Opinion ID: 512652
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Remand of the Pendent State Claims

Text: 46 Audubon has appealed the district court's decision to remand its state claims to state court. Audubon argues that the district court abused its discretion in remanding these claims. 47 Generally, remand orders are not considered final orders reviewable by appeal. Thermtron Products, Inc. v. Hermansdorfer, 423 U.S. 336, 352-53, 96 S.Ct. 584, 593-94, 46 L.Ed.2d 542 (1976); 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 (1987). However, in this case the district judge certified his decision and, therefore, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1292 (1987) permits this court to review the remand order. 48 The district court remanded this action to state court after the original basis for removal was deleted in an amendment intended to defeat federal jurisdiction. In Carnegie-Mellon University v. Cohill, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 614, 98 L.Ed.2d 720 (1988), the Supreme Court held that the pendent jurisdiction doctrine supports giving a district court discretion to remand when the exercise of pendent jurisdiction is inappropriate. Id. at 619. While it is not clear whether we review such a remand order under the abuse of discretion standard or the clearly erroneous standard, see Survival Systems Division of the Whittaker Corp. v. United States District Court, 825 F.2d 1416, 1419, n. 2 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 774, 98 L.Ed.2d 861 (1988), we affirm the district court's decision to remand because it satisfies both standards. 49 The district judge remanded the state claims to state court because he thought the state judiciary was better suited to decide the state law issues. As the district court stated: 50 Because this court believes that the parties are entitled to the more 'sure-footed reading of applicable law' (United Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 726 [86 S.Ct. 1130, 1139, 16 L.Ed.2d 218] (1966)) that a state court can render on state law, I believe a severing of the pendent claims from the federal common law claim and remand of the state claim is appropriate ... state law, especially in an area as critical to the state's well-being as in the instant case, is better left to the state judiciary. (District Court Order at p. 35). 51 Although the federal court has made a substantial commitment of judicial resources to the state claims up to this point in the litigation, this is just one factor the court had the discretion to consider in making its decision to remand. Considering the strong state interest in deciding these complex state law issues identified by the district court, we uphold the district court's remand order. III