Task: sc_issue_9

What follows is an opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States. Your task is to determine the issue of the Court's decision. Determine the issue of the case on the basis of the Court's own statements as to what the case is about. Focus on the subject matter of the controversy rather than its legal basis.

Justice BREYER delivered the opinion of the Court.
The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA or Act), provides, with specified exceptions, that a "foreign state shall be immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States and of the States...." 28 U.S.C. § 1604. One of the jurisdictional exceptions-the expropriation exception-says that
"[a] foreign state shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of courts of the United States or of the States in any case... (3) in which rights in property taken in violation of international law are in issue and that property... is owned or operated by an agency or instrumentality of the foreign state... engaged in a commercial activity in the United States." § 1605(a)(3).
The question here concerns the phrase "case... in which rights in property taken in violation of international law are in issue."
Does this phrase mean that, to defeat sovereign immunity, a party need only make a "nonfrivolous" argument that the case falls within the scope of the exception? Once made, does the existence of that nonfrivolous argument mean that the court retains jurisdiction over the case until the court decides, say, the merits of the case? Or does a more rigorous jurisdictional standard apply? To put the question more generally: What happens in a case where the party seeking to rely on the expropriation exception makes a nonfrivolous, but ultimately incorrect, claim that his property was taken in violation of international law?
In our view, a party's nonfrivolous, but ultimately incorrect, argument that property was taken in violation of international law is insufficient to confer jurisdiction. Rather, state and federal courts can maintain jurisdiction to hear the merits of a case only if they find that the property in which the party claims to hold rights was indeed "property taken in violation of international law." Put differently, the relevant factual allegations must make out a legally valid claim that a certain kind of right is at issue (property rights) and that the relevant property was taken in a certain way (in violation of international law). A good argument to that effect is not sufficient. But a court normally need not resolve, as a jurisdictional matter, disputes about whether a party actually held rights in that property; those questions remain for the merits phase of the litigation.
Moreover, where jurisdictional questions turn upon further factual development, the trial judge may take evidence and resolve relevant factual disputes. But, consistent with foreign sovereign immunity's basic objective, namely, to free a foreign sovereign from suit, the court should normally resolve those factual disputes and reach a decision about immunity as near to the outset of the case as is reasonably possible. See Verlinden B.V. v. Central Bank of Nigeria, 461 U.S. 480, 493-494, 103 S.Ct. 1962, 76 L.Ed.2d 81 (1983).
I
Since the mid-1970's a wholly owned Venezuela-incorporated subsidiary (Subsidiary) of an American company (Parent) supplied oil rigs to oil development entities that were part of the Venezuelan Government. In 2011 the American Parent company and its Venezuelan Subsidiary (the respondents here) brought this lawsuit in federal court against those foreign government entities. (The entities go by their initials, PDVSA, but we shall normally refer to them as "Venezuela" or the "Venezuelan Government.") The American Parent and the Venezuelan Subsidiary claimed that the Venezuelan Government had unlawfully expropriated the Subsidiary's oil rigs. And they sought compensation.
According to stipulated facts, by early 2010 the Venezuelan Government had failed to pay more than $10 million that it owed the Subsidiary. At that point the government sent troops to the equipment yard where the rigs were stored, prevented the Subsidiary from removing the rigs, and issued a " 'Decree of Expropriation' " nationalizing the rigs. App. 72-74. Subsequently, the president of the oil development entities led a rally at the Subsidiary's offices, where he referred to the Venezuelan Subsidiary as an " 'American company' " with " 'foreign gentlemen investors.' " Id., at 54.
