Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Company LLC v. Owens (2014)
- Docket
- 13-719
- Decided
- 2014-01-01
Summary
Question: Is a defendant seeking removal of a case to federal court required to provide evidence supporting federal jurisdiction in the notice of removal? Conclusion: No. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion for the 5-4 majority. The Court held that a defendant's notice of removal to federal court must only include a plausible allegation that the amount in controversy exceeds the federal jurisdictional threshold, not evidentiary proofs. Because the requirements for a notice of removal track those for a normal pleading, the defendant seeking removal should similarly be allowed to allege in good faith that the amount in controversy is sufficient. Evidence only becomes necessary in response to a plaintiff's contestation of the removal. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote a dissent in which he argued that the only issue properly before the Court was whether the appellate court abused its discretion. Because the majority opinion addressed the district court's analysis, it presumed the basis for a lower court's decision, which violates previously established standards of review. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Justice Elena Kagan, and Justice Clarence Thomas joined in the dissent. In his separate dissent, Justice Thomas wrote that the Court did not have the jurisdiction to review the appellate court's decision because the Court can only review "cases" that were before an appellate court. This case does not qualify for such review because it was never before the court seeking a remedy or redress for legal injury; instead, the appellate court denied the application for permission to appeal a remand order.