statutes to permit most interstate class actions to be
brought in or removed to Federal district courts;
and
(5) in order to ensure that interstate class ac-
tions are adjudicated in a fair, consistent, and effi-
cient manner and to correct the unintended, tech-
nical exclusion of such cases from the scope of Fed-
eral diversity jurisdiction, it is appropriate for Con-
gress to amend the Federal diversity jurisdiction and
related statutes to allow more interstate class ac-
tions to be brought in or removed to Federal court.
SEC. 3. JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURTS.
(a) EXPANSION OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION.—Sec-
tion 1332 is amended by redesignating subsections (b),
(c), and (d) as subsections (c), (d), and (e), respectively,
and by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
‘‘(b)(1) The district courts shall have original juris-
diction of any civil action which is brought as a class ac-
tion and in which—
‘‘(A) any member of a proposed plaintiff class
is a citizen of a State different from any defendant;
‘‘(B) any member of a proposed plaintiff class
is a foreign state and any defendant is a citizen of
a State; or
‘‘(C) any member of a proposed plaintiff class
is a citizen of a State and any defendant is a citizen
or subject of a foreign state.’’
As used in this paragraph, the term ‘foreign state’ has
the meaning given that term in section 1603(a).
‘‘(2)(A) The district courts shall not exercise jurisdic-
tion over a civil action described in paragraph (1) if the
action is—
‘‘(i) an intrastate case,
‘‘(ii) a limited scope case, or
‘‘(iii) a State action case.
For purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘intrastate
case’ means a class action in which the record indicates
that the claims asserted therein will be governed primarily
by the laws of the State in which the action was originally
filed and the substantial majority of the members of all
proposed plaintiff classes are citizens of that State of
which the primary defendants are also citizens. For pur-
poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘limited scope case’
means a class action in which the record indicates that
all matters in controversy asserted by all members of all
proposed plaintiff classes do not in the aggregate exceed
the sum or value of $1,000,000, exclusive of interest and
costs, or a class action in which the number of members
of all proposed plaintiff classes in the aggregate is less
than 100. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term
‘State action case’ means a class action in which the pri-
mary defendants are States, State officials, or other gov-
ernmental entities against whom the district court may be
foreclosed from ordering relief.
‘‘(3)(A) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any claim
concerning a covered security as that term is defined in
section 16(f)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933 and section
28(f)(5)(E) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1332(c) (as
redesignated by this section) is amended by inserting after
‘‘Federal courts’’ the following: ‘‘pursuant to subsection
(a) of this section’’.
(c) DETERMINATION OF DIVERSITY.—Section 1332,
as amended by this section, is further amended by adding
at the end the following:
‘‘(f) For purposes of subsection (b), a member of a
proposed class shall be deemed to be a citizen of a State
different from a defendant corporation only if that mem-
ber is a citizen of a State different from all States of which
the defendant corporation is deemed a citizen.’’.
SEC. 4. REMOVAL OF CLASS ACTIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 89 is amended by adding
after section 1452 the following:
‘‘§ 1453. Removal of class actions
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A class action may be removed
to a district court of the United States in accordance with
this chapter, except that such action may be removed—
‘‘(1) by any defendant without the consent of
all defendants; or
‘‘(2) by any plaintiff class member who is not
a named or representative class member of the ac-
tion for which removal is sought, without the con-
sent of all members of such class.
‘‘(b) WHEN REMOVABLE.—This section shall apply
to any class action before or after the entry of any order
certifying a class.
‘‘(c) PROCEDURE FOR REMOVAL.—The provisions of
section 1446(a) relating to a defendant removing a case
shall apply to a plaintiff removing a case under this sec-
tion. With respect to the application of subsection (b) of
such section, the requirement relating to the 30-day filing
period shall be met if a plaintiff class member who is not
a named or representative class member of the action for
which removal is sought files notice of removal no later
than 30 days after receipt by such class member, through
service or otherwise, of the initial written notice of the
class action provided at the court’s direction.
‘‘(d) EXCEPTION.—This section shall not apply to
any claim concerning a covered security as that term is
defined in section 16(f)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933
and section 28(f)(5)(E) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.’’.
(b) REMOVAL LIMITATIONS.—Section 1446(b) is
amended in the second sentence—
(1) by inserting ‘‘, by exercising due diligence,’’
after ‘‘ascertained’’; and
(2) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ after ‘‘section 1332.’’
(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
The table of sections for chapter 89 is amended by adding
after the item relating to section 1452 the following:
‘‘1453. Removal of class actions.’’.
(d) APPLICATION OF SUBSTANTIVE STATE LAW.—
Nothing in this section or the amendments made by this
section shall alter the substantive law applicable to an ac-
tion to which the amendments made by section 2 of this
Act apply.
(e) PROCEDURE AFTER REMOVAL.—Section 1447 is
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(f) If, after removal, the court determines that no
aspect of an action that is subject to its jurisdiction solely
under the provisions of section 1332(b) may be maintained
as a class action under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure, it shall dismiss the action. An action dis-
missed pursuant to this subsection may be filed again in
a State court, but any such refiled action may be removed
again if it is an action of which the district courts of the
United States have original jurisdiction. In any action dis-
missed pursuant to this subsection, the period of limita-
tions for any claim that was asserted in the action on be-
half of any named or unnamed member of any proposed
class shall be deemed tolled to the full extent provided
under Federal law.’’.
SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY.
The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any
action commenced on or after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
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