Federal matters jurisdiction is the power granted to US federal courts to hear cases relating to the Constitution or federal laws. It overrides state court jurisdiction and requires a relevant claim in the complaint. The US Supreme Court determines which cases fall under federal jurisdiction.
Federal matters jurisdiction refers to the power granted to the federal courts of the United States to hear cases involving matters relating to the United States Constitution or other federal laws. This type of jurisdiction falls under the category of jurisdiction by object, meaning that the court adjudicating the case is determined by the object in question. The basis of this power comes from Article III of the US Constitution. A federal court may override the jurisdiction of a state court if a federal matter is pending, meaning that the cause of action in the case arises under federal law.
Along with diversity jurisdiction, which involves parts of different states, federal matters jurisdiction is one of the two main types of subject matter jurisdiction. Article III of the United States Constitution provided for this jurisdiction, but only on the condition that the United States Congress pass a statute to that effect. After various judicial acts passed by Congress left the federal courts in limbo over which cases they could hear, an act passed in 1875 finally empowered all lower federal courts to hear civil cases with a federal issue.
A federal matter arises when a plaintiff in a civil suit claims that he was harmed by an action that violates a federal law, the Constitution, or a treaty involving the United States. When this occurs, jurisdiction of the federal matter may take place, prevailing the jurisdiction of the State or States of the case or of the parties involved. For example, a worker and a boss getting into a worker termination dispute would normally be a case for a state court. If the worker believes they were fired because of discrimination, then it would be a constitutional matter and therefore subject to federal matter jurisdiction.
Any plaintiff claiming a federal matter must have the relevant claim spelled out in the complaint. Jurisdiction in the federal matter cannot be asserted simply if the plaintiff anticipates that the opposing party will use a federal law or the Constitution as a basis for defending the case. There is no need to be a dispute for this type of jurisdiction. In other words, a federal court can hear such a case even if no money is at stake, which is not the case in diversity jurisdiction.
The United States Supreme Court serves as the final arbiter as to which cases fall under federal jurisdiction. Past rulings have left in question what constitutes a federal matter. They ruled that state law cases can be brought in federal court even if they are only marginally related to a federal matter. In other cases, they have ruled that only substantial federal matters need to be at hand for a case to be considered a federal matter.
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