Court Error – Subject-matter Jurisdiction

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Cook County Republican Party, et al v. Frances Sapone, et al.

Case No.: 16-3457

Officials: BAUER, EASTERBROOK, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Court Error – Subject-matter Jurisdiction

Declaratory-judgment suits under 28 U.S.C. §2201 can complicate the ascertainment of subject-matter jurisdiction by casting a natural defendant as the plaintiff. That’s what happened here; the Party sued Sapone and Tenuta to defend its decision to exclude them, rather than waiting for them to assert a right to be seated on the central committee. The Supreme Court has told us that the best way to evaluate jurisdiction in a declaratory-judgment suit is to determine whether the mirror-image suit by the other side would be within federal jurisdiction. See Franchise Tax Board v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust, 463 U.S. 1, 19 (1983). So let us try that exercise.

The district court should not have adjudicated the dispute among the Party, Sapone, and Tenuta. The declaratory judgment is vacated, and this aspect of the case is remanded with instructions to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction

Vacated in part. Remanded in part.

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.