Federal courts can have significant influence in deciding political disputes, but they have limited jurisdiction. The U.S. Constitution and laws passed previously by Congress give federal courts the authority to hear cases that raise questions about the following:
- The U.S. Constitution, federal government and federal laws
- Disputes between or from different states
- Disputes between the federal government and foreign countries
High-profile cases involving state laws or federal issues are a small percentage of the many cases federal courts hear, said Charles “Rocky” Rhodes, a professor who teaches constitutional law at the South Texas College of Law Houston. There are also civil lawsuits related to employment or patent laws and criminal and bankruptcy cases.
Sometimes a lawsuit can be filed in both state and federal courts. To decide where to file a lawsuit, attorneys like David Donatti of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, look at whether a state or federal court has jurisdiction, or the power to address a case based on the defendants involved. They also consider the subject matter and the remedy a plaintiff is seeking in a case.
This is important because a court may dismiss a lawsuit based on procedural grounds, Rhodes said.
“Those are sometimes the most fundamental rules that get lost,” he said. “And especially because, you know, a lot of the spin that politicians or interest groups put on the case is about the substantive claims, rather than some of these important procedural and constitutional limitations on what the courts can do.”
Federal and state courts in Texas operate under their own rules of procedure and not all attorneys choose to operate in both court systems, Rhodes added.
When deciding which federal court should hear a lawsuit, Donatti said other factors include convenience and whether it makes sense for a case to be heard in a particular location, based on where parties and relevant information are located. For many cases involving statewide issues – like new laws and state officials – this means in front of an Austin-based judge in the Western District of Texas, which spans from Austin to El Paso.
For example, when the ACLU of Texas and Texas Civil Rights Project challenged a 2023 Texas law that sought to give Texas police the power to arrest people suspected of crossing the border illegally, they filed the lawsuit in a federal district court in Austin.
In the lawsuit, they argued the state law, known as Senate Bill 4, violates the U.S. Constitution, which gives the federal government authority over immigration enforcement. The Biden administration also later sued Texas over SB 4, and the two lawsuits were combined.
During the court proceedings, which were in Austin, Texas argued that it needs the law to protect itself from an “invasion.” The state also said the law does not undermine the federal government because it mirrors federal immigration laws and would allow Texas police to turn over people to federal authorities. Experts and opponents of the law have questioned the state’s use of the word “invasion” and pointed out that the law could lead to racial profiling.