United States v. Andrew E. Hill and J.E. Pinkerton, United States of America v. Dennis Juren, United States of America v. Edward W. CromeyUnited States v. Andrew E. Hill and J.E. Pinkerton, United States of America v. Dennis Juren, United States of America v. Edward W. Cromey
On Petition for Rehearing
These three appeals involve challenges to District Court orders enforcing investigatory subpoenas issued by the Department of Energy (“DOE”). Because the appellants present a common question concerning the jurisdiction of the District Court, we resolve all three appeals in this opinion. For the reasons set forth below, we hold that section 645 of the Department of Energy Organization Act (“DOEOA”),
I. Background .
Each of these cases stems from an investigation of industry compliance with the DOE’s Mandatory Petroleum Price and Allocation Regulations, 10 C.F.R. pts. 205, 210-12 (1982). Andrew E. Hill and J.E. Pinkerton, appellants in No. 81-2171, are officers of the Hill Petroleum Company, a Texas corporation. On May 11, 1981, the DOE issued subpoenas
ad testificandum
directing Hill and Pinkerton to appear at the DOE office in Houston, Texas and to testify concerning “purchases, sales, exchanges and processing of crude oil and the purchase and sale of its refined product[s]” by Hill Petroleum Company and Goldberg Refining, Ltd. When Hill and Pinkerton declined to comply with the subpoenas, the Government sought enforcement in the District Court for the District of Columbia, which effected extraterritorial service of process. The Government alleged that the District Court had jurisdiction to enforce the subpoenas under section 645 of the DOEOA,
1
section 13(e) of the Federal Energy Administration Act (“FEAA”),
2
and section 206 of the Economic Stabilization Act (“ESA”).
3
The District Court rejected appellants’ several attacks on the validity of the subpoenas and ordered their enforcement, basing its jurisdiction solely on section 645 of the DOEOA.
United States v. Hill,
Dennis Juren, appellant in No. 82-1204, and Edward W. Cromey, appellant in No. 82-1205, are both officers of the Tesoro Petroleum Company, a Texas corporation. On July 17,1981, the DOE issued subpoenas ad testificandum directing them to appear at the DOE office in Washington, D.C. and to testify concerning transactions between their company and several other petroleum companies. Juren and Cromey refused to comply, and the Government sought enforcement of the subpoenas in the District Court for the District of Columbia. The court’s process was served extraterritorially, and the Government asserted the same jurisdictional grounds as it had in Hill. As in Hill, the District Court rejected appellants’ challenges to the subpoenas and ordered their enforcement, again basing its jurisdiction solely on section 645 of the DOEOA. United States v. Juren, Misc. No. 82-15 (D.D.C. Feb. 17,1982); United States v. Cromey, Misc. No. 82-16 (D.D.C. Feb. 17, 1982); see Transcript of February 16, 1982 Hearing at 41-42, reprinted in Juren Appendix at 21-22.
II. Jurisdiction of the District Court
A. General Principles
1. Subject Matter Jurisdiction
We begin our analysis of the District Court’s authority to enforce subpoenas issued by the DOE with the accepted premise that federal courts must “scrupulously confine their own jurisdiction to the precise limits which [a federal] statute has defined.”
Victory Carriers, Inc. v. Law,
It is a principle of first importance that the federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction.... They are empowered to hear only those cases that (1) are within the judicial power ..., and (2) that have been entrusted to them by a jurisdictional grant by the Congress.
... The presumption is that a federal court lacks jurisdiction in a particular case until it has been demonstrated that jurisdiction over the subject matter exists.
13 C. Wright, A. Miller & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3522 (1975) (footnotes omitted). It is clear, moreover,
2. Personal Jurisdiction
Even if the District Court possessed subject matter jurisdiction under section 645 or some other statutory provision,
see
Part II.D.l.
infra,
that would not end our inquiry. The court must also have had personal jurisdiction over the appellants to enforce the DOE subpoenas against them. On this latter point, there is no doubt that “[ajpart from specific exceptions created by Congress the jurisdiction of the district courts is territorial.”
