Opinion ID: 406395
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the jurisdiction of district courts under the tucker act

Text: 3 The United States Court of Claims 1 was established by Congress as a specialized tribunal to decide several categories of monetary claims brought by private parties against the United States government. See generally Glidden Co. v. Zdanok, 370 U.S. 530, 552-558, 82 S.Ct. 1459, 8 L.Ed.2d 671 (1962). In 1887 Congress passed the Tucker Act, which extended the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims and gave the regular federal courts concurrent jurisdiction over smaller claims against the federal government. Claims up to $1,000 were made cognizable in the District Courts; causes of action between $1,000 and $10,000 were placed within the jurisdiction of the Circuit Courts. Act of March 3, 1887, ch. 359, § 2, 24 Stat. 505. A person with a relatively small claim was thus given the option of bringing an action in the district of his residence rather than having to pursue it in the Court of Claims in Washington, D. C. See 1 J. Moore, Federal Practice P 0.65(2.-3) (2d ed. 1982). 4 Over the years Congress has modified the categories of claims cognizable under the Tucker Act in the Court of Claims and in the regular federal courts. 2 When the Circuit Courts were abolished in 1911, the District Courts received concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Claims over Tucker Act claims not exceeding $10,000, with specified exceptions. Act of March 3, 1911, ch. 231, § 24, 36 Stat. 1087, 1093. But the basic structure established in 1887 still exists: the Tucker Act places a monetary ceiling on claims against the United States which may be brought in the District Courts. 28 U.S.C. § 1346(a)(2) (1976). 5 Shortly after passage of the Tucker Act, Hill v. United States, 40 F. 441 (C.C.D.Mass.1889), established that the amount of a claim, for jurisdictional purposes, depended on the monetary recovery sought by the plaintiff. Even if a litigant's claim was worth more than $10,000, if he voluntarily waived his right to recover more than $10,000 he could remain within the jurisdiction of the regular federal courts, and would not be compelled to litigate in the Court of Claims. Such waivers are now well established in the Tucker Act case law. See, e.g., United States v. Johnson, 153 F.2d 846, 848 (9th Cir. 1946); Sutcliffe Storage & Warehouse Co. v. United States, 162 F.2d 849, 853 (1st Cir. 1947); Perry v. United States, 308 F.Supp. 245, 247 (D.Colo.1970), aff'd on other grounds, 442 F.2d 353 (10th Cir. 1971); Jones v. United States, 127 F.Supp. 31, 33 (E.D.N.C.1954); see generally 1 J. Moore, supra, P 0.65(2.-3) at 700.103 n.3; 14 C. Wright, A. Miller & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3567 at 219 (1976).