Amicus Curiae Brief — BP p.l.c., et al., Petitioners v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore

No. 19-1189

In The

Supreme Court of the United States

___________

BP P.L.C., ET AL.,

v.

Petitioners,

MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE,

___________

Respondent.

On Writ of Certiorari to the United States

Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

___________

BRIEF OF WASHINGTON LEGAL FOUNDATION AS

AMICUS CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS

___________

November 23, 2020

JOHN M. MASSLON II

Counsel of Record

CORY L. ANDREWS

WASHINGTON LEGAL

FOUNDATION

2009 Massachusetts Ave. NW

Washington, DC 20036

(202) 588-0302

jmasslon@wlf.org

QUESTION PRESENTED

Whether 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d) permits a court of

appeals to review any issue encompassed in a district

court’s order remanding a removed case to state court

if removal is premised in part on the federal-officer

removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442, or the civil-rights

removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1443.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

QUESTION PRESENTED ...................................... i

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................... v

INTRODUCTION AND

INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE ........................ 1

STATEMENT .......................................................... 2

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT................................. 3

ARGUMENT ........................................................... 5

THE HISTORY OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION

COMPELS A PLAIN-TEXT READING OF SECTION

1447(d)’S SECOND CLAUSE..................................... 5

A. The Founders Recognized The Need

For Federal Courts To Resolve

Important Cases. ..................................... 6

B. Congress’s Preference For Federal

Resolution Of Important Cases Was

Reinforced During And After The

Civil War. ................................................. 8

C. The Purpose Of The First Bar On

Appellate Review Of Remand Orders

Differed From The Rationale For

Section 1447(d)’s General Rule. ............ 11

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

(continued)

D. Congress Has Explicitly Expanded

Appellate Review of Remand Orders .... 17

CONCLUSION ...................................................... 22

v

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Page(s)

Cases

Bd. of Cty. Commissioners of Boulder

Cty. v. Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc.,

965 F.3d 792 (10th Cir. 2020)..............................15

Bushnell v. Kennedy,

76 U.S. 387 (1869) ..................................................7

Campbell-McCormick, Inc. v. Oliver,

874 F.3d 390 (4th Cir. 2017)................................16

Chicago & A.R. Co. v. Wiswall,

90 U.S. 507 (1874) ..........................................10, 11

Dart Cherokee Basin Operating

Co., LLC v. Owens,

574 U.S. 81 (2014) ..................................................1

Davis v. Carl Cannon

Chevrolet-Olds, Inc.,

182. F.3d 792 (11th Cir. 1999).............................19

Ex parte Pennsylvania Co.,

137 U.S. 451 (1890) ..............................................12

Georgia v. Rachel,

384 U.S. 780 (1966) ..............................................18

Hamdan v. Rumsfeld,

548 U.S. 557 (2006) ................................................5

In re Matthew Addy Steamship &

Commerce Corp.,

256 U.S. 417 (1921) ..............................................14

Latiolais v. Huntington Ingalls, Inc.,

951 F.3d 286 (5th Cir. 2020)..................................1

vi

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

(continued)

Page(s)

Little York Gold Washing

& Water Co. v. Keyes,

96 U.S. 199 (1877) ................................................10

Morgan v. Gay,

471 F.3d 469 (3d Cir. 2006) .................................19

Osborn v. Haley,

549 U.S. 225 (2007) .............................................16

Powerex Corp. v. Reliant

Energy Servs., Inc.,

551 U.S. 224 (2007) ..............................................15

Quackenbush v. Allstate Ins. Co.,

517 U.S. 706 (1996) ........................................10, 16

Rachel v. Georgia,

342 F.2d 336 (5th Cir. 1965)................................18

Richardson v. Kane,

No. 13-8046 (3d Cir. July 30, 2015) ....................20

Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t,

523 U.S. 83 (1998) ..................................................5

Tennessee v. Union & Planters’ Bank,

152 U.S. 454 (1894) ..............................................12

Thermtron Prods., Inc. v.

