

“ Another consideration, not without weight in seeking after the intention of Congress, is found in the fact that where that body has clearly shown an intention to bring the whole of a case which arises under the constitutional provision as to its subject-matter under the jurisdiction of a Federal court, it has conferred its cognizance on Federal courts of original jurisdiction and not on the Supreme Court. ”

“ Rigid enforcement of the jurisdictional requirement will limit the interference of Federal courts in State legislation and will accord with the policy of Congress in narrowing the jurisdiction of Federal courts by successive increases in the jurisdictional amount. ”

“ Due regard for the rightful independence of state governments, which should actuate federal courts, requires that they scrupulously confine their own jurisdiction to the precise limits which the statute has defined. ”

“ It must therefore be treated, for the purposes of our jurisdiction, as an act of legislation proceeding from the lawmaking power of the state; for a municipal ordinance passed under authority delegated by the Legislature is a state law within the meaning of the Federal Constitution; and any enactment, from whatever source originating, to which a state gives the force of law, is a statute of the state within the meaning of Judicial Code, § 237, * * * which confers jurisdiction upon this court. ”

“ So, where suits to enforce the laws of one State are entertained in courts of another on principles of comity, federal district courts sitting in that State may entertain them, and should, if they do not infringe federal law or policy. [128] However, the refusal of a territorial court in Hawaii, having jurisdiction of the action, which was on a policy issued by a New York insurance company, to admit evidence that an administrator had been appointed and a suit brought by him on a bond in the federal court in New York wherein no judgment had been entered, did not violate this clause. ”

“ If a state court can hold invalid acceptances whose validity has been approved by the Commission and the District Court, then the federal agencies have lost much of the exclusive jurisdiction which Congress granted them. There are myriad questions of state law underlying the consummation of every plan of reorganization. ”

“ It is not possible to bring each and any case into the United States courts. * * * The Federal courts were created solely for the purpose of handling special matters which are appropriately in the jurisdiction of a Federal agency. Thus, suits involving rights of a citizen under Federal statute may go to a Federal court. Suits involving citizens of more than one State may go to a Federal court under appropriate circumstances. ”

“ In sum, without disagreeing with petitioner's persuasive showing that most legislators, judges, and administrators who have been involved in the enactment, amendment, enforcement, and interpretation of Title VII expected that such litigation would be processed exclusively in federal courts, we conclude that such anticipation does not overcome the presumption of concurrent jurisdiction that lies at the core of our federal system. ”

“ Pending the final determination of all proceedings in the state action, the District Court is authorized to retain jurisdiction over the federal action and to take such steps as may appear necessary and appropriate to assure a prompt disposition of all issues involved in, or connected with, the state action. ”

“ A case or controversy not involving that jurisdiction cannot arise in any federal court. The possible relations of the Constitution, treaties, and acts of Congress to individuals (persons natural) , to corporations (persons artificial, as private corporations) , and to States (public corporations) , are beyond calculation. The line of demarcation between the jurisdiction of State courts and that of federal courts cannot be fixed by any brief definition or survey. ”

“ It has never heretofore been doubted that the constitutional grant of power is broader than the general federal-question jurisdiction which Congress has from time to time thought to confer on district courts by statute. ”