Task: sc_issue_8

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 Marshall
delivered the opinion of the Court.
These cases concern an Alabama statute which increased the severance tax on oil and gas extracted from Alabama wells, exempted royalty owners from the tax increase, and prohibited producers from passing on the increase to their purchasers. Appellants challenge the pass-through prohibition and the royalty-owner exemption under the Supremacy Clause, the Contract Clause, and the Equal Protection Clause.
I
Since 1945 Alabama has imposed a severance tax on oil and gas extracted from wells located in the State. Ala. Code § 40-20-1 et seq. (1975). The tax “is levied upon the producers of such oil or gas in the proportion of their ownership at the time of severance, but... shall be paid by the person in charge of the production operations.” §40-20-3(a). The person in charge of production operations is “authorized, empowered and required to deduct from any amount due to producers of such production at the time of severance the proportionate amount of the tax herein levied before making payments to such producers.” §40-20-3(a). The statute defines a “producer” as “[a]ny person engaging or continuing in the business of oil or gas production,” including
“the owning, controlling, managing, or leasing of any oil or gas property or oil or gas well, and producing in any manner any oil or gas... and... receiving money or other valuable consideration as royalty or rental for oil or gas produced. §40-20-1(8).
In 1979 the Alabama Legislature enacted Act 79-434, which increased the severance tax from 4% to 6% of the gross value of the oil and gas at the point of production. Whereas the severance tax had previously fallen on royalty owners in proportion to their interests in the oil or gas produced, the amendment specifically exempted royalty owners from the tax increase:
“Any person who is a royalty owner shall be exempt from the payment of any increase in taxes herein levied and shall not be liable therefor.” 1979 Ala. Acts, No. 79-434, p. 687, §1, as amended, Ala. Code §40-20-2(d) (1982).
The amendment also prohibited producers from passing the tax increase through to consumers:
“The privilege tax herein levied shall be absorbed and paid by those persons engaged in the business of producing or severing oil or gas only, and the producer shall not pass on the costs of such tax payments, either directly or indirectly, to the consumer; it being the express intent of this act that the tax herein levied shall be borne exclusively by the producer or severer of oil or gas.” 1979 Ala. Acts, No. 79-434, p. 687, § 1(e).
The amendment became effective on September 1, 1979. The pass-through prohibition was repealed on May 28, 1980. 1980 Ala. Acts, No. 80-708, p. 1438.
Appellants in both No. 81-1020 and No. 81-1268 have working interests in producing oil and gas wells located in Alabama. They drill and operate the wells and are responsible for selling the oil and gas extracted. Appellants are obligated to pay the landowners a percentage of the sale proceeds as royalties, the percentage depending upon the provisions of the applicable lease. Within any given production unit, there may be tracts of land which the owners of the land have leased to non working interests, who are also entitled to a share of the sale proceeds. Appellants were parties to contracts providing for the allocation of severance taxes among themselves, the royalty owners, and any nonworking interests in proportion to each party’s share of the sale proceeds. Appellants were also parties to sale contracts that required the purchasers to reimburse them for any and all severance taxes on the oil or gas sold.
After paying the 2% increase in the severance tax under protest, appellants and eight other oil and gas producers filed suit in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Ala., seeking a declaratory judgment that Act 79-434 was unconstitutional and a refund of the taxes paid under protest. The Circuit Court ruled in favor of appellants, concluding that both the royalty-owner exemption and the pass-through prohibition violate the Equal Protection Clause and the Contract Clause, and that the pass-through prohibition is also preempted by the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA), 15 U. S. C. §3301 et seq. (1976 ed., Supp. V). Although Act 79-434 contained a severability clause, the court held the entire Act invalid and ordered appellee Commissioner of Revenue of the State of Alabama to refund the taxes paid under protest. The Supreme Court of Alabama reversed, holding Act 79-434 valid in its entirety. 404 So. 2d 1 (1981).
