Court Finds No Jurisdiction in Energy Appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a federal appeals court did not have jurisdiction to review a federal judge’s order sending a lawsuit against a Canadian energy company back to state court, SCOTUSblog reports.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had considered whether the company was an agent of a foreign government, entitling it to have its legal claims heard in federal rather than state court.
“The authority of appellate courts to review district-court orders remanding removed cases to state court is substantially limited by statute” as well as precedent, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in his opinion for the court.
The case arose from litigation contending power companies conspired to fix the retail price of electricity.
The decision is Powerex Corp. v. Reliant Energy Services, No. 05-85 (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog).