Venezuela asked the court to dismiss the case on the ground that Venezuela possessed sovereign immunity and that the court consequently lacked "jurisdiction" to hear the case. See 28 U.S.C. § 1604 ; Fed. Rules Civ. Proc. 12(b)(1) and (b)(2) ; Verlinden, supra, at 485, n. 5, 103 S.Ct. 1962 (explaining that a court lacks "subject-matter" and "personal" jurisdiction over a foreign sovereign unless an FSIA exception applies). The companies replied that the case falls within the expropriation exception. Venezuela in turn argued that the Subsidiary's expropriation claim did not satisfy the exception because " 'international law does not cover expropriations of property belonging to a country's own nationals' "; the taking was not " 'in violation of international law,' " and the exception thus does not apply. Record in No. 11-cv-01735 (D DC), Doc. 22, p. 13. Venezuela further argued that the American Parent's nationality makes no difference because, "as a corporate parent, [it] does not own [the Subsidiary's] assets." Id., Doc. 24, at 12.
The parties agreed that the District Court should then decide whether the exception applies, and it should do so on the basis of governing law, taking all of the plaintiffs' well-pleaded allegations as true and construing the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs. App. 119. The court decided, in relevant part, that the exception did not apply to the Venezuelan Subsidiary's claim because the Subsidiary was a national of Venezuela. See 971 F.Supp.2d 49, 57-61 (2013). The court concluded that Venezuela consequently possessed sovereign immunity, and it dismissed the Subsidiary's claim on jurisdictional grounds. It rejected, however, Venezuela's argument that the Parent had no rights in property in the Subsidiary. It concluded that Venezuela's "actions have deprived [the Parent], individually, of its essential and unique rights as sole shareholder... by dismantling its voting power, destroying its ownership, and frustrating its control over the company." Id., at 73.
The Venezuelan Subsidiary appealed the dismissal of its expropriation claim, and Venezuela appealed the court's refusal to dismiss the Parent's claim. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed in part and affirmed in part the District Court's conclusions. It decided that both the Subsidiary's and the Parent's claims fell within the exception.
With respect to the Subsidiary's claim, the court agreed that a sovereign's taking of its own nationals' property normally does not violate international law. But, the court said, there is an "exception" to this rule. And that exception applies when a sovereign's expropriation unreasonably discriminates on the basis of a company's shareholders' nationality, 784 F.3d 804, 812 (C.A.D.C.2015) (citing Banco Nacional de Cuba v. Sabbatino, 307 F.2d 845 (C.A.2 1962) ). That exception, it added, might apply here, in which case the expropriation would violate international law, the FSIA's expropriation exception would apply, and the federal courts would possess jurisdiction over the case. 784 F.3d, at 813. With respect to the Parent's expropriation claim, the court agreed with the District Court that the expropriation exception applied because the Parent had " 'put its rights in property in issue in a non-frivolous way.' " Id., at 816.
For present purposes, it is important to keep in mind that the Court of Appeals did not decide (on the basis of the stipulated facts) that the plaintiffs' allegations are sufficient to show their property was taken in violation of international law. It decided instead that the plaintiffs might have such a claim. And it made clear the legal standard that it would apply. It said that, in deciding whether the expropriation exception applies, it would set an "exceptionally low bar." Id., at 812. Any possible, i.e., " 'non-frivolous,' " ibid., claim of expropriation is sufficient, in the Court of Appeals' view, to bring a case within the scope of the FSIA's exception. In particular: If a plaintiff alleges facts and claims that permit the plaintiff to make an expropriation claim that is not " 'wholly insubstantial or frivolous,'" then the exception permits the suit and the sovereign loses its immunity. Ibid. (emphasis added). Given the factual stipulations, the Court of Appeals did not suggest further factfinding on this jurisdictional issue but, rather, decided that the Subsidiary had "satisfied this Circuit's forgiving standard for surviving a motion to dismiss in an FSIA case." Id., at 813.
Venezuela filed a petition for certiorari asking us to decide whether the Court of Appeals had applied the correct standard in deciding that the companies had met the expropriation exception's requirements. We agreed to do so.
