Court Opinion

ID: 9459920
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 21:35:27.807853+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:36:23.764364
License: Public Domain

ADAMS, Circuit Judge
(concurring):
I concur with the result reached by the majority but feel constrained to add that the question whether the $10,000 “matter in controversy” requirement of 28 U.S.C. § 1331 is, or must be, met in this type case deserves, at some point, more serious consideration than it has been given thus far by the federal courts.
Sedivy’s complaint alleges, among other things, violations of his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights and a matter in controversy exceeding $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs. He sought temporary, preliminary, and permanent restraint against the military authorities, and damages consisting specifically of counsel fees and costs of suit totaling $12,500. For reasons unclear in the record, the Government did not file an answer to Sedivy’s complaint. But an indication of dispute as to the jurisdiction of the district court to hear the case consisted of a brief colloquy between the court and counsel at trial, during which Government counsel declined to stipulate to the court’s jurisdiction.1
1331(a) provides as follows:
“The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions wherein the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and arises under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.”
To meet this $10,000 requirement, the 'sum asserted by a plaintiff controls unless it appears “to a legal certainty that the claim is really for less than the jurisdictional amount.”2 Sedivy’s $12,500 claim consists of costs, expressly excluded by the statute, and legal fees, traditionally not awarded by federal courts unless their recovery is provided for by statute or contract.3 It appears, therefore, that Sedivy’s claim, at least at this point of the litigation, does not satisfy § 1331.4 The fact that the Government *1123has not answered the complaint should not bind it to Sedivy’s jurisdictional allegation, especially in light of the Government’s specific refusal to stipulate jurisdiction at trial.
Furthermore, since the federal courts are courts of limited, not general, jurisdiction, it is incumbent on them to exercise utmost care that they do not act beyond the bounds set for them by Congress or the Constitution.5 Even if the Government had stipulated as to jurisdiction, it remained the duty of the district court to satisfy itself that Sedivy’s claim did not appear “to a legal certainty” to be less than $10,000.6 Parties may not through the stipulation device confer jurisdiction on a federal court when jurisdiction does not otherwise exist.1
The majority asserts that Spock v. David7
8 does not require a remand for jurisdictional findings. The Spock case differs from this case in three significant respects. First, in Spock there was no specific declination to stipulate, as there is here, to the district court’s jurisdiction. Secondly, although some of Sedivy’s constitutional rights arguably are at issue,9 he does not claim that his First Amendment rights are implicated. The plaintiffs in Spock, on the other hand, sought an injunction against interference with rights applicable to freedom of speech and when First Amendment rights are allegedly abridged, courts are likely to be more generous in finding jurisdiction.10 Finally, and probably most importantly, the Spock case involved an appeal from a denial of a preliminary injunction. The Court recognized that the need for expedition at the preliminary hearing in First Amendment cases precluded detailed examination as to whether the “matter in controversy” requirement had been met. Such a determination, this Court reasoned, could be made at the final hearing:
“The district court assumed that jurisdiction of the Federal court was not at issue, at least with respect to the preliminary injunction. In these circumstances it was understandable that no effort was made to introduce evidence directed specifically to the value of the claimed rights. This was, after all, not a final hearing, but a hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction. Since as the record of the district court comes before us the allegation of jurisdictional amount remains untraversed, and we cannot say as a legal certainty that the plaintiffs will never be able to establish their jurisdictional amount claim, we must proceed on the same assumption as did the district court.” 11 (Emphasis supplied)
The Court in Spock went on to indicate that there was a strong likelihood at a final hearing that the plaintiffs could meet the $10,000 requirement.12 The case at hand is in a much different posture. After a hearing, the military authorities were permanently enjoined. There is no further proceeding in which the district court can consider fully the *1124jurisdictional issue. Unless there is a reversal by an appellate court, Sedivy will, in fact, never be called upon to meet the $10,000 requirement. In sum, Spock would appear to be inapposite.
