Subject Matter Jurisdiction
– A court must have SMJ to hear a lawsuit
– SMJ cannot be waived and you cannot consent to it; a court either has it or it doesn’t
o If it does not have it, the court has no power to adjudicate the dispute
– Prerequisite in both federal and state courts
o State Courts – courts of general jurisdiction
§ Presumption in favor of SMJ unless law provides otherwise (e.g., a statute states otherwise)
§ If there is federal jurisdiction, you may choose to sue in a state court instead.
§ Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over particular areas of the law (e.g., admiralty, 28 U.S.C.A. § 1333)
§ States have exclusive SMJ over domestic relations and probate cases.
o Federal Courts – courts of limited jurisdiction
§ Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution:
· Sets the SMJ of the federal courts;
· Congress may not grant to the federal courts SMJ beyond that of the Constitution; but that does not mean that the federal district courts exercise full Article III jurisdiction.
· Article III is not self-executing as to the federal district courts.
· The lower federal courts must be created by Congress; when they are created by Congress, Congress may vest them with as much Article III jurisdiction as it wants to.
· Congress does not have to grant full Article III jurisdiction to the lower federal courts.
– SMJ must be affirmatively granted by statute
– Reasons a P may prefer federal court over state court:
o 1. The applicable rules governing the procedures to be followed during the trial may be more liberal than the state rules.
o 2. Federal court may be more conveniently located than the nearest state court.
o 3. Federal judges often are perceived as having more expertise than their state counterparts.
o 4. Federal judges may be subject to fewer outside pressures because they are not elected but are appointed for life.
– In order to use the federal courts as a forum, the P must determine whether the federal courts have been given concurrent jurisdiction with the states over the particular controversy.
o Original Jurisdiction – Courts having original jurisdiction are courts of first instance – where litigants go to obtain a trial of the case.
o Appellate Jurisdiction – Courts having appellate jurisdiction function as reviewing courts and th
es in which a state is a party, the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction. In all other cases mentioned, the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction unless Congress has made some exception.
o Article III authorizes Congress to confer jurisdiction to the lower federal courts.
– The Enabling Statute, 28 U.S.C.A. § 1332(a)(2), (3) provides for diversity jurisdiction in suits between citizens of a state and foreign citizens (aliens).
o 28 U.S.C.A. § 1332 – p. 622 of Rules Book
§ District courts have original jurisdiction of all civil actions where matter in controversy exceeds $75,000, and is between –
· citizens of different states;
· citizens of a state and citizens or subjects of a foreign state;
· citizens of different states and in which citizens or subjects of a foreign state are additional parties; and
a foreign state, defined in section 1603(a), as plaintiff and citizens of a state or of different states.
