beach_terror wrote:Quick question for civ pro buffs, regarding 1331 jurisdiction.
Essentially there are two possibilities for 1331 jurisdiction, federal law and state law claims. Federal law claims need to have either express or implicit causes of action written into the statute. State law claims need to have a federal question embedded in the state law claim, even though state law gives the cause of action (and here you apply the Grable test). Do I have that right?
Assuming I do, how do you reconcile the well-pleaded complaint rule with the above in terms of state law claims? Do the courts just read in that there is a federal question, or does the petitioner submit and affidavit with the complaint? I'm confused at how a cause of action under a state law claim with an embedded federal issue can appear on the WPC.
You have the formulation correct. In terms of exceptions for 1331 jurisdiction for cases arising under state law, generally the prerequisite is that the federal issue is essential enough that the plaintiff will likely have to raise, rebut, or prove the issue in order to prove his state law claim.
Once this is met, the court will weigh several factors:
- Significant enough federal issue that Federal courts should decide it
- The number of cases that might be allowed by this issue (not too many or too few)
- Issue of law v. fact
- Federal/State balance of interests
If those interests weigh in favor of inclusion, then you include under a Smith-Grable exception.
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