A

A court of competent jurisdiction is a court with the power to adjudicate the case before it. See Black’s Law Dictionary 431 (10th ed. 2014) (“[a] court that has the power and authority  to do a particular act; one recognized by law as possessing the right to adjudicate a controversy”). And a court’s subject-matter jurisdiction defines its power to hear cases. See Steel Co. v. Citizens for Better Environment, 523 U. S. 83, 89, 118 S. Ct. 1003, 140 L. Ed. 2d 210 (1998) (Subject-matter jurisdiction is “the courts’ statutory or constitutional power to adjudicate the case” (emphasis deleted)); Wachovia Bank, ...