NCJ Number
116967
Date Published
1988
Length
62 pages
Annotation
This report estimates the impact of proposed changes in diversity-of-citizenship jurisdiction on the Federal court caseload and the judiciary budget.
Abstract
Based on data for statistical year 1987, 64,476 district court filings and 3,900 appellate filings with an annual cost of $131,306,263 would have been eliminated if diversity jurisdiction did not exist. In addition, preserving the Interpleader Act would not materially diminish the impact of eliminating diversity jurisdiction. A 1988 provision (Section 203 of Public Law 100-702) designed to eliminate diversity in cases between a U.S. citizen and an alien resident of the same State will have minimal impact on the workload of the Federal courts. Similarly, Section 202, redefining diverse citizenship in cases involving representatives of decedents' estates, infants, and incompetents, will have little impact. Section 201, which raises the jurisdictional threshold to $50,000, while eliminating cases, would eliminate primarily less burdensome contract cases. Raising the limit to $100,000, likewise, would bar 43.9 percent of contract cases but only 4.3 percent of tort cases. A provision that would measure the jurisdictional amount in terms of "actual damages" and excluding punitive damages or pain and suffering would only modestly affect the number of cases eliminated. A provision eliminating diversity jurisdiction in cases between citizens of different States but preserving it in cases involving aliens would eliminate 91.7 percent of such cases at a cost savings of $120,120,056 per year, while treating a corporation as a citizen of the forum State if it is qualified to do business would eliminate 45.3 percent of such cases at a saving of $59,375,544. Finally, closing Federal courts to in-State plaintiffs in diversity cases would eliminate jurisdiction in 43.8 percent of such cases at an annual cost of $58,841,077. Methodological data are appended. 12 tables and 62 footnotes.