Jurisdiction and Removal Act of 1875
The Jurisdiction and Removal Act of 1875 expanded the jurisdiction of the federal circuit courts, giving them the broadest jurisdiction allowable to federal courts under Article III of the Constitution; and expanded the right of removal, making it much easier for plaintiffs or defendants in cases filed in state courts to remove the case to the appropriate federal circuit court. This act was designed to promote national unity by encouraging people to use the federal court system whenever the case was such that it could be filed in either state or federal courts, as there was some overlap in the respective jurisdictions of the state and federal courts. Congress saw this sort of act, strengthening the federal judiciary at the expense of the states, as particularly important in the wake of the Civil War.[1][2]
Provisions of the Act
Expanded jurisdiction
The jurisdiction granted in 1789 remained mostly unchanged until the passage of the Jurisdiction and Removal Act of 1875. The three excerpts which follow are the relevant portions, first of Article III, then of the Act of 1789, then of this Act of 1875.
In each of those two last excerpts, the text which is in either, but not in the other, has been put in bold. Simply speaking, as concerns jurisdiction, the 1875 act basically added together the 1789 act and the constitution, wherever those two differed.
| Text of Article III, Section 2:
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more States;--between a State and Citizens of another State;--between Citizens of different States;--between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. |
| Text of Judiciary Act of 1789, Section 11:
And be it further enacted, That the circuit courts shall have original cognizance, concurrent with the courts of the several States, of all suits of a civil nature at common law or in equity, where the matter in dispute exceeds, exclusive of costs, the sum or value of five hundred dollars, and the United States are plaintiffs, or petitioners; or an alien is a party, or the suit is between a citizen of the State where the suit is brought, and a citizen of another State. And shall have exclusive cognizance of all crimes and offences cognizable under the authority of the United States, except where this act otherwise provides, or the laws of the United States shall otherwise direct, and concurrent jurisdiction with the district courts of the crimes and offences cognizable therein.[3] |
| Text of Jurisdiction and Removal Act of 1875, Section 1:
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the circuit courts of the United States shall have original cognizance, concurrent with the courts of the several States, of all suits of a civil nature at common law or in equity, where the matter in dispute exceeds, exclusive of costs, the sum or value of five hundred dollars, and arising under the Constitution or laws of the United States, or treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority, or in which the United States are plaintiffs or petitioners, or in which there shall be a controversy between citizens of different States or a controversy between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, or a controversy between citizens of a State and foreign states, citizens, or subjects; and shall have exclusive cognizance of all crimes and offenses cognizable under the authority of the United States, except as otherwise provided by law, and concurrent jurisdiction with the district courts of the crimes and offenses cognizable therein.[2] |
Expanded right of removal
The primary intent of Congress in passing this act was to encourage plaintiffs to file cases with concurrent jurisdiction in the federal court. Prior to this act, there was a somewhat restricted right of removal. According to the Judiciary Act of 1789, only defendants could file for removal, they had to do so at the outset of the legal proceedings, and the situations in which the defendant had this right were very limited. Here is the relevant text from the 1789 act; quite a few finer points are left out for the sake of brevity:
| Text of Judiciary Act of 1789, Section 12:
And be it further enacted, That if a suit be commenced in any state court against an alien, or by a citizen of the state in which the suit is brought against a citizen of another state, and the matter in dispute exceeds the aforesaid sum or value of five hundred dollars, exclusive of costs, to be made to appear to the satisfaction of the court; and the defendant shall, at the time of entering his appearance in such state court, file a petition for the removal of the cause for trial into the next circuit court...the cause shall there proceed in the same manner as if it had been brought there by original process.[3] |
The 1875 act has 10 sections; 6 of them concern the right of removal. It is first addressed, most generically, in Section 2:
| Text of Jurisdiction and Removal Act of 1875, Section 2:
That any suit of a civil nature, at law or in equity, now pending or hereafter brought in any State court where the matter in dispute exceeds, exclusive of costs, the sum or value of five hundred dollars, and arising under the Constitution or laws of the United States, or treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority, or in which the United States shall be plaintiff or petitioner, or in which there shall be a controversy between citizens of different States, or a controversy between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, or a controversy between citizens of a State and foreign States, citizens, or subjects, either party may remove said suit into the circuit court of the United States for the proper district. And when in any suit mentioned in this section there shall be a controversy which is wholly between citizens of different States, and which be fully determined as between them, then either one or more of the plaintiffs or defendants actually interested in such controversy may remove said suit to the circuit court of the United States for the proper district.[2] |
See also
Notable federal judicial legislation
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Summary of the Act, provided by the Federal Judicial Center
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Full text of the Act provided by the Federal Judicial Center
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Full text of Judiciary Act of 1789 from the Federal Judicial Center