Georgia v. Pennsylvania Railroad,
Congress, of course, could authorize suits under federal law in any inferior federal tribunal,
id.
at 622,
To assess the propriety of the District Court’s exercise of enforcement jurisdiction on the basis of extraterritorial service of process, therefore, we must determine whether Congress has created a “specific exception” to the usual rule.
7
Such exceptions may be created either explicitly
8
or implicitly. In
FTC v. Browning,
B. Section 645
In each of these cases, the District Court relied solely on section 645 of the DOEOA as the statutory basis for both subject matter and personal jurisdiction. That section grants the Secretary of Energy the same power to issue subpoenas as the FTC possesses under section 9 of its enabling legislation. Section 645 states:
For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter, the Secretary, or his duly authorized agent or agents, shall have the same powers and authorities as the Federal Trade Commission under section 49 of title 15 with respect to all functions vested in, or transferred or delegated to, the Secretary or such agents by this chapter.
[T]he Commission shall have power to require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of all ... documentary evidence relating to any matter under investigation ....
Such attendance of witnesses, and the production of such documentary evidence, may be required from any place in the United States, at any designated place of hearing. And in case of disobedience to a subpoena the Commission may invoke the aid of any court of the United States in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence.
Any of the district courts of the United States within the jurisdiction of which such inquiry is carried on may, in case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena issued to any person, partnership, or corporation issue an order requiring such person, partnership, or corporation to appear before the Commission, or to produce documentary evidence if so ordered, or to give evidence touching the matter in question; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt thereof.
In
United States v. Tesoro Petroleum Corp.,
The interpretation of section 645 must begin, of course, with the statutory language that Congress used to express its intent.
13
Notably, the section’s plain language does not support the Government’s claim that it confers jurisdiction on the District Court.
14
On its face, section 645 declares only that “the Secretary ... shall have the same powers and authorities [to issue subpoenas] as the Federal Trade Commission.” At least since
ICC v. Brimson,
The absence of any language in section 645 specifically incorporating the jurisdictional provisions of section 9 of the FTC Act is especially telling when section 645 is compared with other statutory grants of subpoena power. On a number of occasions, Congress has conferred subpoena issuance authority on administrative agencies by reference to the FTC’s powers under section 9 of the FTC Act.
18
In four of these statutes, Congress explicitly incorporated both the agency authority to issue subpoenas, found in the first two paragraphs of section 9 of the FTC Act, and the judicial authority to enforce subpoenas, found in the third paragraph of section 9.
19
These statutes clearly evince Congress’ awareness of the distinction between
subpoena issuance
and
subpoena enforcement
and its
C. Judicial Constructions of Similar Statutes
The Government has referred us to judicial interpretations of several sections of the United States Code that grant subpoena powers by reference to section 9 of the FTC Act, and our research has disclosed other eases interpreting those sections as conferring enforcement jurisdiction on the federal courts. When examined closely, however, these cases supply little or no support for the proposition that section 645 of the DOEOA authorizes extraterritorial service of process in DOE enforcement proceedings.
First, almost without exception, the courts that have stated or implied that provisions incorporating section 9 of the FTC Act confer jurisdiction on the federal courts either were not faced with a jurisdictional challenge or did not discuss the issue.
21
Second, incorporation of the paragraph of section 9 that confers extraterritorial enforcement jurisdiction was not essential to the result in any of the cases in which a jurisdictional issue was presented and resolved.
22
We have found no case in which
Even absent these problems, we would find it impossible to glean much support from the decided cases. In several of the cases, the court’s conclusion that it had jurisdiction was based not on a general incorporation of section 9, but on another provision of the incorporating statute, 23 and every other decided case rests on an incorporating statute that is arguably broader than section 645 of the DOEOA. 24 The inferences that the Government draws from the case law, moreover, are flatly contradicted by a number of the cases it cites. 25
We conclude, therefore, that, for all practical purposes, we are writing on a clean slate. We find little in the case law on which the Government relies to guide us to the reading of section 645 that it advocates; certainly nothing in those cases requires us to conclude that section 645 incorporates the third paragraph of section 9 of the FTC Act and thus confers subject matter jurisdiction or authorizes extraterritorial service of process. Bereft of such authority, we turn to fundamental principles of civil procedure and statutory construction, which amply support our holding that section 645 does not confer on the District Court subject matter jurisdiction or the power of extraterritorial service of process in DOE subpoena enforcement proceedings.
