Reading Room Document

Constitutional Issues Raised by Provisions Removing or Limiting Federal Court Jurisdiction in Abortion, School Prayer, Busing and Draft Registration Bills

This opinion examines whether Congress has the constitutional authority to remove or limit federal court jurisdiction over cases involving abortion, school prayer, busing, and registration for the draft. The opinion concludes that while Congress has substantial power under the constitution to limit lower federal court jurisdiction, there are limits to congressional power to remove Supreme Court jurisdiction due to the Supremacy Clause. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/olc/page/file/936101/download.

July 16, 1981