Abstract
It is the writer's desire to stimulate a better understanding of federal jurisdiction and the problems raised by it, by constructing a simple and understandable treatment covering the background and structure of the subject. The intention of the treatment, however, is to emphasize the personality of the jurisdiction of the federal courts. Personality is the sum total of a unit's assets and liabilities, actual and potential. It depends on interaction with other units for any successful measurement, otherwise it is just a passive entity, untried and untested. The personality of law depends upon its interpretation and application as well as its "raison d'etre." The law's interaction is with the courts. The courts activate this passive entity, the law, thereby giving some indication as to its assets and liabilities. This they do by interpretation and application of the law.
Recommended Citation
Oliver Morse, Judicial Self Denial and Judicial Activism - the Personality of the Original Jurisdiction of the Federal District Courts, 3 Clev.-Marshall L. Rev. 101 (1954)