Which statement describes complete diversity?

Which statement describes complete diversity?

• A. No plaintiff shares a state with any defendant.
• B. Every party resides in a different country.
• C. All defendants must be from the same state as the plaintiff.
• D. The court must have federal-question jurisdiction.

Answer: (A)

Complete diversity means that no plaintiff has citizenship in the same state as any defendant. In other words, every plaintiff’s state of citizenship must be different from every defendant’s state of citizenship. This is the requirement for diversity jurisdiction: if any plaintiff shares a state with a defendant, diversity is destroyed and federal jurisdiction based on diversity does not exist. So the statement that captures this idea—no plaintiff shares a state with any defendant—is the correct description. The other options describe things that are not the test for complete diversity: residing in different countries describes alienage, not interstate diversity; all defendants from the plaintiff’s state would destroy diversity; and federal-question jurisdiction is a separate basis for federal subject-matter jurisdiction altogether.

Complete diversity means that no plaintiff has citizenship in the same state as any defendant. In other words, every plaintiff’s state of citizenship must be different from every defendant’s state of citizenship. This is the requirement for diversity jurisdiction: if any plaintiff shares a state with a defendant, diversity is destroyed and federal jurisdiction based on diversity does not exist.

So the statement that captures this idea—no plaintiff shares a state with any defendant—is the correct description. The other options describe things that are not the test for complete diversity: residing in different countries describes alienage, not interstate diversity; all defendants from the plaintiff’s state would destroy diversity; and federal-question jurisdiction is a separate basis for federal subject-matter jurisdiction altogether.