Hermansdorfer,

423 U.S. 336 (1976) ........................................10, 15

Things Remembered, Inc. v. Petrarca,

516 U.S. 124 (1995) ..............................................16

Willingham v. Morgan,

395 U.S. 402 (1969) ................................................7

vii

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

(continued)

Page(s)

Constitutional Provision

U.S. Const. art. III, §2 cl. 1 .........................................5

Statutes

28 U.S.C. § 1331 ..........................................................2

28 U.S.C. § 1333 ..........................................................2

28 U.S.C. § 1334 ..........................................................2

28 U.S.C. § 1441 ..........................................................2

28 U.S.C. § 1442 ...................................... 2, 3, 4, 16, 20

28 U.S.C. § 1443 ....................................................8, 17

28 U.S.C. § 1447 ........ 3, 5, 8, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20

28 U.S.C. § 1452 ..........................................................2

28 U.S.C. § 1453 ..................................................19, 20

Act of Feb. 4, 1815, ch. 31, 3 Stat. 195 .......................7

Act of July 27, 1866,

ch. 288, 14 Stat. 306 ..............................................8

Act of June 25, 1948,

ch. 646, 62 Stat. 869 ............................................14

Act of Mar. 2, 1867,

ch. 196, 14 Stat. 558 ..............................................9

Act of Mar. 3, 1863, ch. 81, 12 Stat. 755 ....................8

Act of Mar. 3, 1887,

ch. 373, 24 Stat. 552 ......................................11, 12

Act of Mar. 8, 1802, ch. 8, 2 Stat. 132 ........................9

Act of May 24, 1949, ch. 139, 63 Stat. 89 .................14

viii

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

(continued)

Page(s)

Civil Rights Act of 1866,

ch. 31, 14 Stat. 27 ..................................................8

Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L.

No. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241 ......................................17

Evarts Act, ch. 517, 26 Stat. 826 (1891) ...................12

Judicial Code of 1911,

ch. 231, 36 Stat. 1084 ..........................................14

Judiciary Act of 1789, ch. 20, 1 Stat. 73 ...........6, 7, 12

Judiciary Act of 1801, ch. 4, 2 Stat. 89 .......................9

Judiciary Act of 1875,

ch. 137, 18 Stat. 470 .................................. 9, 10, 11

Removal Clarification Act of 2011,

Pub. L. No. 112-51, 125 Stat. 545 .......................20

Rule

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f) .................19, 20

Other Authorities

110 Cong. Rec. 2,770 (1964) ................................17, 18

110 Cong. Rec. 6,564 (1964) ......................................18

Erwin Chemerinsky, Federal

Jurisdiction (4th ed. 2003).....................................5

The Federalist No. 81

(Alexander Hamilton) ............................................6

The Federalist No. 82

(Alexander Hamilton) ............................................6

ix

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

(continued)

Page(s)

Felix Frankfurter & James Landis, The

Business of the Supreme Court,

38 Harv. L. Rev. 1005 (1925) ..................... 6, 10, 13

H.R. Rep. No. 112-17, as reprinted in

2011 U.S.C.C.A.N. 420 ........................................20

Harold Hyman, A More

Perfect Union (1973) ............................................10

Jeremy Hodges et al., Climate Change

Warriors' Latest Weapon of Choice is

Litigation, Bloomberg

(May 24, 2018) .......................................................2

Michael G. Collins, The Unhappy

History of Federal Question

Removal,

71 Iowa L. Rev. 717 (1986) ..................................10

Rhonda Wasserman, Rethinking Review

of Remands: Proposed Amendments

to the Federal Removal Statute,

43 Emory L.J. 83 (1994) ......................................13

S. Rep. No. 109-14, as reprinted in

2005 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3 ............................................19

Stanley Kutler, Judicial Power and

Reconstruction Politics (1968) .............................10

William Wiecek, The Reconstruction of

Federal Judicial Power, 1863-1875,

13 Am. J. Legal Hist. 333 (1969) .........................10

1

INTRODUCTION AND

INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE1

Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) is a

public-interest law firm and policy center with

supporters nationwide. WLF promotes free

enterprise, individual rights, limited government,

and the rule of law. So WLF has regularly appeared

as amicus curiae before this and other federal courts

in important removal-jurisdiction cases. E.g., Dart

Cherokee Basin Operating Co., LLC v. Owens, 574

U.S. 81 (2014); Latiolais v. Huntington Ingalls, Inc.,

951 F.3d 286 (5th Cir. 2020) (en banc).

This case raises an important removaljurisdiction question. By holding that its appellate

jurisdiction was limited to the federal-officer removal

issue, the Fourth Circuit avoided addressing whether

climate-change litigation presents a federal question.