II
Foreign sovereign immunity is jurisdictional in this case because explicit statutory language makes it so. See § 1604 ("[A] foreign state shall be immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States and of the States except as provided" by the FSIA's exceptions); § 1605(a) ("A foreign state shall not be immune from the jurisdiction" of federal and state courts if the exception at issue here is satisfied). Given the parties' stipulations as to all relevant facts, our inquiry poses a " 'pure question of statutory construction,' " Republic of Austria v. Altmann, 541 U.S. 677, 701, 124 S.Ct. 2240, 159 L.Ed.2d 1 (2004). In our view, the expropriation exception grants jurisdiction only where there is a valid claim that "property" has been "taken in violation of international law." § 1605(a)(3). A nonfrivolous argument to that effect is insufficient.
For one thing, the provision's language, while ambiguous, supports such a reading. It says that there is jurisdiction in a "case... in which rights in property taken in violation of international law are in issue." Ibid. Such language would normally foresee a judicial decision about the jurisdictional matter. And that matter is whether a certain kind of "right" is "at issue," namely, a property right taken in violation of international law. To take a purely hypothetical example, a party might assert a claim to a house in a foreign country. If the foreign country nationalized the house and, when sued, asserted sovereign immunity, then the claiming party would as a jurisdictional matter prove that he claimed "property" (which a house obviously is) and also that the property was "taken in violation of international law." He need not show as a jurisdictional matter that he, rather than someone else, owned the house. That question is part of the merits of the case and remains "at issue."
We recognize that merits and jurisdiction will sometimes come intertwined. Suppose that the party asserted a claim to architectural plans for the house. It might be necessary to decide whether the law recognizes the kind of right that he asserts, or whether it is a right in "property" that was "taken in violation of international law." Perhaps that is the only serious issue in the case. If so, the court must still answer the jurisdictional question. If to do so, it must inevitably decide some, or all, of the merits issues, so be it.
Our reading of the statute is consistent with its language. The case is one which the existence of "rights" remains "at issue" until the court decides the merits of the case. But whether the rights asserted are rights of a certain kind, namely, rights in "property taken in violation of international law," is a jurisdictional matter that the court must typically decide at the outset of the case, or as close to the outset as is reasonably possible.
Precedent offers a degree of support for our interpretation. In Permanent Mission of India to United Nations v. City of New York, 551 U.S. 193, 127 S.Ct. 2352, 168 L.Ed.2d 85 (2007), we interpreted a different FSIA exception for cases "in which... rights in immovable property situated in the United States are in issue." § 1605(a)(4). We held that there was jurisdiction over the case because the plaintiff's lawsuit to enforce a tax lien "directly implicate [d]" the property rights described by the FSIA exception. See id., at 200-201, 127 S.Ct. 2352. We did not simply rely upon a finding that the plaintiff had made a nonfrivolous argument that the exception applied.
For another thing, one of the FSIA's basic objectives, as shown by its history, supports this reading. The Act for the most part embodies basic principles of international law long followed both in the United States and elsewhere. See Schooner Exchange v. McFaddon, 7 Cranch 116, 136-137, 3 L.Ed. 287 (1812) ; see also Verlinden, 461 U.S., at 493, 103 S.Ct. 1962 (explaining that the Act "comprehensively regulat[es] the amenability of foreign nations to suit in the United States"). Our courts have understood, as international law itself understands, foreign nation states to be "independent sovereign" entities. To grant those sovereign entities an immunity from suit in our courts both recognizes the "absolute independence of every sovereign authority" and helps to " 'induc[e]' " each nation state, as a matter of " 'international comity,' " to "'respect the independence and dignity of every other,' " including our own.
Berizzi Brothers Co. v. S.S. Pesaro, 271 U.S. 562, 575, 46 S.Ct. 611, 70 L.Ed. 1088 (1926) (quoting The Parlement Belge, [1880] 5 P.D. 197, 214-215 (appeal taken from Admiralty Div.)).
In the mid-20th century, we, like many other nations, began to treat nations acting in a commercial capacity like other commercial entities. See Permanent Mission, supra, at 199-200, 127 S.Ct. 2352. And we consequently began to limit our recognition of sovereign immunity, denying that immunity in cases "arising out of a foreign state's strictly commercial acts," but continuing to apply that doctrine in "suits involving the foreign sovereign's public acts, " Verlinden, 461 U.S., at 487, 103 S.Ct. 1962 (emphasis added).
