Cases and Materials on Federal Courts

The distinctive feature of this Federal Courts casebook, and the main difference between it and other Federal Courts books, is its systematic focus on remedial issues, especially the problems that arise when a litigant tries to enforce federal constitutional or statutory rights against state or federal governments and officers in the federal courts. Departing from the traditional approach of Federal Courts books, we begin with a chapter on section 1983 litigation. The book stresses economy of means, clarity of presentation, and attention to the real-world Federal Courts issues that students need to understand and anticipate. This edition covers the major cases decided by the Supreme Court over the past four years. New main cases include Rucho v. Common Cause, Lexmark v. Static Control Components, and Spokeo v. Robins (all in chapter 4). In chapter 5, Lapides v. Board of Regents is now a main case. In the notes we discuss Ziglar v. Abbasi (chapters 1 and 2), Knick v. Township of Scott (chapters 1 and 2), Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center (chapters 1 and 5), Lightfoot v. Cendant Mortgage Corp. (chapter 3), Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill (chapter 4), Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt (chapter 5), Davila v. Davis, Johnson v. Lee, Wilson v. Sellers, Shoop v. Hill, and Montgomery v. Louisiana (all in chapter 9), Wellness International Network v Sarif, Oil States Energy Services v. Greene's Energy Group, and Ortiz v. United States (all in chapter 10.)