Federal question jurisdiction

Jurisdiction given to federal courts in cases involving the interpretation and application of the U.S. Constitution, acts of Congress, and treaties.

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Answers.com

The Constitution, in Article III, section 2, empowers federal courts to adjudicate “all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made … under their Authority.” An act of Congress grants jurisdiction to the federal courts in almost identical language. The jurisdiction thus provided has come to be known as federal question jurisdiction. Yet judicial interpretation has made clear (1) that some disputes in which the sole legal question is one of state law can be heard in federal courts under federal question jurisdiction and (2) that some disputes centering on a controverted issue of federal law cannot be heard in federal court under the statutory grant. What constitutes a federal question is thus not completely clear.

FindLaw

The jurisdiction granted to federal courts over civil actions arising under the Constitution, federal laws, or treaties of the U.S. : federal jurisdiction over cases involving a federal question.

Lawyers.com

The jurisdiction granted to federal courts over civil actions arising under the Constitution, federal laws, or treaties of the U.S.

Federal jurisdiction over cases involving a federal question.

Lect Law Library

Jurisdiction given to federal courts in cases involving the interpretation and application of the U.S. Constitution, acts of Congress, and treaties.

Wikipedia

Federal question jurisdiction is a term used in the United States law of civil procedure to refer to the situation in which a United States federal court has subject-matter jurisdiction to hear a civil case because the plaintiff has alleged a violation of the Constitution or law of the United States, or treaties to which the United States is a party.

Article III of the United States Constitution permits federal courts to hear such cases, so long as the United States Congress passes a statute to that effect. However, when Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789, which authorized the newly created federal courts to hear such cases, it initially chose not to allow the lower federal courts to possess federal question jurisdiction for fear that it would make the courts too powerful. The Federalists briefly created such jurisdiction in the Judiciary Act of 1801, but it was repealed the following year, and not restored until 1875. The statute is now found at 28 U.S.C. § 1331: "The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States."

Unlike diversity jurisdiction, which is based on the parties coming from different states, federal question jurisdiction no longer has any amount in controversy requirement - Congress eliminated this requirement in actions against the United States in 1976, and in all federal question cases in 1980. Therefore, a federal court can hear a federal question case even if no money is sought by the plaintiff.

To meet the requirement of a case "arising under" federal law, the federal question must appear on the face of the plaintiff's complaint. There has been considerable dispute over what constitutes a "federal question" in these circumstances, but it is now settled law that the plaintiff cannot seek the jurisdiction of a federal court merely because it anticipates that the defendant is going to raise a defense based on the Constitution, or on a federal statute. This "well-pleaded complaint" rule has been criticized by legal scholars, but Congress has so far chosen not to change the law, although the Supreme Court has made clear it is free to do so.