At first, our courts, aware of the expertise of the Executive Branch in matters of foreign affairs, relied heavily upon the advice of that branch when deciding just when and how this "restrictive" sovereign immunity doctrine applied. Ibid. See also H.R. Rep. No. 94-1487, pp. 8-9 (1976) (similar). But in 1976, Congress, at the urging of the Department of State and Department of Justice, began to codify the doctrine. The resulting statute, the FSIA, "starts from a premise of immunity and then creates exceptions to the general principle." Id., at 17; Verlinden, supra, at 493, 103 S.Ct. 1962. Almost all the exceptions involve commerce or immovable property located in the United States. E.g., §§ 1605(a)(2) and (4) ; see also § 1602 (expressing the finding that "[u]nder international law, states are not immune from the jurisdiction of foreign courts insofar as their commercial activities are concerned"). The statute thereby creates a doctrine that by and large continues to reflect basic principles of international law, in particular those principles embodied in what jurists refer to as the "restrictive" theory of sovereign immunity. See, e.g., Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law of the United States § 451, and Comment a (1986) (describing the restrictive theory of immunity); United Nations General Assembly, Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property, Res. 59/38, Arts. 5, 10-12 (Dec. 2, 2004) (adopting a restrictive theory of immunity and withdrawing immunity for loss of property where, among other requirements, "the act or omission occurred in whole or in part in the territory of th[e] other State"); United Nations General Assembly, Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property, Supp. A/59/22 No. 1, pp. 7-11 (Mar. 1-5, 2004) (same).
We have found nothing in the history of the statute that suggests Congress intended a radical departure from these basic principles. To the contrary, the State Department, which helped to draft the FSIA's language (and to whose views on sovereign immunity this Court, like Congress, has paid special attention, Altmann, 541 U.S., at 696, 124 S.Ct. 2240 ), told Congress that the Act was "drafted keeping in mind what we believe to be the general state of the law internationally, so that we conform fairly closely... to our accepted international standards," Hearing on H.R. 3493 before the Subcommittee on Claims and Governmental Relations of the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, 93d Cong., 1st Sess., 18 (1973). The Department added that, by doing so, we would diminish the likelihood that other nations would each go their own way, thereby "subject[ing]" the United States "abroad" to more claims "than we permit in this country...." Ibid. It is consequently not surprising to find that the expropriation exception on its face emphasizes conformity with international law by requiring not only a commercial connection with the United States but also a taking of property "in violation of international law."
We emphasize this point, embedded in the statute's language, history, and structure, because doing so reveals a basic objective of our sovereign immunity doctrine, which a "nonfrivolous-argument" reading of the expropriation exception would undermine. A sovereign's taking or regulating of its own nationals' property within its own territory is often just the kind of foreign sovereign's public act (a "jure imperii ") that the restrictive theory of sovereign immunity ordinarily leaves immune from suit. See Permanent Mission, 551 U.S., at 199, 127 S.Ct. 2352 (describing the FSIA's distinction between public acts, or jure imperii, and purely commercial ones); Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law of the United States § 712, at 196 (noting that, under international law, a state is responsible for a "taking of the property of a national of another state " (emphasis added)). See also Restatement (Fourth) of Foreign Relations Law of the United States § 455, Reporter's Note 12, p. 9 (Tent. Draft No. 2, Mar. 22, 2016) (noting that "[n]o provision comparable" to the exception "has yet been adopted in the domestic immunity statutes of other countries" and that expropriations are considered acts jure imperii ); United States v. Belmont, 301 U.S. 324, 332, 57 S.Ct. 758, 81 L.Ed. 1134 (1937) ; B. Cheng & G. Schwarzberger, General Principles of Law as Applied by International Courts and Tribunals 37-38 (1953) (collecting cases describing "the power of the sovereign State to expropriate" (internal quotation marks omitted)); Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy ), 2012 I.C.J. 99, 123-125, ¶¶ 56-60 (Judgt. of Feb. 3) (noting

Question: What is the issue of the decision?
