Mims v. Arrow Financial Services - Public Citizen

91 Pages·2011·0.24 MB·English

No. 10-1195

IN THE
Supreme Court of the United States

MARCUS D. MIMS,

Petitioner,
v.

ARROW FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC,

Respondent.

On Writ of Certiorari to the United States
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

BRIEF FOR PETITIONER

DONALD A. YARBROUGH SCOTT L. NELSON
2000 E. Oakland Park Blvd. Counsel of Record
Suite 105 GREGORY A. BECK
P.O. Box 11842 ALLISON M. ZIEVE
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33339 PUBLIC CITIZEN
[phone] LITIGATION GROUP
1600 20th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
[phone]
[email protected]

Attorneys for Petitioner
September 2011
i
QUESTION PRESENTED
Did Congress divest the federal district courts of
their federal-question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1331 over private actions brought under the Tele-
phone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227?
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUESTION PRESENTED ........................................... i
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ........................................ v
INTRODUCTION ........................................................ 1
OPINIONS BELOW ..................................................... 2
JURISDICTION ........................................................... 2
STATUTES INVOLVED ............................................. 2
STATEMENT OF THE CASE .................................... 4
A. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act. ....... 4
B. The Proceedings in This Case. .......................... 9
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT .................................... 10
ARGUMENT .............................................................. 12
I. An Action Under the TCPA Falls Within
Section 1331’s Grant of Federal Jurisdiction
Over Cases Arising Under Federal Law. ............ 12
A. Congress Has Conferred Broad Federal-
Question Jurisdiction on the Federal
District Courts. ................................................ 12
B. Section 1331 Provides Jurisdiction Over
Cases Asserting Rights of Action Created
and Governed by Federal Law. ....................... 17
C. A Claim Under the TCPA Arises Under
Federal Law Within the Meaning of
Section 1331. .................................................... 23
iii
II. The TCPA Does Not Displace Federal
Jurisdiction Under Section 1331. ....................... 24
A. Jurisdiction Under Section 1331 Is
Available Unless Congress Has Acted
Affirmatively to Remove It. ............................ 24
B. Congress Has Not Acted to Divest the
District Courts of Their Jurisdiction
Under Section 1331 Over TCPA Claims. ....... 27
1. The TCPA’s Permissive Authorization
of State-Court Actions Does Not Divest
Federal Courts of Jurisdiction. .................. 27
2. Giving Effect to Section 1331’s Grant
of Jurisdiction Over Claims Arising
Under the TCPA Does Not Make
Section 227(b)(3)’s Language
Superfluous. ............................................... 36
3. Legislative History Does Not Support
Reading the TCPA to Displace Federal-
Question Jurisdiction Under Section
1331. ........................................................... 39
4. Reading an Ouster of Federal-Question
Jurisdiction Into the TCPA Would
Impede Important Federal Policies. .......... 42
a. The TCPA Serves Significant
Federal Interests. ................................. 42
b. Precluding Federal-Question
Jurisdiction Would Impair the
Federal Interests Served by the
TCPA. .................................................... 44
CONCLUSION ........................................................... 48
iv
APPENDIX
TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................... ia
47 U.S.C. § 227 (Telephone Consumer
Protection Act) ................................................ 1a
Telephone Consumer Protection Act,
Pub. L. No. 102-243, § 2, 105 Stat. 2394-95
(1991), 47 U.S.C. § 227 note
(Congressional findings) ............................... 23a
v
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Page(s)
Cases:
American Well Works Co. v. Layne & Bowler Co.,
241 U.S. 257 (1916) ......................................... 17, 23
Ames v. Kansas
111 U.S. 449 (1884) ......................................... 32, 33
Bell v. Hood,
327 U.S. 678 (1946) ............................................... 19
Bowen v. Massachusetts,
487 U.S. 879 (1988) ......................................... 31, 32
Breuer v. Jim’s Concrete of Brevard, Inc.
538 U.S. 691 (2003) ............................................... 33
Brill v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc.,
427 F.3d 446 (7th Cir. 2005) ............8, 34, 37, 38, 47
Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC,
131 S. Ct. 1068 (2011) ........................................... 37
The Chair King, Inc. v. GTE Mobilnet of Houston,
Inc., 184 S.W.3d 707 (Tex. 2006) .......................... 46
Chair King, Inc. v. Houston Cellular Corp.,
131 F.3d 507 (5th Cir. 1997) ................................... 8
Charles Dowd Box Co. v. Courtney,
368 U.S. 502 (1962) ......................................... 28, 37
Charvat v. Echostar Satellite LLC,
630 F.3d 459 (6th Cir. 2010) ................................... 8
City of Chicago v. Int’l Coll. of Surgeons,
522 U.S. 156 (1997) ............................................... 21
Christianson v. Colt Indus. Operating Corp.,
486 U.S. 800 (1988) ............................................... 17
vi
Claflin v. Houseman,
93 U.S. 130 (1876) ..................................... 28, 30, 37
Cohens v. Virginia,
19 U.S. 264 (1821) ................................................. 26