This abdication of its responsibility to review the

District Court’s order denied Petitioners their right to

have this federal-law question decided by a federal

judge with Article III protections. Rather, state court

judges amenable to local pressures will decide that

question if this Court affirms. Such a decision would

go against the constitutional design that has served

us well for over 230 years.

1 No party’s counsel authored any part of this brief. No

person or entity, other than Washington Legal Foundation and

its counsel, helped pay for the brief’s preparation or submission.

All parties filed blanket consents for the filing of amicus curiae

briefs.

2

STATEMENT

In 2017, many local and state governments

sued energy companies in state court. See Jeremy

Hodges et al., Climate Change Warriors’ Latest

Weapon of Choice is Litigation, Bloomberg (May 24,

2018), https://bloom.bg/3fczCz8. Those suits alleged

that the defendant energy companies contributed to

global warming by extracting, producing, and selling

fossil fuels. See, e.g., id. Although these energy

companies provided vast benefits to these

governments and their citizens, the governments

thought it was time to pounce.

Seeing this flood of lawsuits, in 2018

Respondent sued Petitioners in Maryland state court.

(Pet. App. 2a.) Respondent claims that Petitioners

“substantially contributed to climate change by

producing, promoting, and (misleadingly) marketing

fossil fuel products long after learning the dangers

associated with them.” (Id. at 3a; see generally J.A. 23182.)

Petitioners removed this case to the District of

Maryland because (1) they acted at the direction of

federal officers, see 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a); (2) removal

was proper under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1441(a)

because (i) Respondent’s claims arise under federal

common law and (ii) the federal interest at stake in

the litigation is sufficient for federal-question

jurisdiction; (3) Respondent’s claims are completely

preempted by federal law; (4) Respondent’s claims

relate to Bankruptcy cases, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334(b),

1452(a); and (5) Respondent’s claims sound in

admiralty, 28 U.S.C. § 1333(1). (J.A. 187-241.)

3

Respondent moved to remand the case to state

court, arguing that the District Court lacked subjectmatter jurisdiction over the claims. Finding that

removal was improper, the District Court granted the

motion. (Pet. App. 31a-81a.) Maintaining that

removal was appropriate for the reasons outlined

above, Petitioners appealed that decision to the

Fourth Circuit. See generally Brief for Appellants,

Mayor & City Council of Baltimore v. BP P.L.C., 952

F.3d 452 (4th Cir. 2020) (No. 19-1644), 2019 WL

3491806.

The Fourth Circuit held that removal was

improper under Section 1442. (Pet. App. 11a-30a.)

But it declined to address Petitioners’ other grounds

for removal. According to the Fourth Circuit, 28

U.S.C. § 1447(d) permitted review of only the federalofficer removal claim. (Pet. App. 6a-10a.) Relying on

its old, inapposite precedent—rather than this

Court’s more recent precedent—the Fourth Circuit

held that it lacked appellate jurisdiction over

Petitioners’ remaining arguments. (See id.) It

therefore did not address the merits of those

arguments. This Court granted certiorari to resolve

the circuit split on this important issue.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

A. Since our nation’s founding, Congress has

consistently recognized the importance of having

federal courts hear important federal cases. The

Founders understood the problems posed by having

politically vulnerable state judges decide questions of

national importance. So when establishing the lower

federal courts in 1789, they provided both for removal

of cases to federal court and for appellate review of

4

orders remanding cases to state courts. Over the past

230 years, giving federal judges this authority has

served our nation well.

B. Congress’s expansion of district courts’

statutory jurisdiction accelerated around the Civil

War. The biggest crisis our nation faced confirmed the

Founders’ fears about having state court judges

decide important cases. Yet the resulting flood in

cases overwhelmed the federal judiciary in short

order. So Congress dammed the flood gates by barring

appeals of remand orders.