年. involuntary confession
数. habeas corpus
日. plea bargaining: the constitutionality of and/or the circumstances of its exercise
的. retroactivity (of newly announced or newly enacted constitutional or statutory rights)
月. search and seizure (other than as pertains to vehicles or Crime Control Act)
用. search and seizure, vehicles
成. search and seizure, Crime Control Act
名. contempt of court or congress
时. self-incrimination (other than as pertains to Miranda or immunity from prosecution)
件. Miranda warnings
一. self-incrimination, immunity from prosecution
请. right to counsel (cf. indigents appointment of counsel or inadequate representation)
中. cruel and unusual punishment, death penalty (cf. extra legal jury influence, death penalty)
据. cruel and unusual punishment, non-death penalty (cf. liability, civil rights acts)
码. line-up
不. discovery and inspection (in the context of criminal litigation only, otherwise Freedom of Information Act and related federal or state statutes or regulations)
新. double jeopardy
文. ex post facto (state)
下. extra-legal jury influences: miscellaneous
分. extra-legal jury influences: prejudicial statements or evidence
入. extra-legal jury influences: contact with jurors outside courtroom
人. extra-legal jury influences: jury instructions (not necessarily in criminal cases)
功. extra-legal jury influences: voir dire (not necessarily a criminal case)
上. extra-legal jury influences: prison garb or appearance
户. extra-legal jury influences: jurors and death penalty (cf. cruel and unusual punishment)
为. extra-legal jury influences: pretrial publicity
间. confrontation (right to confront accuser, call and cross-examine witnesses)
号. subconstitutional fair procedure: confession of error
取. subconstitutional fair procedure: conspiracy (cf. Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure: conspiracy)
回. subconstitutional fair procedure: entrapment
在. subconstitutional fair procedure: exhaustion of remedies
页. subconstitutional fair procedure: fugitive from justice
字. subconstitutional fair procedure: presentation, admissibility, or sufficiency of evidence (not necessarily a criminal case)
有. subconstitutional fair procedure: stay of execution
个. subconstitutional fair procedure: timeliness
作. subconstitutional fair procedure: miscellaneous
示. Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
出. statutory construction of criminal laws: assault
是. statutory construction of criminal laws: bank robbery
失. statutory construction of criminal laws: conspiracy (cf. subconstitutional fair procedure: conspiracy)
表. statutory construction of criminal laws: escape from custody
除. statutory construction of criminal laws: false statements (cf. statutory construction of criminal laws: perjury)
加. statutory construction of criminal laws: financial (other than in fraud or internal revenue)
败. statutory construction of criminal laws: firearms
生. statutory construction of criminal laws: fraud
信. statutory construction of criminal laws: gambling
类. statutory construction of criminal laws: Hobbs Act; i.e., 18 USC 1951
置. statutory construction of criminal laws: immigration (cf. immigration and naturalization)
理. statutory construction of criminal laws: internal revenue (cf. Federal Taxation)
本. statutory construction of criminal laws: Mann Act and related statutes
息. statutory construction of criminal laws: narcotics includes regulation and prohibition of alcohol
行. statutory construction of criminal laws: obstruction of justice
定. statutory construction of criminal laws: perjury (other than as pertains to statutory construction of criminal laws: false statements)
改. statutory construction of criminal laws: Travel Act, 18 USC 1952
市. statutory construction of criminal laws: war crimes
期. statutory construction of criminal laws: sentencing guidelines
以. statutory construction of criminal laws: miscellaneous
修. jury trial (right to, as distinct from extra-legal jury influences)
元. speedy trial
方. miscellaneous criminal procedure (cf. due process, prisoners' rights, comity: criminal procedure)
录. voting
区. Voting Rights Act of 1965, plus amendments
单. ballot access (of candidates and political parties)
位. desegregation (other than as pertains to school desegregation, employment discrimination, and affirmative action)
型. desegregation, schools
法. employment discrimination: on basis of race, age, religion, illegitimacy, national origin, or working conditions.