Consumer Prod. Safety Comm’n v. GTE Sylvania,
Inc., 447 U.S. 102 (1980) ...................................... 41
ErieNet, Inc. v. Velocity Net, Inc.,
156 F.3d 513 (3d Cir. 1998) ........................ 8, 39, 42
Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Servs., Inc.,
545 U.S. 546 (2005) ......................................... 39, 40
The Fair v. Kohler Die & Specialty Co.,
228 U.S. 22 (1913) ................................................. 19
Fla. Power & Light Co. v. Lorion,
470 U.S. 729 (1985) ............................................... 25
Foti v. INS,
375 U.S. 217 (1963) ............................................... 25
Foxhall Realty Law Offices, Inc. v. Telecomms.
Premium Servs., Ltd.,
156 F.3d 432 (2d Cir. 1998) .................................... 8
Franchise Tax Bd. v. Constr. Laborers Vacation
Trust, 463 U.S. 1 (1983).................................. 17, 18
Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Ry. Co. v.
Wallace, 223 U.S. 481 (1912) .......................... 26, 30
Gottlieb v. Carnival Corp.,
436 F.3d 335 (2d Cir. 2006) .............................. 8, 34
Grable & Sons Metal Prods., Inc. v. Darue Eng’g
& Mfg., 545 U.S. 308 (2005) .......................... passim
Gulf Offshore Co. v. Mobil Oil Corp.,
453 U.S. 473 (1981) ............................. 28, 29, 36, 37
vii
Gully v. First Nat’l Bank,
299 U.S. 109 (1936) ............................................... 21
Harrison v. PPG Indus., Inc.,
446 U.S. 578 (1980) ............................................... 25
Haywood v. Drown,
129 S. Ct. 2108 (2009) ........................................... 38
Illinois v. City of Milwaukee,
406 U.S. 91 (1972) ........................................... 18, 32
Int’l Sci. & Tech. Inst. v. Inacom Commc’ns, Inc.,
106 F.3d 1146 (4th Cir. 1997) ........................... 8, 39
Italia Foods, Inc. v. Sun Tours, Inc.,
__ N.E.2d __, 2011 WL 2163718
(Ill. June 3, 2011) .................................................. 46
Jackson Transit Auth. v. Local Div. 1285,
Amalgamated Transit Union,
457 U.S. 15 (1982) ................................................. 22
Key Tronic Corp. v. United States,
511 U.S. 809 (1994) ............................................... 23
K Mart Corp. v. Cartier, Inc.,
485 U.S. 176 (1988) ......................................... 24, 25
Landsman & Funk PC v. Skinder-Strauss Assocs.,
640 F.3d 72 (3d Cir. 2011), reh’g en banc
granted, __ F.3d __, 2011 WL 1879624
(3d Cir. May 17, 2011) ............................................ 8
Lauritzen v. Larsen,
345 U.S. 571 (1953) ............................................... 18
Lynch v. Household Fin. Corp.,
405 U.S. 538 (1972) ............................................... 26
Merrell Dow Pharm. Inc. v. Thompson,
478 U.S. 804 (1986) ............................................... 18
viii
MLC Mortgage Corp. v. Sun America Mortgage Co.,
212 P.3d 1199 (Okla. 2009) .................................. 38
Mont.-Dak. Utils. Co. v. Nw. Pub. Serv. Co.,
341 U.S. 246 (1951) ............................................... 18
Mt. Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle,
429 U.S. 274 (1977) ............................................... 21
Murphey v. Lanier,
204 F.3d 911 (9th Cir. 2000) ................................... 8
New York v. FERC,
535 U.S. 1 (2002) ................................................... 43
Nicholson v. Hooters of Augusta, Inc.,
136 F.3d 1287 (11th Cir.), modified,
140 F.3d 898 (11th Cir. 1998) ....................... 8, 9, 10
Oneida Indian Nation v. Oneida County, N.Y.,
414 U.S. 661 (1974) ............................................... 18
Osborn v. Bank of the United States,
22 U.S. 738 (1824) ................................................. 12
Peyton v. Ry. Express Agency,
316 U.S. 350 (1942) ............................................... 19
Powell v. McCormack,
395 U.S. 486 (1969) ................................... 12, 17, 18
Public Utils. Comm’n v. Attleboro Steam &
Elec. Co., 273 U.S. 83 (1927) ................................ 43
Reynolds v. Diamond Foods & Poultry, Inc.,
79 S.W.3d 907 (Mo. 2002) ..................................... 46
Romero v. Int’l Terminal Operating Co.,
358 U.S. 354 (1959) ................................... 17, 18, 19
Rosecrans v. United States,
165 U.S. 257 (1897) ............................................... 26
ix
Shady Grove Orthopedic Assocs. v. Allstate
Ins. Co., 130 S. Ct. 1431 (2010) ............................ 47
Shoshone Mining Co. v. Rutter,
177 U.S. 505 (1900) ............................. 19, 20, 21, 22
Smith v. Kansas City Title & Trust Co.,
255 U.S. 180 (1921) ............................................... 21
Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t,
523 U.S. 83 (1998) ................................................. 18
Tafflin v. Levitt,
493 U.S. 455 (1990) ........................................ passim
T.B. Harms Co. v. Eliscu,
339 F.2d 823 (2d Cir. 1964) .................................. 18
Testa v. Katt,
330 U.S. 386 (1947) ................................... 11, 36, 38
United States v. Bank of N.Y. & Trust Co.,
296 U.S. 463 (1936) ......................................... 10, 27
United States v. Mitchell,
463 U.S. 206 (1983) ............................................... 22
United States v. White Mt. Apache Tribe,
537 U.S. 465 (2003) ............................................... 22
Vaden v. Discover Bank,
129 S. Ct. 1262 (2009) ..................................... 35, 36
Van Drasek v. Lehman,
762 F.2d 1065 (D.C. Cir. 1985) ............................. 32
Verizon Md., Inc. v. Pub. Serv. Comm’n,
535 U.S. 635 (2002) ........................................ passim
Verlinden B.V. v. Central Bank of Nigeria,
461 U.S. 480 (1983) ......................................... 12, 17