Federal Question

(redirected from Federal question jurisdiction)
Also found in: Wikipedia.

Federal Question

An issue directly involving the U.S. Constitution, federal statutes, or treaties between the United States and a foreign country.

Application of these kinds of law to particular cases or interpretation of the meanings of these laws is a power within the authority of the federal courts. The authority to hear lawsuits that turn on a point of federal law is called federal question jurisdiction. Under 28 U.S.C.A. § 1331 (1993), U.S. district courts "shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States." Unlike federal jurisdiction based upon Diversity of Citizenship under 28 U.S.C.A. § 1332 (Supp. 2003), federal question jurisdiction is not dependent on the parties meeting a prescribed amount in controversy.

Cross-references

Jurisdiction; Treaty.

Federal question

n. one basis for filing a lawsuit in federal district court is that it is based on subjects enumerated in the U. S. Constitution or when a federal statute is involved. Thus, existence of such federal question gives the federal court jurisdiction.

References in periodicals archive ?

In its discussion of federal question jurisdiction, the Fifth Circuit began by analyzing the plaintiff's complaint under the well-pleaded complaint rule.

Foreign relations and federal questions: resolving the judicial split on federal court jurisdiction

However, under the doctrine of "complete preemption" or "displacing preemption," a state court case may be removed on the basis of federal question jurisdiction if the federal statute completely displaces any state law causes of action and therefore leaves room only for federal law.

An antidote to preemption: plaintiff lawyers can see to it that the Supreme Court's Buckman decision does not spread preemption to perfectly healthy products claims

Disagreement among lower federal courts and a shifting majority on the Supreme Court nonetheless persisted concerning the relationship between the Swift doctrine, the expanded federal question jurisdiction, and their application to insurance, personal injury, and municipal bond debt litigation.

Brandeis and the Progressive Constitution: Erie, the Judicial Power, and the Politics of the Federal Courts in Twentieth-Century America

1) Yet, section 1331 is not nearly as encompassing--or as potent--in its grant of federal question jurisdiction to federal courts as its language suggests.

Federal court jurisdiction over private TCPA claims: why the federal Courts of Appeals got It fight

304) Congress amended the federal question jurisdiction statute three times after 1948, most recently in 1980.

Federal questions and the domestic-relations exception

To answer this question, we must look to the purposes of federal question jurisdiction.

The twin aims of Erie

1) If the corporate defendant cannot establish diversity jurisdiction, however, the Supreme Court's narrow interpretation of the federal question jurisdiction statute and its strict application of the well-pleaded complaint rule make the task of keeping the case in federal court nearly impossible.

Preemption and removal: Watson shuts the federal officer backdoor to the federal courthouse, conceals familiar motive

Moreover, prison litigation, which in the federal courts tends to be based on federal question jurisdiction, is unrelated to CAFA's more business-oriented purposes and should be largely unaffected by the legislation.

The impact of the Class Action Fairness Act on the federal courts: an empirical analysis of filings and removals

180 (1921), the Court held that a federal district court could exercise federal question jurisdiction if it "appears from the [complaint] that the right to relief depends upon the construction or application of [federal law].

The origins of article III "arising under" jurisdiction

58) The court of appeals explained that state privilege laws do not apply in cases based on federal question jurisdiction.

State of confusion: the HIPAA privacy rule and state physician-patient privilege laws in federal question cases

1991), the probate exception applies only to statutory diversity jurisdiction, not to federal question jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court takes exception to the "probate exception" Mrs. Smith goes to Washington

The FAA, however, does not provide an independent basis for federal question jurisdiction.

On appeal from default judgment in international dispute between insurance companies, Seventh Circuit rules (1) that Argentine insurance company had to post pre-judgment security to file new answer despite claim of foreign sovereign immunity and (2) that Argentina, by signing New York and Panama Conventions, waived immunity from pre-judgment attachment of assets