Supreme Court Affirms Applicability of Bar Against Appellate Review of Remand Orders in SLUSA Context

The Supreme Court also today issued an opinion (Kircher v. Putnam Funds Trust et al., No. 05–409 (Jun. 15, 2006)) ruling that the bar against appellate consideration of district court remands found in 28 U. S. C. §1447(d) applies to all remands based on the grounds specified in §1447(c), including lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Thus, the district court's remand of cases as improperly removed under SLUSA (The Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998) was not a decision that the circuit court was entitled to second-guess and reverse.

Justice Souter delivered the opinion of the Court in which all justices except Justice Scalia joined in full. Justice Scalia joined as to Parts I, III, and IV and filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.