Also known as: plain statement requirements · short and plain statement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A procedural obligation imposed on a removing defendant to include in the notice of removal a short and plain statement identifying the basis for federal subject-matter jurisdiction. The statement must supply enough detail for the court to confirm that removal is proper without requiring further clarification from the parties.
Phoebe Park sued Prime Logistics in state court after a delivery accident. Prime Logistics filed a notice of removal in federal district court that asserted only that the case was removable and attached solely the complaint. The court remanded the action because the notice supplied no explanation of diversity jurisdiction or the amount in controversy and omitted the summons and other served process.
Pablo Perez, a detainee, sued federal officials alleging unconstitutional treatment after September 11. The defendants filed a notice of removal containing only bare assertions that federal jurisdiction existed. The court remanded because the notice failed to supply the factual detail needed to satisfy the short and plain statement requirement under 28 U.S.C. § 1446(a).
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The notice must identify the specific basis for federal jurisdiction, such as diversity of citizenship with the required amount in controversy or the presence of a federal question. A bare assertion that the case is removable is insufficient because the court needs enough information to verify that jurisdiction exists.
Supporting sources
Yes. The statute requires attachment of all process, pleadings, and orders served on the removing defendant. Failure to include those documents renders the notice procedurally defective even if the statement of grounds is adequate.
Supporting sources
The requirement tracks the ordinary Rule 8 standard of a short and plain statement for removal notices and does not demand detailed factual allegations or prima facie showings unless a specific statute or rule imposes a higher threshold.
Supporting sources
…claim upon which relief can be granted. Pp. 5–23. 1. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), a complaint must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” The pleading standard Rule 8 announces does not require “detailed factual allegations,” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly , 550…