县. affirmative action
存. slavery or indenture
品. sit-in demonstrations (protests against racial discrimination in places of public accommodation)
前. reapportionment: other than plans governed by the Voting Rights Act
称. debtors' rights
注. deportation (cf. immigration and naturalization)
值. employability of aliens (cf. immigration and naturalization)
输. sex discrimination (excluding sex discrimination in employment)
建. sex discrimination in employment (cf. sex discrimination)
能. Indians (other than pertains to state jurisdiction over)
大. Indians, state jurisdiction over
例. juveniles (cf. rights of illegitimates)
度. poverty law, constitutional
始. poverty law, statutory: welfare benefits, typically under some Social Security Act provision.
到. illegitimates, rights of (cf. juveniles): typically inheritance and survivor's benefits, and paternity suits
面. handicapped, rights of: under Rehabilitation, Americans with Disabilities Act, and related statutes
载. residency requirements: durational, plus discrimination against nonresidents
点. military: draftee, or person subject to induction
密. military: active duty
动. military: veteran
果. immigration and naturalization: permanent residence
图. immigration and naturalization: citizenship
提. immigration and naturalization: loss of citizenship, denaturalization
发. immigration and naturalization: access to public education
式. immigration and naturalization: welfare benefits
国. immigration and naturalization: miscellaneous
登. indigents: appointment of counsel (cf. right to counsel)
错. indigents: inadequate representation by counsel (cf. right to counsel)
者. indigents: payment of fine
认. indigents: costs or filing fees
误. indigents: U.S. Supreme Court docketing fee
接. indigents: transcript
关. indigents: assistance of psychiatrist
重. indigents: miscellaneous
第. liability, civil rights acts (cf. liability, governmental and liability, nongovernmental; cruel and unusual punishment, non-death penalty)
地. miscellaneous civil rights (cf. comity: civil rights)
如. First Amendment, miscellaneous (cf. comity: First Amendment)
设. commercial speech, excluding attorneys
目. libel, defamation: defamation of public officials and public and private persons
开. libel, privacy: true and false light invasions of privacy
事. legislative investigations: concerning internal security only
可. federal or state internal security legislation: Smith, Internal Security, and related federal statutes
要. loyalty oath or non-Communist affidavit (other than bar applicants, government employees, political party, or teacher)
代. loyalty oath: bar applicants (cf. admission to bar, state or federal or U.S. Supreme Court)
小. loyalty oath: government employees
选. loyalty oath: political party
标. loyalty oath: teachers
明. security risks: denial of benefits or dismissal of employees for reasons other than failure to meet loyalty oath requirements
编. conscientious objectors (cf. military draftee or military active duty) to military service
求. campaign spending (cf. governmental corruption):
列. protest demonstrations (other than as pertains to sit-in demonstrations): demonstrations and other forms of protest based on First Amendment guarantees
网. free exercise of religion
万. establishment of religion (other than as pertains to parochiaid:)
最. parochiaid: government aid to religious schools, or religious requirements in public schools
器. obscenity, state (cf. comity: privacy): including the regulation of sexually explicit material under the 21st Amendment
所. obscenity, federal
内. due process: miscellaneous (cf. loyalty oath), the residual code
体. due process: hearing or notice (other than as pertains to government employees or prisoners' rights)
通. due process: hearing, government employees
务. due process: prisoners' rights and defendants' rights
此. due process: impartial decision maker
商. due process: jurisdiction (jurisdiction over non-resident litigants)
序. due process: takings clause, or other non-constitutional governmental taking of property
化. privacy (cf. libel, comity: privacy)
消. abortion: including contraceptives
否. right to die
保. Freedom of Information Act and related federal or state statutes or regulations
使. attorneys' and governmental employees' or officials' fees or compensation or licenses
次. commercial speech, attorneys (cf. commercial speech)
机. admission to a state or federal bar, disbarment, and attorney discipline (cf. loyalty oath: bar applicants)
对. admission to, or disbarment from, Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court
量. arbitration (in the context of labor-management or employer-employee relations) (cf. arbitration)
