Court Opinion

ID: 9471308
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:28:56.051177+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:42:20.865745
License: Public Domain

K.K. HALL, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I concur in that portion of the majority’s opinion concluding that the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. Unlike the majority, however, I find that addressing the merits of this appeal belies both Fourth Circuit and Supreme Court precedent.
Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. C. Wright, Law of Federal Courts 17 (1976). The jurisdiction of the federal courts is dependent on the subject matter of the action before them. Consequently, lack of subject-matter jurisdiction annuls the power of the courts to hear and decide a case. Id. at 19. As early as 1868, the Supreme Court observed that “[wjithout jurisdiction the court cannot proceed at all in any cause. Jurisdiction is power to declare the laws., and when it ceases to exist, the only function remaining to the court is that of announcing the fact and dismissing the cause.” Ex Parte McCardle, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 506, 514, 19 L.Ed. 264 (1868) (emphasis added).
The Fourth Circuit has enunciated this policy on numerous occasions. In Portsmouth Redevelopment & Housing Auth. v. Pierce, 706 F.2d 471, 473 (4th Cir.1983), this Court observed that “[bjecause we dispose of this appeal on jurisdictional grounds, we do not address the merits of [appellant’s] claim except to the extent they bear on the question of jurisdiction.” See also Belle View Apartments v. Realty Trust, 602 F.2d 668, 670 (4th Cir.1979) (where upon discovering it lacked jurisdiction the Court would “express no views on the merits”); Richardson v. McFadden, 563 F.2d 1130, 1132 (4th Cir.1977) (Hall, J., concurring) (concurring in result because once district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction it could not rule on merits).
I strongly oppose the filing of this opinion. In my view, it cavalierly disregards both Supreme Court guidelines and our own case precedent and cannot be sanctioned in good conscience. The merits of appellant’s case should not be addressed.