Appellants appealed to this Court under 28 U. S. C. §1257(2). We noted probable jurisdiction. 456 U. S. 970 (1982). We now affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
HH HH
We deal first with appellants’ contention that the application of the pass-through prohibition to gas was pre-empted by federal law. The applicable principles of pre-emption were recently summarized in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Resources Conservation & Development Comm’n, 461 U. S. 190, 203-204 (1983):
“Absent explicit pre-emptive language, Congress’ intent to supersede state law altogether may be found from a '“scheme of federal regulation... so pervasive as to make reasonable the inference that Congress left no room for the States to supplement it,” because “the Act of Congress may touch a field in which the federal interest is so dominant that the federal system will be assumed to preclude enforcement of state laws on the same subject,” or because “the object sought to be obtained by the federal law and the character of obligations imposed by it may reveal the same purpose.” ’ Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Assn. v. De la Cuesta, 458 U. S. 141, 153 (1982), quoting Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U. S. 218, 230 (1947). Even where Congress has not entirely displaced state regulation in a specific area, state law is pre-empted to the extent that it actually conflicts with federal law. Such a conflict arises when ‘compliance with both federal and state regulations is a physical impossibility,’ Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U. S. 132, 142-143 (1963), or where state law ‘stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress.’ Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U. S. 52, 67 (1941).”
Appellants contend that the pass-through prohibition was in conflict with § 110(a) of the NGPA, 92 Stat. 3368, 15 U. S. C. § 3320(a) (1976 ed., Supp. V), which provides in pertinent part as follows:
“[A] price for the first sale of natural gas shall not be considered to exceed the maximum lawful price applicable to the first sale of such natural gas under this part if such first sale price exceeds the maximum lawful price to the extent necessary to recover—
“(1) State severance taxes attributable to the production of such natural gas and borne by the seller...
We agree with the Supreme Court of Alabama that the pass-through prohibition did not conflict with this provision. On its face § 110(a) of the NGPA does not give any seller the affirmative right to include in his price an amount necessary to recover state severance taxes. It simply provides that a seller who does include such an amount in his price shall not be deemed to have exceeded the federal price ceiling if he would not have exceeded it had that amount not been included. Nothing in the legislative history of the NGPA has been called to our attention to indicate that § 110(a) was intended to have a greater effect than its language would indicate.
Although the pass-through prohibition thus was not in conflict with § 110(a) of the NGPA, we nevertheless conclude that it was pre-empted by federal law insofar as it applied to sales of gas in interstate commerce. To that extent, the pass-through prohibition represented an attempt to legislate in a field that Congress has chosen to occupy. The Natural Gas Act (Gas Act), 52 Stat. 821, as amended, 15 U. S. C. §§717-717w (1976 ed. and Supp. V), was enacted in 1938 “to provide the Federal Power Commission, now the FERC, with authority to regulate the wholesale pricing of natural gas in the flow of interstate commerce from wellhead to delivery to consumers.” Maryland v. Louisiana, 451 U. S. 725, 748 (1981). As we have previously recognized, e. g., Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Wisconsin, 347 U. S. 672, 682-683 (1954); id., at 685-687 (Frankfurter, J., concurring), the Gas Act was intended to occupy the field of wholesale sales of natural gas in interstate commerce, a field which had previously been left largely unregulated as a result of the absence of federal action and decisions of this Court striking down state regulation of sales of natural gas in interstate commerce. The Committee Reports on the bill that became the Gas Act clearly evidence this intent:
“[S]ales for resale, or so-called wholesale sales, in interstate commerce (for example, sales by producing companies to distributing companies)... have been considered to be not local in character and, even in the absence of Congressional action, not subject to State regulation. The basic purpose of the present legislation is to occupy this field in which the Supreme Court has held that the States may not act.” H. R. Rep. No. 709, 75th Cong., 1st Sess., 1-2 (1937); S. Rep. No. 1162, 75th Cong., 1st Sess., 2 (1937) (citations omitted) (emphasis added).