D. Enforceability of DOE Subpoenas
In light of the oral arguments and written submissions in these cases, we discern two grounds upon which our reading of section 645 of the DOEOA might be questioned. First, the Government appears to suggest that our construction of section 645 would prevent the DOE from obtaining judicial subpoena enforcement in investigations of matters newly assigned to it by the DOEOA,
26
and thus render its subpoena powers meaningless.
27
Second, the Govern
1.
Subject Matter Jurisdiction Under
Although statutes creating administrative subpoena powers often contain provisions specifically authorizing judicial enforcement orders,
28
the Judicial Code’s general jurisdictional provisions,
On its face, each of the provisions is clearly sufficient to confer subpoena enforcement jurisdiction. At its broadest level, the district courts’ federal question jurisdiction extends to “all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.”
31
More specifically, Congress has granted the district courts original jurisdiction “of any civil action or proceeding arising under any Act of Congress regulating commerce.”
32
It has also declared, in section 1345, that “[ejxcept as otherwise provided by Act of Congress, the district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions, suits or proceedings commenced by the United States, or by any agency or officer thereof expressly authorized to sue by Act of Congress.”
33
The exception to section 1345 is interpreted narrowly,
34
and the section’s language evinces
Our research, moreover, has uncovered no evidence that subpoena enforcement actions, which fall within the plain meaning of
2. Extraterritorial Service of Process
We recognize, of course, that the general jurisdictional grants of
The Government has suggested that its interest in convenient enforcement of DOE investigatory subpoenas is an adequate policy justification for a broad construction of section 645. Admittedly, it does appear that Congress intended section 645 to augment the DOE’s subpoena
issuance
authority. But the Government has pointed to nothing in either the statute or the legislative history that supports a policy argument in favor of
enforcement
of all subpoenas in a single district court,
39
and we surely will not infer that Congress intended to confer extraterritorial subpoena enforcement jurisdiction on the sole basis of the agency’s view of appropriate policy.
40
“Jurisdictional statutes are to be construed ‘with precision and with fidelity to the terms by which Congress has expressed its wishes.’ ”
Palmore v. United States,
For the reasons set forth above, we hold that section 645 of the DOEOA,
Although we reject the asserted basis of jurisdiction for the District Court orders, we do not direct dismissal of the enforcement petitions. In each of these cases, the Government asserted section 13(e) of the FEAA,
The Government has not suggested that the other provisions on which it relied confer extraterritorial enforcement jurisdiction, and our reading of these provisions would lead us carefully to scrutinize any conclusion that they do. See note 40 supra. But because the parties have not fully briefed the question, we decline to resolve it at this time. Instead, we remand the cases to the District Court. On remand, the parties will have the opportunity to address these and other related issues. In addition, the District Court will have an opportunity, as necessary, fully to consider questions pertaining to subject matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, and venue under these alternative subpoena enforcement provisions.
So ordered.
Notes
.
.
.
. Because it found that § 645 provided a sound statutory basis for both subject matter and personal jurisdiction, the District Court did not consider the sufficiency of the other statutory provisions advanced by the Government as independent jurisdictional grants.
United States v. Hill,
. The cases now before us raise the initial issue whether the appeals from the District Court are properly before this court or before the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals (“TECA”). The TECA was created to hear appeals from federal district court decisions arising under the ESA. ESA Amendments of 1971, Pub.L. No. 92-210, tit. II, § 211(b), 85 Stat. 743, 749,
reprinted in
While the TECA’s jurisdiction “of all appeals from the district courts of the United States in cases and controversies arising under” the ESA and the EPAA is exclusive, ESA, § 211(b)(2),
The DOE investigations underlying the present cases concern compliance with regulations promulgated under the ESA and the EPAA. The District Court, however, based its jurisdiction to enforce the subpoenas
solely
on § 645 of the DOEOA. At least with regard to the issue of the District Court’s jurisdiction under § 645, therefore, we do not believe that the TECA has appellate jurisdiction.
