HR 4502
114th Congress
House
Law
Civil actions and liability
Constitution and constitutional amendments
Federal appellate courts
Jurisdiction and venue
State and local courts
State and local government operations
Pullman Act
Introduced: February 9, 2016
See on congress.gov
Everywhere this bill has been
3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 29, 2016
Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
Feb 9, 2016
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Feb 9, 2016
Introduced in House
Plain-English summary
Pullman Act
This bill amends the federal judicial code to allow federal district courts, when a civil action involves a challenge to an unsettled and ambiguous question of state law on federal constitutional grounds, to:
- stay the action, pending resolution of the question of state law, if its resolution could avoid the need to reach or materially change the federal constitutional issue and there are adequate means under state law to resolve the unsettled state law question; and
- certify the question to the appropriate court of that state.
Federal appeals courts shall have jurisdiction of appeals from federal district court interlocutory orders that refuse to stay such actions.
What's happening now
Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
Committees of jurisdiction
2