Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2008

Publication Source

North Carolina Law Review

Abstract

Traditionally understood, a congressional grant of federal subject matter jurisdiction alone does not confer authority on a federal court to hear a case; a party to the case must also affirmatively invoke the applicable jurisdictional ground. In a sharp break from this traditional understanding, federal courts have recently begun to exercise jurisdiction over cases based on jurisdictional grounds no party has invoked. Courts adopting this practice have concluded that a district court must retain removed cases that meet the requirements of a congressionally-authorized ground of subject matter jurisdiction even when an arguably antecedent requirement - party invocation of that jurisdictional ground - has not occurred. This article identifies and criticizes this development, coining the phrase mandatory retention to describe federal courts' decision to exercise jurisdiction over cases based on jurisdictional grounds no party has invoked. The article recommends that courts equalize plaintiffs' and defendants' abilities to amend their jurisdictional allegations rather than shift responsibility for establishing jurisdiction in removed cases from the defendant to the federal court.

Inclusive pages

937-967

ISBN/ISSN

0029-2524

Document Version

Published Version

Comments

This document has been made available for download by permission of the publisher. It appeared in the North Carolina Law Review, Vol. 86, pp. 937-967 (2008). Link to article on publisher's website. Subscriptions available here.

Permission documentation is on file.

Publisher

North Carolina Law Review Association

Volume

86

Issue

4

Place of Publication

Chapel Hill, NC

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