Glenn Allen ADAIR, doing business as Super D #229; Dallas Little, doing business as Little‘s Pharmacy; Southern Discount Drugs of Charleston, doing business as Southern Discount Drugs/Robert T. Salmon; May‘s Pharmacy, doing business as Coldwater Pharmacy/James A. May; Animal Medical Center of Ellisville, Inc.; et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. LEASE PARTNERS, INC.; Bancorpsouth Bank, Defendants-Appellants, First Bank Richmond, S B, doing business as First Federal Leasing and Interstate Financial, Appellant.
No. 08-60674.
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
Oct. 28, 2009.
587 F.3d 238
With the constitutional basis for the claim clarified, we briefly address the merits. The standard for this claim is well-established: the plaintiff must show that an officer acted with subjective knowledge of a substantial risk of serious medical harm, followed by a response of deliberate indifference. Nerren, 86 F.3d at 473. Although Hill‘s evidence might imply negligence by Deputies Spellman, Mims and Jones, she submitted no evidence that they possessed subjective knowledge that their chosen method of transporting Loggins posed a substantial risk of serious medical harm. No evidence contradicts Deputy Jones‘s testimony that he did monitor her while driving to the jail and he could hear her in the back seat muttering or talking for at least half the journey to Grenada. No evidence supports a fact issue that the deputies acted with deliberate indifference toward Loggins at any time.
For the foregoing reasons, Hill has not created a genuine issue of material fact concerning the existence of a constitutional violation; we need not address the deputies’ qualified immunity or the county‘s liability under Monell. The district court‘s judgment in favor of the defendants is AFFIRMED.
Paul N. Davis (argued), Butler, Snow, O‘Mara, Stevens & Cannada, Jackson, MS, for Plaintiffs-Appellees.
Roy Hamilton Liddell, Trey Christian Dellinger (argued), Wells, Marble & Hurst, Ridgeland, MS, for Lease Partners, Inc., and Appellant.
Before REAVLEY, JOLLY, and WIENER, Circuit Judges.
REAVLEY, Circuit Judge:
This is an appeal from the district court order remanding this case to state court. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC“)—an intervening Defendant—had removed the case to federal court but was later dismissed as a party. The district court held that once the FDIC was dismissed, only supplemental jurisdiction remained over Appellees’ remaining claims. The court subsequently exercised its claimed discretion to remand the case. We reverse.
I.
This case is a collection of claims brought by many individual pharmacies, pharmacists, veterinarians and veterinary clinics (“Plaintiffs“) against individual salesmen and different financial institutions (“Defendants“). Plaintiffs filed the case in 1996 in Mississippi state court, alleging state law fraud, negligence, breach of contract, and usury claims. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants participated in a Ponzi scheme in which Defendants leased Recomm electronic advertising banners to Plaintiffs, fraudulently misrepresented their identity as lessors, and charged usurious interest rates on the finance charges.
After more than eleven years of litigation, the FDIC entered the case in 2007 as a receiver for a successor bank to one of the original Defendants.1 The FDIC timely removed the case to federal district court pursuant to
The district court granted both of Plaintiffs’ motions. With the FDIC no longer a party, the court held that no original federal jurisdiction remained over Plaintiffs’ remaining claims and that it retained only supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining claims. As the court saw no reason to continue exercising jurisdiction over a case composed of what it saw as predominantly state claims, the court stated that it would exercise its discretion to remand the case to state court.
Defendants appeal the district court‘s remand order.
II.
An order remanding a case to state court is typically not reviewable on appeal.2 However, this court has jurisdiction over a remand order where the district court based its decision on an affirmative exercise of discretion rather than on a finding of lack of jurisdiction.3 See Regan v. Starcraft Marine, LLC. A district court‘s remand order is final for appeal purposes. Quackenbush v. Allstate Ins. Co.4
Whether a district court has the discretion to remand a case to state court is a legal question this court reviews de novo. See Poche v. Tex. Air Corps, Inc.5 If the district court has the discretion to remand a case, this court reviews its decision for abuse of discretion.6
III.
None of the parties disputes that the district court had jurisdiction over the case at the time of remand. The issue is whether the court was obligated to retain jurisdiction and hear the case or whether it had discretion to remand. To answer this question, we must determine what kind of jurisdiction existed at the time of remand. See Buchner v. FDIC.7
It is undisputed that the FDIC properly removed this case pursuant to
(A) In general
[Except in situations irrelevant to the instant case], all suits of a civil nature at common law or in equity to which the Corporation [FDIC], in any capacity, is a party shall be deemed to arise under the laws of the United States.
(B) Removal
[Except in situations irrelevant to the instant case], the Corporation may, without bond or security, remove any action, suit, or proceeding from a State court to the appropriate United States district court before the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date the action, suit, or proceeding is filed against the Corporation or the Corporation is substituted as a party.10
Congress enacted
Among the many powers granted to the FDIC by FIRREA, “[t]he power ... to invoke federal jurisdiction and to remove from state court is substantial.”15 Pursuant to
The language of
In Griffin, the FSLIC entered a state court action as receiver for the plaintiff and subsequently removed the case to federal court pursuant to
We disagreed, holding that federal jurisdiction continued to exist pursuant to
The Second Circuit followed Griffin in Four Star Holding.35 In Four Star Holding, the FDIC brought a foreclosure action in federal court pursuant to
“Adopting a rule which would make federal jurisdiction contingent on who owned an interest in certain property at a particular time ‘could well have the effect of deterring normal business transactions during the pendency of what might be lengthy litigation,’ CIT, Inc. v. 170 Willow Street Assoc., No. 93 Civ. 1201 CSH, 1997 WL 528163, at *7 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 26, 1997) (quoting Freeport-McMoRan, Inc., 498 U.S. at 428), and could also deter
transactions by FDIC that presumably are in the public interest.”39
Meanwhile, the Third Circuit expressly rejected the Griffin court‘s holding that original federal jurisdiction continues pursuant to
All three of these cases make it clear that a court following Griffin will recognize continued federal jurisdiction when the FDIC removes a case but is later dismissed, and that this jurisdiction is pursuant to
Because federal jurisdiction continues in this case pursuant to
We recognize that the party in Griffin arguing for federal jurisdiction was a successor in interest to the FDIC, and no successor in interest remains in the instant case.50 In addition, the Griffin court expressly cited the existence of a successor in interest as part of its rationale for continued jurisdiction.51 However, the Griffin court clearly relied on the time-of-filing rationale for recognizing federal jurisdiction under its interpretation of
IV.
We follow the rule that “a district court exceeds its authority if it remands a case on grounds not expressly permitted by controlling statute.”55 Despite the FDIC‘s dismissal, all claims in the instant case continue to “arise under the laws of the United States,” pursuant to
E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge, concurring in the judgment:
I fully appreciate the efficient and judicially economical approach of the majority. I am unable, however, to agree that our precedent or the text of
Here, I concur in the result reached by the majority because there remain federal usury claims and related state-law claims, which cannot be remanded. Laurents v. Arcadian Corp., No. 94-41183, 1995 WL 625394, at *2, 69 F.3d 535 (5th Cir. Oct. 4, 1995) (setting forth rule that properly removed questions of federal law cannot be remanded under
