Court Opinion

ID: 9442645
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 18:54:45.325348+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:29:10.393120
License: Public Domain

BAZELON, Circuit Judge,
(dissenting).
Plaintiffs alleged that the amount in controversy with respect to each of them exceeded $3,000. Although these allegations were denied by the answers, the factual issues thus raised were never resolved because the case went off on a motion to dismiss. It is clear beyond a doubt that the issue of jurisdictional amount was not considered in connection with that motion. That much was conceded by defendants’ counsel during oral argument before us and is supported by a complete absence of reference to the question below at any time.
Of course, this court can raise the issue of its own jurisdiction over the subject matter at any time, sua sponte. But in order to decide the question, the court must have before it a record which clearly shows lack of jurisdictional amount and which contains no controverted factual issues. No such record is before us here. The allegations of the complaint do not on their face reveal an absence of the proper amount. They merely allege that the plaintiffs are threatened with either an increase in rental or with eviction and that each will sustain damages varying in amount from $3,500 to $5,000. Given such allegations, I can understand that this court might wish to look into the question of jurisdictional amount. But it is clear to me that no evidence directed to that issue is *501in the record before us. Instead, the majority are looking to conflicting affidavits filed in support of and against the motion for preliminary injunction. Those affidavits sometimes controvert statements in affidavits submitted by three of the six named plaintiffs and sometimes make statements about matters not referred to in plaintiffs’ affidavits.1 Two other plaintiffs submitted no affidavits while their landlords did — so that the majority are apparently accepting the landlords’ statements as true. With regard to one plaintiff, there are no affidavits contained in the record.
Conclusions have been reached here in connection with a factual matter which plaintiffs never knew was under scrutiny. If given the opportunity, it is conceivable that they may be able to satisfy the court that the peculiarities of their cases warrant the damages claimed by them. But since they never were given notice that jurisdictional amount was in issue, they never had the opportunity to introduce evidence hearing thereon. Such a procedure is manifestly unfair and hardly in accord with the desirable emphasis placed by current pleading theory on notice and opportunity to meet issues. Because I think plaintiffs have not had their day in court on the very issue considered determinative here, I would remand to the District Court for examination into the question of jurisdictional amount.

. For present purposes, we are not referring to the seventh plaintiff, Maxwell Miller, who is suing on behalf of the Tenants’ Council of Los Angeles, but who does not refer to any damage personal to him.