federal case

In the United States of America, courts with federal jurisdiction generally are for much more serious offenses than those whose cases are heard by local courts.

federal case (plural federal cases)

1. (informal, idiomatic) Any overexaggerated ordeal.

   So I didn't put the toilet seat down — you don't have to make a federal case out of it.

   • 2010, Zachary Klaas, Time Tourists, page 122:

     You think I'm some kind of codependent ditz overwhelmed by reality outside of Catholic school, and I'm not supposed to make a federal case out of it?

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see federal,‎ case.

• (something over-exaggerated): big deal, big thing, production, meal, song and dance

• make a mountain out of a molehill

• “federal case”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.