Opinion ID: 3034208
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: [1] We have jurisdiction to hear Cheaptickets’ petition under 28 U.S.C. § 1453(c)(1), recently enacted as part of 13884 BUSH v. CHEAPTICKETS, INC. CAFA. Section 1453(c) provides that an appellate court “may accept an appeal from an order of a district court granting or denying a motion to remand a class action to the State court,” provided that the appeal is filed “not less than 7 days” after entry of the remand order. We have a preliminary question to resolve: whether Cheaptickets filed a timely appeal from the district court’s order. The statute provides that application must be made “not less than 7 days after entry of the order.” 28 U.S.C. § 1454(c)(1) (emphasis added). Literally, a party who filed an appeal “less than” seven days after the district court entered its remand order would have appealed too early. Only if the appeal is filed seven or more days after entry of the order would the appeal be “not less than” seven days. Moreover, there is apparently no upper limit on when an appeal may be taken so long as it is filed after more than seven days. [2] The Tenth Circuit has recently offered its opinion that the statute contains a “typographical error” and must be read to say “not more than 7 days after entry of the order.” Pritchett v. Office Depot, Inc., 420 F.3d 1090, 1093 n.2 (10th Cir. 2005) (“Given Congress’ stated intent to impose time limits on appeals of class action remand orders and the limited availability of appeals prior to the statute’s enactment, we can think of no plausible reason why the text of the Act would instead impose a seven-day waiting period followed by a limitless window for appeal.”). [3] Fortunately, though we note the apparent drafting error and the Tenth Circuit’s analysis, we are not called upon to speculate whether it is appropriate or even permissible for this Court to correct Congress’s “typographical” mistake in this case.1 Cheaptickets filed its appeal on the seventh day follow- 1 See In re Century Cleaning Servs., Inc., 195 F.3d 1053, 1063-64 (9th Cir. 1999) (to find that a statute contains a drafting or scrivener’s error, the court must determine that the literal application of the statute will proBUSH v. CHEAPTICKETS, INC. 13885 ing the district court’s remand order which is, happily for Cheaptickets, “not less than” seven days after the district court ordered the remand. Even under the Tenth Circuit’s “corrected” reading of the Act, Cheaptickets filed a timely appeal because, having filed on the seventh day, it was “not more than” seven days. Cheaptickets filed a timely appeal. We accepted the appeal on July 13, 2005, set a briefing schedule, and set oral argument for the next available panel. Unless extended, the period within which we must issue judgment would expire on September 12, 2005, four days prior to oral argument (set for September 16, 2005).2 The parties have filed a joint supplemental brief, agreeing under § 1453(c)(3)(A) to such time as the court needs to render judgment following oral arguments, and we have issued an order extending the time for judgment.