Jim Sensenbrenner: “I would like to provide a brief summary of the provisions in Sections 4 and 5 of S. 5, the Class Action Fairness Act of…”

“I would like to provide a brief summary of the provisions in Sections 4 and 5 of S. 5, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. Section 4 gives Federal courts jurisdiction over class action lawsuits in which the aggregate amount in controversy exceeds $5 million, and at least one plaintiff and one defendant are diverse. Overall, new section 1332(d) is intended to expand substantially Federal court jurisdiction over class actions. Its provisions should be read broadly, with a strong preference that interstate class actions should be heard in a Federal court if removed by any defendant. If a purported class action is removed under these jurisdictional provisions, the named plaintiff(s) should bear the burden of demonstrating that the removal was improper. And if a Federal court is uncertain about whether the $5 million threshold is satisfied, the court should err in favor of exercising jurisdiction over the case.”