Texaco Inc. v. DOE,
.
. See 3 B. Mezines, J. Stein
&
J. Gruff, Administrative Law § 21.02[2][a] (1982). Neither the Government nor the District Court suggested that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure authorize extraterritorial service of process in DOE subpoena enforcement actions. The exception for service authorized “by these rules” “incorporates the service provisions found in
.
See, e.g.,
.
. See also FTC v. Jim Walter Corp.,
The
Browning
court offered three justifications for its decision. The opinion noted, first, that since the third paragraph of § 9 limited the place of suit for enforcement of FTC subpoenas to the jurisdiction in which the investigation was being carried on, it was necessary to imply authority for extraterritorial service of process “to effectuate the purpose of the regulatory scheme.”
FTC v. Browning,
The second rationale underlying the decision in
Browning
emphasized the national character of the FTC’s investigations. Because enforcement proceedings against similarly situated individuals present identical legal issues, “[i]t makes for uniformity in the application of the law and economy of judicial administration to center the enforcement proceedings in a single court.”
. “In the absence of authority under a federal statute, service outside the forum state will be quashed unless objections to service or venue requirements are waived or the service is otherwise permissible under
. To the best of our knowledge, no other court has held that § 645 confers on the district courts either subject matter jurisdiction or the power to serve process extraterritorially.
But see United States v. Stoltz,
The three bases on which the
Tesoro Petroleum
court rested its conclusion are easily undermined. The court found, first, that because the DOEOA incorporated the language of the FTC Act and did not merely model that Act, “[i]t would be logical to imply ... a congressional intent to give DOE the same powers as those given to the FTC.”
United States v. Tesoro Petroleum Corp.,
The second reason offered by the Tesoro Petroleum court to justify its conclusion was that the “fragmentation” of investigations resulting from a refusal to imply authority for extraterritorial service of process “would frustrate an agency’s purpose of maintaining coherent, nationwide supervision over the subject matter of its regulatory efforts.” Id. This concern is more properly addressed to Congress than to the courts, and an examination of the provisions regarding subpoena enforcement in the statutes incorporated by the DOEOA suggests that Congress has yet to recognize the need for extraterritorial enforcement authority in this area. See note 40 infra.
The
Tesoro Petroleum
court’s final rationale — that extraterritorial service of process was necessary to avoid “the situation where a district court would have exclusive jurisdiction over an enforcement proceeding and yet be deprived of the authority to compel the attendance of the respondent absent his voluntary entrance into the district,”
id.
— is equally unavailing. This argument has absolutely no force in this context. Although the third paragraph of § 9 of the FTC Act can be read as limiting the courts in which subpoena enforcement proceedings can be brought,
FTC v. Browning,
.
See Consumer Prod. Safety Comm’n v. GTE Sylvania, Inc.,
. The fact that § 645 incorporates the language of § 9 of the FTC Act,
see United States v. Tesoro Petroleum Corp.,
. This “[bjifurcation of the power, on the one hand of the agency to issue subpoenas and on the other hand of the courts to enforce them, is an inherent protection against abuse of subpoena power.”
United States v. Bell,
. In its arguments to this court, the Government has confused the DOE’s power to seek enforcement of its subpoenas and the courts’ power to grant or deny that enforcement. The second paragraph of § 9 of the FTC Act, which all parties agree is incorporated by reference in § 645 of the DOEOA, states in part: “[I]n case of disobedience to a subpoena
the Commission may invoke the aid of any court of the United States
in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence.”
. The legislative history of § 645 also provides no support for the Government’s position that the section was intended as both a grant of subpoena issuance authority and a grant of extraterritorial subpoena enforcement jurisdiction. Section 645 of the DOEOA originated in the Senate bill to establish the DOE. S. 826, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. § 605 (1977). The Senate Report commented:
This section grants the Secretary the power to issue a subpoena in carrying out the provisions of this act. The power is the same as those granted to the Federal Trade Commission in section 9 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and applies to all responsibilities vested in the Secretary by this act.
