Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. v. Jackson
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 28, 2019 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- May 28, 2019
- Term
- October Term 2018
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Thomas
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court. The general removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a), provides that "any civil action" over which a federal court would have original jurisdiction may be removed to federal court by "the defendant or the defendants." The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) provides that "[a] class action" may be removed to federal court by "any defendant without the consent of all defendants." 28 U.S.C. § 1453(b). In this case, we address whether either provision allows a third-party counterclaim defendant-that is, a party brought into a lawsuit through a counterclaim filed by the original defendant-to remove the counterclaim filed against it. Because in the context of these removal provisions the term "defendant" refers only to the party sued by the original plaintiff, we conclude that neither provision allows such a third party to remove. I A We have often explained that "[f]ederal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction." Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of America , 511 U. S. 375, 377, 114 S.Ct. 1673, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994). Article III, § 2, of the Constitution delineates "[t]he character of the controversies over which federal judicial authority may extend." Insurance Corp. of Ireland v. Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee , 456 U. S. 694, 701, 102 S.Ct. 2099, 72 L.Ed.2d 492 (1982). And lower federal-court jurisdiction "is further…
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