The Alabama pass-through prohibition trespassed upon FERC’s authority over wholesale sales of gas in interstate commerce, for it barred gas producers from increasing their prices to pass on a particular expense — the increase in the severance tax — to their purchasers. Whether or not producers should be permitted to recover this expense from their purchasers is a matter within the sphere of FERC’s regulatory authority. See FPC v. United Gas Pipe Line Co., 386 U. S. 237, 243 (1967) (emphasis added):
“One of [the FPC’s] statutory duties is to determine just and reasonable rates which will be sufficient to permit the company to recover its costs of service and a reasonable return on its investment. Cost of service is therefore a major focus of inquiry. Normally included as a cost of service is a proper allowance for taxes....”
Here, as in Maryland v. Louisiana, the state statute “interfere[d] with the FERC’s authority to regulate the determination of the proper allocation of costs associated with the sale of natural gas to consumers.” 451 U. S., at 749. Just as the statute at issue in Maryland v. Louisiana was preempted because it effectively “shift[ed] the incidence of certain expenses... to the ultimate consumer of the processed gas without the prior approval of the FERC,” id., at 750, Alabama’s pass-through prohibition was pre-empted, insofar as it applied to sales of gas in interstate commerce, because it required that certain expenses be absorbed by producers.
We reach a different conclusion with respect to the application of the pass-through prohibition to sales of gas in intrastate commerce. Although § 105(a) of the NGPA extended federal authority to control prices to the intrastate market, 15 U. S. C. § 3315(a) (1976 ed., Supp. V), Congress also provided that this extension of federal authority did not deprive the States of the power to establish a price ceiling for intrastate producer sales of gas at a level lower than the federal ceiling. Section 602(a) of the NGPA, 92 Stat. 3411, as set forth in 15 U. S. C. §3432(a) (1976 ed., Supp. V), states that
“[n]othing in this chapter shall affect the authority of any State to establish or enforce any maximum lawful price for the first sale of natural gas produced in such State which does not exceed the applicable maximum lawful price, if any, under subchapter I of this chapter.”
See Energy Reserves Group, Inc. v. Kansas Power & Light Co., 459 U. S. 400, 420-421 (1983) (in enacting the NGPA, "Congress explicitly envisioned that the States would regulate intrastate markets in accordance with the overall national policy”).
Since a State may establish a lower price ceiling, we think it may also impose a severance tax and forbid sellers to pass it through to their purchasers. For sellers charging the maximum price allowed by federal law, a state tax increase coupled with a pass-through prohibition will not differ in practical effect from a state tax increase coupled with the imposition of a state price ceiling that maintains the price ceiling imposed by federal law prior to the tax increase. In both cases sellers are required to absorb expenses that they might be able to pass through to their customers absent the state restrictions. Given the absence of any express pre-emption provision in the NGPA and Congress’ express approval of one form of state regulation, we do not think it can fairly be inferred that Congress contemplated that the general scheme created by the NGPA would preclude another form of state regulation that is no more intrusive.
We conclude that the pass-through prohibition was preempted by federal law insofar as it applied to sales of gas in interstate commerce, but not insofar as it applied to producer sales of gas in intrastate commerce.
h-i hH
We turn next to appellants’ contention that the royalty-owner exemption and the pass-through prohibition impaired the obligations of contracts in violation of the Contract Clause.
A
Appellants’ Contract Clause challenge to the royalty-owner exemption fails for the simple reason that there is nothing to suggest that that exemption nullified any contractual obligations of which appellants were the beneficiaries. The relevant provision of Act 79-434 states that “[a]ny person who is a royalty owner shall be exempt from the payment of any increase in taxes levied and shall not be liable therefor.” On its face this portion of the Act provides only that the legal incidence of the tax increase does not fall on royalty owners, i. e., the State cannot look to them for payment of the additional taxes. In contrast to the pass-through prohibition, the royalty-owner exemption nowhere states that producers may not shift the burden of the tax increase in whole or in part to royalty owners. Nor is there anything in the opinion below to suggest that the Supreme Court of Alabama interpreted the exemption to have this effect. We will not strain to reach a constitutional question by speculating that the Alabama courts might in the future interpret the royalty-owner exemption to forbid enforcement of a contractual arrangement to shift the burden of the tax increase. See Ashwander v. TVA, 297 U. S. 288, 346-347 (1936) (Brandeis, J., concurring).
