8 canonical passages across 6 cases, quoted by 660 opinions in total. These passages cluster together because the same opinions keep quoting them side by side — they state parts of one doctrine. The anchor passage is from Gunn v. Minton.
| # | Case | Flag | Canonical passage | Citers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gunn v. Minton Anchor | green | “federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, possessing only that power authorized by constitution and statute.” | 239 |
| 2 | Bender v. Williamsport Area School District | green | “federal courts are not courts of general jurisdiction; they have only the power that is authorized by article iii of the constitution and the statutes enacted by congress pursuant thereto.” | 159 |
| 3 | Terry Wayne Sanders v. Clemco Industries, Ingersoll-Rand, Inc. | green | “the threshold requirement in every federal case is jurisdiction and we have admonished the district court to be attentive to a satisfaction of jurisdictional requirements in all cases” | 87 |
| 4 | Griffioen v. Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway Co. | green | “original jurisdiction over civil actions arising under the constitution, laws, or treaties of the united states.” | 51 |
| 5 | Williams v. Ragnone | green | “either that federal law creates the cause of action or that the plaintiff's right to relief necessarily depends on the resolution of a substantial question of federal law.” | 48 |
| 6 | Dave Thomas v. United Steelworkers Local 1938 | green | “under the well-pleaded complaint rule, a federal question must exist on the face of the plaintiff's properly pleaded complaint in order to establish federal question subject matter jurisdiction” | 40 |
| 7 | Bender v. Williamsport Area School District | green | “have only the power that is authorized by article iii of the constitution and the statutes enacted by congress pursuant thereto.” | 26 |
A red or yellow flag on a member means the underlying case has negative treatment — for those, check the case page before relying on the passage.