C. But changes to the federal judiciary in the

late-19th century reveal why today’s bar on appellate

review of remand orders differs from that of the

original bar. Congress made a policy choice that

avoiding delayed merits adjudication sometimes

outweighs the benefits of having federal courts decide

cases.

This rationale for barring appellate review of

some remand orders does not apply here. Respondent

and the Fourth Circuit concede that courts of appeals

can decide whether removal was proper under Section

1442 or 1443. Adding issues will not delay merits

adjudication.

Because the purpose for the appellate-review

bar does not apply to remand orders addressing

several grounds for removal, this Court should

broadly read Section 1447(d)’s second clause. That

reading furthers Congress’s purpose of ensuring

federal judges—not state court judges influenced by

local politics—decide important federal cases.

5

D. This broad reading also tracks with the

unmistakable trend of the Court and Congress of

expanding courts of appeals’ ability to review remand

orders. Although Section 1447(d) generally prohibits

such review, there are several exceptions to this

general rule. This history suggests Congress wants a

plain-text reading of Section 1447(d)’s second clause.

ARGUMENT

THE HISTORY OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION COMPELS

A PLAIN-TEXT READING OF SECTION 1447(d)’S

SECOND CLAUSE.

The Constitution grants federal courts

jurisdiction over nine types of cases or controversies.

U.S. Const. art. III, §2 cl. 1; see Erwin Chemerinsky,

Federal Jurisdiction, 260 (4th ed. 2003). To exercise

federal jurisdiction, district courts must have both

constitutional and statutory jurisdiction. See Steel Co.

v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 523 U.S. 83, 101 (1998).

When both prerequisites are satisfied, “federal

courts” have a “general duty to exercise the

jurisdiction that is conferred upon them.” Hamdan v.

Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557, 589 (2006) (quotation

omitted). The history of federal jurisdiction shows

that Congress has consistently expanded statutory

jurisdiction. Allowing district courts to remand

properly removed cases to state courts without

appellate review invites abdication of this core

responsibility.

6

A. The Founders Recognized The Need

For Federal Courts To Resolve

Important Cases.

Even before ratification, the Founders

understood the importance of allowing federal

judges—who enjoy life tenure and a secure salary—to

hear certain cases. Alexander Hamilton explained

that “State judges, holding their offices during

pleasure, or from year to year, will be too little

independent to be relied upon for an inflexible

execution of the national laws.” The Federalist No. 81,

547 (Alexander Hamilton) (Jacob Cooke ed. 1961).

And “some of the most important and avowed

purposes of the proposed government” would

disappear if “the judiciary authority of the Union may

be eluded at the pleasure of every plaintiff or

prosecutor.” The Federalist No. 82, 556 (Alexander

Hamilton) (Jacob Cooke ed. 1961); see Felix

Frankfurter & James Landis, The Business of the

Supreme Court, 38 Harv. L. Rev. 1005, 1014 (1925)

(Federal jurisdiction is necessary to protect “against

the obstructions and prejudices of local authorities”).

The Constitution is silent about removing cases

from state court to federal court. Yet removal is not a

new procedure: Congress provided for removal when

it created the inferior federal courts. Judiciary Act of

1789, ch. 20, § 12, 1 Stat. 73, 79. Like today’s removal

statute, once a defendant removed a case to federal

court the state court could “proceed no further in the

cause.” Id.

Some States, however, soon began interfering

with federal officers. For example, New England

States interfered with enforcement of customs laws

7

during the War of 1812. See Willingham v. Morgan,

395 U.S. 402, 405 (1969). Federal officers could not

remove the resulting lawsuits to federal court because

removal was permitted only in diversity cases. See

Judiciary Act of 1789, ch. 20, § 12, 1 Stat. at 79. So

Congress provided for federal-officer removal starting

in 1815. Act of Feb. 4, 1815, ch. 31, § 8, 3 Stat. 195,

198-99. That first federal-officer removal statute

expired when the war ended. Yet diversity removal

remained.

For the next 60 years, the Court assumed that

it could review lower court orders remanding cases to

state court. See, e.g., Bushnell v. Kennedy, 76 U.S.

