federal case


Also found in: Idioms.

federal case

n.
1. Law A lawsuit that falls under the jurisdiction of a federal court.
2. Informal A major issue that has evolved from a minor problem: made a federal case out of our tardiness.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fed′eral case′


n.
1. a matter that falls within the jurisdiction of a federal court.
2. make a federal case of or out of, Informal. to exaggerate the importance of.
[1950–55]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
That assertion comes in a federal case that alleges the powerful Southwest Side Democrat planted two "sham" candidates on the ballot, the central complaint of a lawsuit stretching into its third year.
The judge in the federal case said that question belongs in state court, not federal court, and sent that part of the case back to Bucks County Court.
MacDonald asserted a variety of constitutional and state-law violations in the federal case, but none was upheld.
Manafort is also due to be sentenced on March 13 in a parallel federal case in Washington.He pleaded guilty last year to a conspiracy against the United States for conduct that ranged from money laundering to unregistered lobbying and admitted to witnessing tampering as well.
Bredar, chief judge for the District of Maryland, ordered the federal case be reopened as of Aug.
Corley initially granted a motion to stay in both the Griggs and Reid cases because of an ongoing federal case in which many of the defendants overlap.
If this becomes a special case or federal case, then it becomes serious."
The federal judge seemed to be frustrated with Munoz in his ruling, citing his "refusal to cooperate in the discovery process" as a reason for delays in the federal case.
Co-defendants in Johns' federal case have drawn sentences ranging from probation to 65 months in federal prison.
It was not immediately clear Monday if any of the children named as victims in the federal case are the same youngsters involved in the case that resulted in Johnson serving prison time in Cambodia.
Shafighi was accused in the federal case of lying that he was not a fugitive in a 2007 passport renewal application.
Dylann Roof, who killed nine people in a June 2015 massacre at a Charleston church, told the judge presiding over his federal case Wednesday that he still planned to represent himself, and didn't plan on bringing any evidence or witnesses to the table for his Jan.

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