查. union antitrust: legality of anticompetitive union activity
部. union or closed shop: includes agency shop litigation
性. Fair Labor Standards Act
和. Occupational Safety and Health Act
更. union-union member dispute (except as pertains to union or closed shop)
后. labor-management disputes: bargaining
证. labor-management disputes: employee discharge
题. labor-management disputes: distribution of union literature
确. labor-management disputes: representative election
格. labor-management disputes: antistrike injunction
了. labor-management disputes: jurisdictional dispute
于. labor-management disputes: right to organize
金. labor-management disputes: picketing
公. labor-management disputes: secondary activity
午. labor-management disputes: no-strike clause
円. labor-management disputes: union representatives
片. labor-management disputes: union trust funds (cf. ERISA)
空. labor-management disputes: working conditions
态. labor-management disputes: miscellaneous dispute
管. miscellaneous union
主. antitrust (except in the context of mergers and union antitrust)
天. mergers
自. bankruptcy (except in the context of priority of federal fiscal claims)
我. sufficiency of evidence: typically in the context of a jury's determination of compensation for injury or death
全. election of remedies: legal remedies available to injured persons or things
今. liability, governmental: tort or contract actions by or against government or governmental officials other than defense of criminal actions brought under a civil rights action.
来. liability, other than as in sufficiency of evidence, election of remedies, punitive damages
正. liability, punitive damages
说. Employee Retirement Income Security Act (cf. union trust funds)
意. state or local government tax
送. state and territorial land claims
容. state or local government regulation, especially of business (cf. federal pre-emption of state court jurisdiction, federal pre-emption of state legislation or regulation)
已. federal or state regulation of securities
结. natural resources - environmental protection (cf. national supremacy: natural resources, national supremacy: pollution)
会. corruption, governmental or governmental regulation of other than as in campaign spending
段. zoning: constitutionality of such ordinances, or restrictions on owners' or lessors' use of real property
计. arbitration (other than as pertains to labor-management or employer-employee relations (cf. union arbitration)
源. federal or state consumer protection: typically under the Truth in Lending; Food, Drug and Cosmetic; and Consumer Protection Credit Acts
色. patents and copyrights: patent
時. patents and copyrights: copyright
交. patents and copyrights: trademark
系. patents and copyrights: patentability of computer processes
过. federal or state regulation of transportation regulation: railroad
电. federal and some few state regulations of transportation regulation: boat
询. federal and some few state regulation of transportation regulation:truck, or motor carrier
符. federal and some few state regulation of transportation regulation: pipeline (cf. federal public utilities regulation: gas pipeline)
未. federal and some few state regulation of transportation regulation: airline
程. federal and some few state regulation of public utilities regulation: electric power
常. federal and some few state regulation of public utilities regulation: nuclear power
条. federal and some few state regulation of public utilities regulation: oil producer
当. federal and some few state regulation of public utilities regulation: gas producer
情. federal and some few state regulation of public utilities regulation: gas pipeline (cf. federal transportation regulation: pipeline)
口. federal and some few state regulation of public utilities regulation: radio and television (cf. cable television)
合. federal and some few state regulation of public utilities regulation: cable television (cf. radio and television)
车. federal and some few state regulations of public utilities regulation: telephone or telegraph company
实. miscellaneous economic regulation
组. comity: civil rights
版. comity: criminal procedure
周. comity: First Amendment
址. comity: habeas corpus
记. comity: military
二. comity: obscenity
同. comity: privacy
业. comity: miscellaneous
权. comity primarily removal cases, civil procedure (cf. comity, criminal and First Amendment); deference to foreign judicial tribunals
其. assessment of costs or damages: as part of a court order
进. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure including Supreme Court Rules, application of the Federal Rules of Evidence, Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure in civil litigation, Circuit Court Rules, and state rules and admiralty rules
