Controversies between Citizens of Different States

                The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article III, Section 2, and Clause 1:  “The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority … between Citizens of different States ….”  This provision was put in place in order that citizens of different states would have a “neutral arena” for their case to be heard.

                “One of the greatest deficiencies under the Articles of Confederation was the lack of a federal judiciary to handle problems of this type.  When citizens of different states had a matter to be adjudicated, neither felt he could get a fair trial anywhere but in his own state, and thus the matter could not be satisfactorily settled” (W. Cleon Skousen in The Making of America – The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 604).