Opinion ID: 712184
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Eminent Domain Case Was Improvidently Removed From Territorial Court

Text: 28 The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permit a defendant in a state court action to remove that action to a federal forum. See 28 U.S.C. § 1441, applicable in the Virgin Islands under 48 U.S.C. § 1613. As § 1441(a)'s language indicates, removal under that section is proper only if the federal district court would have had original jurisdiction if the case was filed in federal court. This jurisdictional prerequisite to removal is an absolute, non-waivable requirement. See Allbritton Communications Co. v. NLRB, 766 F.2d 812, 820 (3d Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1081, 106 S.Ct. 850, 88 L.Ed.2d 891 (1986). Because lack of jurisdiction would make any decree in the case void and the continuation of the litigation in federal court futile, the removal statute should be strictly construed and all doubts resolved in favor of remand. Abels v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 770 F.2d 26, 29 (3d Cir.1985) (citations omitted). If there is any doubt as to the propriety of removal, that case should not be removed to federal court. See Boyer v. Snap-On Tools Corp., 913 F.2d 108, 111 (3d Cir.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1085, 111 S.Ct. 959, 112 L.Ed.2d 1046 (1991); Abels, 770 F.2d at 29. 29 Diversity of citizenship subject matter jurisdiction falls within the original jurisdiction of the district court and a state court case that implicates diversity jurisdiction may therefore be removed to federal court. Abels, 770 F.2d at 29. Diversity jurisdiction is properly invoked in cases where there is complete diversity of citizenship between plaintiffs and defendants and where the amount in controversy exceeds $50,000. 28 U.S.C. § 1332. See Development Fin. Corp. v. Alpha Housing & Health Care, Inc., 54 F.3d 156, 158 (3d Cir.1995) (It is axiomatic that the federal judiciary's diversity jurisdiction depends on complete diversity between all plaintiffs and all defendants.) (citing Strawbridge v. Curtiss, 7 U.S. (3 Cranch) 267, 2 L.Ed. 435 (1806)). For purposes of determining whether the complete diversity requirement has been met, the citizenship of nominal parties to the litigation may be disregarded. Abels, 770 F.2d at 29. 30 The district court ruled that the Virgin Islands Government could be considered a citizen for purposes of establishing diversity of citizenship jurisdiction. We disagree with the district court's conclusion. More than one hundred years ago, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a state cannot be considered a citizen for purposes of establishing diversity of citizenship jurisdiction in federal court. Postal Telegraph Cable Co. v. State of Alabama, 155 U.S. 482, 487, 15 S.Ct. 192, 194, 39 L.Ed. 231 (1894). See Ramada Inns, Inc. v. Rosemount Memorial Park Assoc., 598 F.2d 1303, 1306 (3d Cir.1979) ([I]t is well settled that a state is not a citizen within the meaning of the diversity statute.) (citations omitted); see also Gable v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 521 F.Supp. 43, 43-44 (E.D.Pa.1981) (The rule that a state is not a 'citizen' for diversity purposes is a long-standing one; it enjoys a history of acceptance, which remains undiluted by the passage of time.) (citations omitted). 31 In this case, the district court relied upon the citizenship of the Territory of the Virgin Islands in finding that diversity of citizenship jurisdiction supported removal of the trustees' eminent domain case to federal court. Thus, the question is whether the Government of the Virgin Islands constitutes a state for purposes of establishing diversity of citizenship jurisdiction. The trustees argue that the Virgin Islands is not a State, but a Territory of the United States and that the policies which preclude sovereign immunity for territories in federal court similarly preclude a Territory from being considered a state for purposes of establishing diversity jurisdiction. We are not persuaded by these arguments. 32 Section 1332 of Title 28 of the United States Code specifies, in pertinent part, that district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions between citizens of different States. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). According to § 1332(d), the word 'States,' as used in this section, includes the Territories, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Accordingly, the Territory of the Virgin Islands, a United States Territory, qualifies as a state for purposes of the diversity jurisdiction statute. 33 As noted above, a state cannot be considered a citizen for purposes of establishing diversity of citizenship jurisdiction subject matter jurisdiction in federal court. Therefore, it follows that a Territory of the United States, which is considered a state pursuant to § 1332(d), also cannot be considered a citizen for purposes of establishing diversity of citizenship jurisdiction. The Territory of the Virgin Islands should not have been considered a citizen for purposes of establishing diversity jurisdiction in the court below. Cf. Mann v. District of Columbia, 742 F.2d 750, 751 (3d Cir.1984) (concluding that District of Columbia did not qualify as a citizen for purposes of diversity of citizenship jurisdiction because § 1332(d) specified that the District of Columbia (like the territory of the Virgin Islands) was to be construed as a state for purposes of the diversity statute). 34 Therefore, the district court did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the eminent domain case and the case was improvidently removed from the Territorial Court. 4 35