If consideration of the jurisdictional problem ended here, I would be impelled to urge a dismissal of this case, since it does not appear from the record that the $10,000 requirement has been met. But the Supreme Court, in cases involving pre-induction challenge to the authority of local boards to draft particular individuals, has exhibited some willingness to overlook suspect allegations of amounts in controversy, decide the merits of the dispute, and then remand for a jurisdictional determination if the decision on the merits was in favor of the petitioner. The pre-induction challenge cases are somewhat similar to the present one in that the plaintiffs in both seek to enjoin imminent detention rather than delay their challenges to the detaining agencies’ authority until those agencies have acted.13
In Oestereich v. Selective Service System Local Board No. 11,14 a ministry student sought an injunction in a district court after a draft board had withdrawn his exemption. The Supreme Court held that the Government could not deprive a ministry student of his statutory exemption after he had turned in his registration certificate to the Government in protest of the Viet Nam War, even though the statute on its face precluded preinduction judicial review of a registrant’s classification. However, the Supreme Court, reversed and remanded to the district court “where petitioner must have the opportunity ... to demonstrate that he meets the jurisdictional requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1381.” 15
The approach to the jurisdictional question in Oestereich is troublesome. It would seem that if the district court in Oestereich lacked original jurisdiction under § 1331, the Supreme Court would also lack jurisdiction to reach the merits of the petitioner’s claim. If this be so, it might logically be contended that the question of the district court’s jurisdiction should have been addressed and determined in petitioner’s favor before an appellate court could have appropriately reached the merits of petitioner’s claim.16
In Fein v. Selective Service System Local Board No. 7,17 the Supreme Court again addressed question whether a petitioner was entitled to pre-induction review without first determining whether § 1331 jurisdiction was properly invoked. There, the Court held that the petitioner had no right to pre-induction review and that this holding made it “unnecessary to consider in any detail” the § 1331 question.18 Thus, it appears to be a developing practice by the Supreme Court to defer determination of the § 1331 question, at least in cases involving detention similar to that present here, until after deciding whether petitioner would be entitled to review vel non.
Although this approach might be considered inconsistent with the convention*1125al jurisprudence that jurisdictional determinations be resolved prior to consideration of the merits, it does permit a court to avoid constitutional questions of the type suggested by Justice Harlan in a footnote in his concurring opinion in Oestereich.19 There he asserts that “[i]t is doubtful whether a person may be deprived of his personal liberty without the prior opportunity to be heard by some tribunal competent fully to adjudicate his claims.”20 If a person is detained by any authority prior to hearing and is unable to bring suit in federal court because he cannot claim $10,000 in damages, then Justice Harlan’s concern must be considered.21 Admittedly, the availability of state court review and the federal writ of habeas corpus may remove the constitutional objections to the absence of § 1331 jurisdiction. But until the constitutional questions posed by Justice Harlan are briefed, argued and decided, they remain open.22
In reversing the district court here, we would appear to be following the Supreme Court’s lead in Fein. There, as we do here, the Supreme Court found against the petitioner on the merits, thereby rendering a remand to the district court for a jurisdictional determination unnecessary.23
A decision that the § 1331 “matter in controversy” requirement was not met on the record before us would ordinarily require a dismissal. If, in a subsequent suit, Sedivy did successfully invoke § 1331 jurisdiction and the district court then granted relief, we would be required to reverse because of the views enunciated by the majority regarding the merits of the controversy. Thus, by reaching the merits now, we may be conserving, in the long run, judicial resources.24 Although we are following the Supreme Court’s lead and possibly promoting the conservation of judicial resources, there nonetheless remains the perplexing, perhaps nagging, question whether we are being properly deferential to our limited role in the federal system.

