Duberry v. District of Columbia

My colleagues conclude that the plaintiffs have alleged a cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Ordinarily the existence vel non of a federal cause of action determines a federal court’s subject-matter jurisdiction. See Franchise Tax Bd. v. Constr. Laborers Vacation Trust, 463 U.S. 1, 8, 103 S.Ct. 2841, 77 L.Ed.2d 420 (1983). But this rule knows one “rare exception,” Mims v. Arrow Fin. Servs., LLC, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 740, 748 n. 8, 181 L.Ed.2d 881 (2012), and I believe this case falls within it. In my view the district court was without subject-matter jurisdiction and I would therefore…