Court Opinion

ID: 9495765
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:09:47.579544+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:57:11.139385
License: Public Domain

STEPHEN F. WILLIAMS, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I agree with the majority opinion in every respect except the conclusion that *203we cannot decide the claims regarding the C block licenses. The majority may well be right in rejecting 21st Century’s standing argument, but it does so on the basis of extremely sketchy briefing, resolving a number of substantive issues of communications law en route. This trip is not necessary. Under Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment, 523 U.S. 83, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998), of course, a court faced with a difficult jurisdictional issue generally may not proceed to the merits without resolving that issue, even “where (1) the merits question is more readily resolved, and (2) the prevailing party on the merits would be the same as the prevailing party were jurisdiction denied.” Id. at 93, 118 S.Ct. at 1012. But Steel Co. recognized an exception. Where the court actually decides the merits question “in a companion case,” there is no need to address the jurisdictional question. Id. at 98, 118 S.Ct. at 1014. In such a situation the disposition in the companion case “renders the merits in the present case a decided issue and thus one no longer substantial in the jurisdictional sense.” Id. (quoting Norton v. Mathews, 427 U.S. 524, 530-31, 96 S.Ct. 2771, 2774-75, 49 L.Ed.2d 672 (1976)). Here the disposition of the F block license claims totally resolves the merits on the C block licenses, as no merits difference exists between them. Since we plainly have jurisdiction over the F block claims, I see no reason not to employ the- Steel Co. exception here.
The rule in Steel Co. is driven by concern that otherwise courts would violate separation of powers by expounding on substantive issues of law where they lack jurisdiction. Steel Co., 523 U.S. at 101-02, 118 S.Ct. at 1016. Here the majority’s failure to apply the exception ironically leads it to resolve sharply disputed and ill-briefed substantive issues. Of course the court always has jurisdiction to determine such questions as are necessary to determining its jurisdiction, so the court does not affirmatively violate Steel Co. But disregard of the Steel Co. exception leads it into quite unnecessary merits decisions, in tension with the case’s basic message.
Nor can I understand the reason proffered by the majority for non-application of the exception. See Maj. Op. at 197. It seems to be saying that the exception can apply only where the case of questionable jurisdiction is brought by a party different from the one bringing the other case. Nothing in Steel Co. suggests any such second-party requirement, and no reason for the requirement comes to mind. To the extent that the majority’s wording suggests that different issues are raised with respect to the C and F blocks, that is simply not the case.