American Law Institute Proposal to Bring Small-Claim State-Law Class Actions within Federal Jurisdiction: An Affront to Federalism That Should Be Rejected, The

Abstract

INTRODUCTION|Nearly thirty years ago, the United States Supreme Court held in Zahn v. International Paper Co., that every member of a federal court class action asserting claims based solely upon state law must have a claim in excess of the minimum amount in controversy required by the statute conferring federal subject matter jurisdiction based upon diversity of citizenship. The Zahn decision had the effect of eliminating federal jurisdiction over small-claim state-law class actions, thus requiring such actions to be filed in state court. The prestigious American Law Institute (ALI) is now considering a proposal to recommend to Congress that it abrogate the Zahn decision through legislation that would grant federal courts supplemental jurisdiction over claims of class members, so long as the named plaintiffs' claims exceeded the minimum jurisdictional amount...