Close Enough for Government Work: What Happens When Congress Doesn't Do Its Job

Authors

Thomas C. Arthur, Emory University School of LawFollow
Richard Freer, Emory University School of LawFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

Thomas Arthur 0000-0003-0411-0824

Richard Freer 0000-0003-3068-0070

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1991

Keywords

Supplemental jurisdiction statute, Legislative history, Statutory language, Congress

Abstract

There's the beef. The supplemental jurisdiction statute, particularly section 1367(b), is a nightmare of draftsmanship. The problems that flow from that fact are more than aesthetic. The sloppiness makes easy cases hard and sows confusion in areas where there should be, and so easily could have been, clarity. It creates that most wasteful type of litigation - fights over jurisdiction. Subject matter jurisdiction rules ought to be clear and capable of near-mechanical application whenever possible. Such pre­cision was possible in the supplemental jurisdiction, if only someone had spent as much time writing the statute as the trio has spent writing about the statute.

First Page

1007

Publication Title

Emory Law Journal

Recommended Citation

Thomas C. Arthur & Richard D. Freer, Close Enough for Government Work: What Happens When Congress Doesn't Do Its Job, 40 Emory L. J. 1007 (1991).