Yeazell, pp. 228-244: Diversity Jurisdiction

This is one of the oldest grants of jurisdiction to the federal courts. It has become controversial. We don’t know why the Framers of the Constitution chose to allow (but not mandate) federal court jurisdiction over “controversies between citizens of different States” and “between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects.” One view is that we didn’t want an out-of-state defendant to experience bias in the local court. A minority view is that the federal courts were seen as qualitatively superior and thus ought to get as many cases as possible.

Case: Mas v. Perry

Case: Saadeh v. Farouki

Note: Amount in Controversy

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