. Transcript, pp. 4-5.

. St. Paul Mercury Indemnity Co. v. Red Cab Co., 303 U.S. 283, 288, 58 S.Ct. 586, 82 L.Ed. 845 (1938).

. Wright, Federal Courts § 35 (2d ed. 1970). If a statute or contract provides for attorney fees, then such fees may be used in determining the amount in controversy. Id.

. Sedivy’s complaint sought to assert a cause of action based on false imprisonment. At oral argument his counsel adverted to pension benefits Sedivy risked losing if the military authorities were not enjoined. Had Sedivy linked a money claim to the false imprisonment charge, or set out in his complaint the *1123amount of pension benefits that would be lost if the military prosecution were successful, he might have met the requirements of § 1331.

. “Jurisdiction is power to declare the law, and when it ceases to exist, the only function remaining to the court is that of announcing the fact and dismissing the case.” Ex Parte McCardle, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 506, 514, 19 L.Ed. 264 (1868).

. St. Paul Mercury Indemnity Co. v. Red Cab Co., 303 U.S. 283, 288, 58 S.Ct. 586, 82 L.Ed. 845 (1938).

. See Mansfield, Coldwater & Lake Michigan Ry. v. Swan, 111 U.S. 379, 383, 4 S.Ct. 510, 28 L.Ed. 462 (1884); Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(h) (3).

. 469 F.2d 1047 (3d Cir. 1972).

. See generally Hart, The Power of Congress to Limit the Jurisdiction of Federal Courts: An Exercise in Dialectic, 66 Harv.L.Rev. 1362 (1953).

. Cf. Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697, 51 S.Ct. 625, 75 L.Ed. 1357 (1931).

. 469 F.2d at 1052.

. Id. at 1053.

. Sodivy was confined in the Fort Monmouth MP Station immediately after the discovery of narcotics in his housetrailer, and taken to the Fort Dix stockade the next day. Ilis detention was not preceded by any hearing whatsoever.

. 393 U.S. 233, 89 S.Ct. 414, 21 L.Ed.2d 402 (1968).

. Id. at 239, 89 S.Ct. at 417.

. The Supreme Court’s remand in Oestereich for a jurisdictional determination seems especially puzzling in light of the district court’s prior determination that “[t]he failure of jurisdiction of this court under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 appears on the face of the complaint for its failure to allege facts showing that the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $10,000 exclusive of interest and costs, or to show facts from which such jurisdictional requirement may be inferred.” Oestereich v. Selective Serv. Sys. Local Board No. 11, 280 F.Supp. 78 (D. Wyo.1968).

. 405 U.S. 365, 92 S.Ct. 1062, 31 L.Ed.2d 298 (1972).

. Id. at 377. The Supreme Court took this approach despite the fact that Judge Hays, concurring, and Judge Lumbard, dissenting, specifically reached the jurisdictional question in their opinions. Fein v. Selective Serv. Sys. Local Bd. No. 7, 430 F.2d 376, 380, 384-385 (2d Cir. 1970).

. 393 U.S. 233, 243-244, n. 6, 89 S.Ct. 414, 21 L.Ed.2d 402.

. Id. at 243, n. 6, 89 S.Ct. at 419.

. Justice Stewart, in response to Justice Harlan’s suggestion that prehearing detention is unconstitutional, points out that the typical arrest situation involves just such prehearing detention. Id. at 249-250, 89 S.Ct. 414 (Stewart, dissenting).

. See Fein v. Selective Serv. Sys. Local Bd. No. 7, 430 F.2d 376, 384-385 (2d Cir. 1970) (Lumbard, dissenting).

. § 1331 jurisdiction by the district court would, in reality, serve no purpose. In contrast to the disposition in Fein, the Court found for the petitioner on the merits in Oestereich, making a jurisdictional finding of practical significance in terms of the ultimate result.

. If, however, the majority’s admonition to the district courts that it is important for them to be satisfied that they have jurisdiction under § 1331 before reaching the merits of the controversy should go unheeded, many cases may reach the federal courts that are not properly there. Of course, it would be our duty, at some point, to stem any such flow of litigation. It is arguable that a remand for a jurisdictional determination here would have a greater prophylactic effect than a mere admonition.