Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A court's authority to hear and decide a case in the first instance rather than on appeal from another tribunal. The Constitution assigns this authority to the Supreme Court in a narrow set of cases involving ambassadors and states. Federal statutes extend it to the district courts for actions arising under federal law and for certain other enumerated matters.
Odette Orozco, the attorney general of State A, files suit directly against State B in the Supreme Court to settle a long-standing boundary dispute along their shared river. The Court accepts the case because the Constitution places controversies between two states within its original jurisdiction. The parties present evidence and the Court issues a decree fixing the boundary line.
Optima Health sues Oceanview Properties in federal district court alleging that the defendant infringed a federally registered software program used to manage patient records. The complaint asserts that the claim arises under the Copyright Act. The district court exercises original jurisdiction because the action is created by federal law.
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Odilia Okamura brings a federal trademark claim against Osprey Aviation in district court and joins a state-law breach-of-contract count arising from the same licensing agreement. The court already possesses original jurisdiction over the trademark claim. It therefore exercises supplemental jurisdiction over the contract claim because both counts share a common nucleus of operative facts.
Oliver Okeke files a federal-question employment claim in state court against Odyssey Logistics. The defendant removes the action to the federal district court for the district where the state court sits. Removal is proper because the district courts would have possessed original jurisdiction over the federal claim had it been filed there initially.
Orson Ochoa petitions the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus directing a federal officer to deliver a commission. The Court declines to issue the writ because the petition seeks an exercise of original jurisdiction outside the narrow categories listed in Article III. The case must therefore begin in a lower court.
Oakley Osei, a voter, sues state officials in federal district court alleging that legislative districts violate the Equal Protection Clause. The court recognizes that the claim arises under the Constitution and therefore falls within its original jurisdiction. The suit proceeds to trial on the merits.
Article III limits the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction to cases affecting ambassadors and those in which a state is a party. Congress may grant concurrent jurisdiction to lower courts in most of these matters but cannot expand the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction beyond the constitutional categories.
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Yes. Section 1331 grants district courts original jurisdiction over all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. The well-pleaded complaint rule determines whether the claim arises under federal law.
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Once a district court has original jurisdiction over one claim, section 1367(a) authorizes it to hear all other claims that form part of the same constitutional case or controversy. The added claims must share a common nucleus of operative facts with the anchor claim.
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A defendant may remove a state-court action only if the district courts would have possessed original jurisdiction over the case had the plaintiff filed it in federal court. The notice of removal must be filed in the district embracing the state court where the action is pending.
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…of the United States has not power to issue a mandamus to a Secretary of State of the United States, it being an exercise of original jurisdiction not warranted by the Constitution. Congress have not power to give original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court in other cases than those described in the Constitution. An act of Congress…