试. judicial review of administrative agency's or administrative official's actions and procedures
验. mootness (cf. standing to sue: live dispute)
料. venue
传. no merits: writ improvidently granted
述. no merits: dismissed or affirmed for want of a substantial or properly presented federal question, or a nonsuit
集. no merits: dismissed or affirmed for want of jurisdiction (cf. judicial administration: Supreme Court jurisdiction or authority on appeal from federal district courts or courts of appeals)
多. no merits: adequate non-federal grounds for decision
无. no merits: remand to determine basis of state or federal court decision (cf. judicial administration: state law)
员. no merits: miscellaneous
报. standing to sue: adversary parties
他. standing to sue: direct injury
無. standing to sue: legal injury
服. standing to sue: personal injury
线. standing to sue: justiciable question
这. standing to sue: live dispute
制. standing to sue: parens patriae standing
将. standing to sue: statutory standing
处. standing to sue: private or implied cause of action
高. standing to sue: taxpayer's suit
子. standing to sue: miscellaneous
道. judicial administration: jurisdiction or authority of federal district courts or territorial courts
章. judicial administration: jurisdiction or authority of federal courts of appeals
手. judicial administration: Supreme Court jurisdiction or authority on appeal or writ of error, from federal district courts or courts of appeals (cf. 753)
库. judicial administration: Supreme Court jurisdiction or authority on appeal or writ of error, from highest state court
三. judicial administration: jurisdiction or authority of the Court of Claims
从. judicial administration: Supreme Court's original jurisdiction
支. judicial administration: review of non-final order
家. judicial administration: change in state law (cf. no merits: remand to determine basis of state court decision)
长. judicial administration: federal question (cf. no merits: dismissed for want of a substantial or properly presented federal question)
付. judicial administration: ancillary or pendent jurisdiction
秒. judicial administration: extraordinary relief (e.g., mandamus, injunction)
路. judicial administration: certification (cf. objection to reason for denial of certiorari or appeal)
完. judicial administration: resolution of circuit conflict, or conflict between or among other courts
象. judicial administration: objection to reason for denial of certiorari or appeal
则. judicial administration: collateral estoppel or res judicata
现. judicial administration: interpleader
京. judicial administration: untimely filing
转. judicial administration: Act of State doctrine
辑. judicial administration: miscellaneous
限. Supreme Court's certiorari, writ of error, or appeals jurisdiction
力. miscellaneous judicial power, especially diversity jurisdiction
学. federal-state ownership dispute (cf. Submerged Lands Act)
外. federal pre-emption of state court jurisdiction
调. federal pre-emption of state legislation or regulation. cf. state regulation of business. rarely involves union activity. Does not involve constitutional interpretation unless the Court says it does.
项. Submerged Lands Act (cf. federal-state ownership dispute)
北. national supremacy: commodities
工. national supremacy: intergovernmental tax immunity
笑. national supremacy: marital and family relationships and property, including obligation of child support
监. national supremacy: natural resources (cf. natural resources - environmental protection)
任. national supremacy: pollution, air or water (cf. natural resources - environmental protection)
相. national supremacy: public utilities (cf. federal public utilities regulation)
微. national supremacy: state tax (cf. state tax)
册. national supremacy: miscellaneous
联. miscellaneous federalism
平. boundary dispute between states
增. non-real property dispute between states
听. miscellaneous interstate relations conflict
解. incorporation of foreign territories
等. federal taxation, typically under provisions of the Internal Revenue Code
得. federal taxation of gifts, personal, business, or professional expenses
收. priority of federal fiscal claims: over those of the states or private entities
安. miscellaneous federal taxation (cf. national supremacy: state tax)
价. legislative veto
藏. executive authority vis-a-vis congress or the states
命. miscellaneous
应. real property
看. personal property
索. contracts
资. evidence
产. civil procedure
串. torts
布. wills and trusts
原. commercial transactions
Answer:

Answer: 道