LAW 700 - Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure

Course Type: Upper Level Elective
Credits: 3

Description: Federal courts, at both the trial and the appellate levels, are limited in the cases they can properly decide by the explicit language of the Constitution and the implications of the concept of federalism embodied in the Constitution. The essence of this course is the examination of the jurisdiction of the federal courts in the light of these limitations, the study of specific procedures, e.g., removal, is a distinctly secondary concern. Examined are the development of the federal judicial system, congressional control of the distribution of judicial power among the federal and state courts, review of the state court decisions by the Supreme Court, federal common law, federal question jurisdiction in the federal district courts, and control of state official actions by federal courts.