Opinion ID: 474501
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Referral to State Court

Text: 54 A more troubling question is whether the district court erred in referring the action to a state court and, if it did, what can be done about the error. Under the case or controversy requirement of article III of the Constitution, a case is moot when the issues presented are no longer 'live' or the parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome. Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, 496, 89 S.Ct. 1944, 1950, 23 L.Ed.2d 491 (1969). See Berskshire Cablevision of Rhode Island, Inc. v. Burke, 773 F.2d 382, 384 (1st Cir.1985). Stated otherwise, federal courts are without power to decide questions that cannot affect the rights of litigants in the case before them. North Carolina v. Rice, 404 U.S. 244, 246, 92 S.Ct. 402, 404, 30 L.Ed.2d 413 (1971) (per curiam). After the Massachusetts court accepted the referral and the district court dismissed the federal action, the lawsuit left our bailiwick. 31 Given this situation, the question arises whether there is a live case or controversy for us to decide. 55 If we were to adopt the defendants' suggestion and hold that the referral was error, the most we could do is order the district court to vacate its order of referral. Whether or not this would have an effect on the Massachusetts courts is impossible to know, since the state courts could decide that, as a matter of state law, they nevertheless retain jurisdiction. Thus, a decision that the district court erred would be no more than an advisory opinion, which we are powerless to issue. See id.; Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83, 96, 88 S.Ct. 1942, 1950, 20 L.Ed.2d 947 (1968); Muskrat v. United States, 219 U.S. 346, 351-53, 31 S.Ct. 250, 251-53, 55 L.Ed. 246 (1911); accord Aetna Life Insurance Co. v. Haworth, 300 U.S. 227, 241, 57 S.Ct. 461, 464, 81 L.Ed. 617 (1937) (controversy must admit of specific relief through conclusive decree, as opposed to opinion advising what the law would be upon hypothetical state of facts). 56 Withal, a matter may not be moot, provided it is capable of repetition, yet evading review. See, e.g., Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 125, 93 S.Ct. 705, 712, 35 L.Ed.2d 147 (1973); Southern Pacific Terminal Co. v. ICC, 219 U.S. 498, 515, 31 S.Ct. 279, 283, 55 L.Ed. 310 (1911). In the absence of a class action, however, this exception to the mootness doctrine requires two predicates: (1) the challenged action was in its duration too short to be fully litigated prior to its cessation or expiration, and (2) there was a reasonable expectation that the same complaining party would be subjected to the same action again. Weinstein v. Bradford, 423 U.S. 147, 149, 96 S.Ct. 347, 348, 46 L.Ed.2d 350 (1975) (per curiam) (emphasis added). Thus, [t]he possibility that other persons may litigate a similar claim does not save [a] case from mootness. Lane v. Williams, 455 U.S. 624, 634, 102 S.Ct. 1322, 1328, 71 L.Ed.2d 508 (1982) (emphasis added). 57 The defendants' contention is that, upon its finding that subject matter jurisdiction was lacking, the district court should have dismissed the action rather than referring it to state court. The possibility that the defendants will someday find themselves in the same situation is so remote that this is not a case capable of repetition, yet evading review; hence, the second element of the Weinstein v. Bradford test cannot be met. Cf. DeFunis v. Odegaard, 416 U.S. 312, 319, 94 S.Ct. 1704, 1707, 40 L.Ed.2d 164 (1974) (per curiam) (petitioner will never again run the gantlet of law school admission process); Flynt v. Weinberger, 762 F.2d 134, 135 (D.C.Cir.1985) (per curiam) (no reasonable expectation that controversy regarding prohibition of press coverage of Grenada invasion would recur). 32 Accordingly, the cross-appeals, insofar as they challenge the referral of the federal action to state court, must be dismissed as moot, and we express no view on the propriety of the referral.