S.Rep. No. 164, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 50, reprinted in 1977 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 854, 904 [hereinafter cited as S.Rep. No. 164]; see also S.Rep. No. 367, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 96 (1977) (Conference Report). The Senate Report, like § 645 itself, thus addresses only the Secretary’s power to issue a subpoena and makes no reference to any legislative intent to confer enforcement jurisdiction on the district courts.
.
.
See
The language of the Animal Welfare Act is illustrative. It provides that a number of provisions, including §§ 9 and 10 of the FTC Act, “are made applicable to the jurisdiction, powers, and duties of the Secretary in administering and enforcing the provisions of this chapter and to any person, firm, or corporation with respect to whom such authority is exercised.” It then states that “[t]he powers conferred by said sections 49 and 50 of title 15 on the district courts of the United States may be exercised for the purposes of this chapter by any district court of the United States.”7 U.S.C. § 2146(c) (1976).
. Cf.
Touche Ross & Co. v. Redington,
.
See, e.g., Oklahoma Press Publishing Co. v. Walling,
.
See, e.g., Cudahy Packing Co. v. United States,
To the best of our knowledge, none of these cases involved an attempt to enforce an administrative subpoena outside of the district where the respondent was found. District court jurisdiction, therefore, did not depend on the incorporation of the third paragraph of § 9 of the FTC Act. Incorporation of the second paragraph of § 9 gave Department of Labor officials standing to sue,
see
note 16
supra,
and the general grant of federal question jurisdiction extant at the time provided a fully sufficient basis for the district courts’ actions,
see, e.g.,
These cases, and others interpreting § 9 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”),
see, e.g., Oklahoma Press Publishing Co. v. Walling,
.
See, e.g., Newmark & Co. v. Wirtz,
.
Compare
. In
Walling v. La Belle S.S. Co.,
. See S.Rep. No. 164, supra note 17, at 50, 1977 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News at 904.
.
See Federal Maritime Comm’n v. New York Terminal Conference,
.
See, e.g.,
. Cf. B. Mezines, J. Stein & J. Gruff, supra note 7, at § 21.02[2][a] (footnotes omitted):
On occasion, agency subpoena power is not specifically spelled out in the statute. Instead, the courts have interpreted other powers granted the agency (such as rulemaking) as giving rise to an implied subpoena power. In such instances, district courts have exercised jurisdiction in enforcement proceedings, and it is to be presumed that such action is proper, although the issue of subject matter jurisdiction has not specifically been raised in such a case.
. Several courts have recognized the potential applicability of these sections, but have not reached the issue presented by these cases.
See, e.g., British Auto Parts, Inc. v. NLRB,
.
.
.
.
See Brennan v. Buckeye Indus., Inc.,
Unless legislation should expressly provide that jurisdiction of a district court is limited by the special jurisdiction provisions of an Act, the right of the United States to sueunder § 1337 or§ 1345 is not affected. The United States may lawfully maintain suits in its own courts to prevent interference with the means it adopts to exercise its powers of government and to carry into effect its policies.
.
Compare
. 14 C. Wright, A. Miller & E. Cooper, supra, at § 3651 (footnote omitted) (emphasis added).
. Several other cases involving subpoena enforcement and the production of records are also relevant. In
NLRB v. British Auto Parts, Inc.,
District Courts have jurisdiction under28 U.S.C. § 1337 “of all suits and proceedings regulating commerce.” This statutory provision vests the district courts with jurisdiction to aid administrative agencies in carrying out their congressionally authorized powers and duties, despite the absence of any express grant of district court jurisdiction under the agencies’ respective enabling acts.
Id.
at 374 (emphasis added) (citing many cases).
See also United States v. Hankins,
The scope of
.
See FTC v. Browning,
.
See Robertson v. Railroad Labor Bd.,
But no reason is suggested why Congress should have wished to compel every person summoned either to obey the Board’s administrative order without question, or to litigate his right to refuse to do so in such district, however remote from his home or temporary residence, as the Board might select.
. We are particularly reluctant to do so in light of the fact that the other statutes administered by the DOE do not appear to confer extraterritorial subpoena enforcement jurisdiction on the district courts.
See
§ 206 of the ESA,