B
Unlike the royalty-owner exemption, the pass-through prohibition did restrict contractual obligations of which appellants were the beneficiaries. Appellants were parties to sale contracts that permitted them to include in their prices any increase in the severance taxes that they were required to pay on the oil or gas being sold. The contracts were entered into before the pass-through prohibition was enacted and their terms extended through the period during which the prohibition was in effect. By barring appellants from passing the tax increase through to their purchasers, the pass-through prohibition nullified pro tanto the purchasers’ contractual obligations to reimburse appellants for any severance taxes.
While the pass-through prohibition thus affects contractual obligations of which appellants were the beneficiaries, it does not follow that the prohibition constituted a “Law impairing the Obligations of Contracts” within the meaning of the Contract Clause. See United States Trust Co. v. New Jersey, 431 U. S. 1, 21 (1977). “Although the language of the Contract Clause is facially absolute, its prohibition must be accommodated to the inherent police power of the State ‘to safeguard the vital interests of its people.’” Energy Reserves Group, Inc. v. Kansas Power & Light Co., 459 U. S., at 410, quoting Home Bldg. & Loan Assn. v. Blaisdell, 290 U. S. 398, 434 (1934). This Court has long recognized that a statute does not violate the Contract Clause simply because it has the effect of restricting, or even barring altogether, the performance of duties created by contracts entered into prior to its enactment. See Allied Structural Steel Co. v. Spannaus, 438 U. S. 234, 241-242 (1978). If the law were otherwise, “one would be able to obtain immunity from state regulation by making private contractual arrangements.” United States Trust Co. v. New Jersey, supra, at 22.
The Contract Clause does not deprive the States of their “broad power to adopt general regulatory measures without being concerned that private contracts will be impaired, or even destroyed, as a result.” United States Trust Co. v. New Jersey, supra, at 22. As Justice Holmes put it: “One whose rights, such as they are, are subject to state restriction, cannot remove them from the power of the State by making a contract about them. The contract will carry with it the infirmity of the subject matter.” Hudson Co. v. McCarter, 209 U. S. 349, 357 (1908). Thus, a state prohibition law may be applied to contracts for the sale of beer that were valid when entered into, Beer Co. v. Massachusetts, 97 U. S. 25 (1878), a law barring lotteries may be applied to lottery tickets that were valid when issued, Stone v. Mississippi, 101 U. S. 814 (1880), and a workmen’s compensation law may be applied to employers and employees operating under pre-existing contracts of employment that made no provision for work-related injuries, New York Central R. Co. v. White, 243 U. S. 188 (1917).
Like the laws upheld in these cases, the pass-through prohibition did not prescribe a rule limited in effect to contractual obligations or remedies, but instead imposed a generally applicable rule of conduct designed to advance “a broad societal interest,” Allied Structural Steel Co., supra, at 249: protecting consumers from excessive prices. The prohibition applied to all oil and gas producers, regardless of whether they happened to be parties to sale contracts that contained a provision permitting them to pass tax increases through to their purchasers. The effect of the pass-through prohibition on existing contracts that did contain such a provision was incidental to its main effect of shielding consumers from the burden of the tax increase. Cf. Henderson Co. v. Thompson, 300 U. S. 258, 266 (1937); Beer Co. v. Massachusetts, supra, at 32.
Because the pass-through prohibition imposed a generally applicable rule of conduct, it is sharply distinguishable from the measures struck down in United States Trust Co. v. New Jersey, supra, and Allied Structural Steel Co. v. Spannaus, supra. United States Trust Co. involved New York and New Jersey statutes whose sole effect was to repeal a covenant that the two States had entered into with the holders of bonds issued by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Similarly, the statute at issue in Allied Structural Steel Co. directly “‘adjusted] the rights and responsibilities of contracting parties.’” 438 U. S., at 244, quoting United States Trust Co. v. New Jersey, supra, at 22. The statute required a private employer that had contracted with its employees to provide pension benefits to pay additional benefits, beyond those it had agreed to provide, if it terminated the pension plan or closed a Minnesota office.

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: 意