387, 394 (1869). The lack of judicial debate on the

appealability of these orders suggests that the

Founders thought it obvious that appellate courts

should review remand orders.

This founding-era history shows that the

Constitution was designed to give federal courts

jurisdiction over disputes implicating federal

interests. This case implicates such an important

federal interest—claims about climate change.

Broadly reading the exception to the general bar on

appellate review of remand orders reflects our

Founders’ understanding of Article III. In contrast,

the Fourth Circuit’s ruling conflicts with Article III’s

purpose.

8

B. Congress’s Preference For Federal

Resolution Of Important Cases Was

Reinforced During And After The

Civil War.

1. For the next five decades, removal was once

again generally limited to diversity actions. But

federal jurisdiction underwent a major overhaul

during and after the Civil War. In 1863, Congress

allowed removal of cases to federal court when they

arose from actions authorized by the Executive or

Legislative Branch. See Act of Mar. 3, 1863, ch. 81,

§ 5, 12 Stat. 755, 756. This expansion of removal

jurisdiction, during the most trying time in our

nation’s history, again showed the importance of

having federal courts resolve cases of national

importance.

After the Civil War, Congress again expanded

removal jurisdiction so that defendants could remove

civil-rights cases to federal court. See Civil Rights Act

of 1866, ch. 31, § 3, 14 Stat. 27, 27. This statute was

the predecessor to 28 U.S.C. § 1443. The two statutes

mentioned in Section 1447(d) thus have long

histories. This Court should consider this history of

civil-rights and federal-officer removal statutes when

interpreting Section 1447(d).

And like the Framers at the Constitutional

Convention, post-Civil War legislators recognized the

risk of having state court judges decide important

cases: Congress provided for removal of actions

absent complete diversity when the plaintiff joined a

non-diverse defendant to defeat federal jurisdiction.

Act of July 27, 1866, ch. 288, 14 Stat. 306, 306-07.

9

Congress soon expanded the ability to remove

cases to federal court when a nonresident plaintiff or

defendant believed that, because of “prejudice or local

influence,” he could not obtain “justice in such State

court.” Act of Mar. 2, 1867, ch. 196, 14 Stat. 558, 559.

This shows that Congress has repeatedly

recognized the risk of allowing state court judges to

decide cases of national import. It has thus conferred

statutory jurisdiction on lower federal courts to hear

these cases and permitted removal of such cases to

federal court.

2. Congress greatly expanded the statutory

jurisdiction of federal courts during Reconstruction.

For the first time in over 170 years, it gave lower

courts subject-matter jurisdiction over cases arising

under the laws of the United States. See Judiciary Act

of 1875, ch. 137, § 1, 18 Stat. 470, 470; cf. Judiciary

Act of 1801, ch. 4, § 11, 2 Stat. 89, 92 (conferring that

subject-matter jurisdiction); Act of Mar. 8, 1802, ch. 8,

§ 1, 2 Stat. 132, 132 (revoking it).

At the same time, Congress expanded removal

jurisdiction: It provided that any party could remove

a case to federal court when the case arose “under the

Constitution or laws of the United States, or treaties.”

Judiciary Act of 1875, ch. 137, § 2, 18 Stat. at 470-71.

Congress realized, however, that this great expansion

of federal jurisdiction could overburden federal

courts. So if a court determined that a removed case

did “not really and substantially involve a dispute or

controversy properly within the federal court’s

jurisdiction” it should dismiss the action or remand it

to state court. Id. § 5, 18 Stat. at 472.

10

The Court has recognized that the Judiciary

Act of 1875 was groundbreaking: It “made some

radical changes in the law regulating removals.”

Little York Gold Washing & Water Co. v. Keyes, 96

U.S. 199, 204 (1877). The Court similarly recognized

that the new removal statute raised “[i]mportant

questions of practice” that “would not be easy” to

resolve. Id.

This expansive “removal legislation * * *

provide[d] a congenial forum to enforce and give

meaning to newly enacted federal legislation and the

Civil War Amendments” and ensured “a federal

haven at the trial level for burgeoning industrial,

financial, and other ‘entrepreneurial’ interests.”

Michael G. Collins, The Unhappy History of Federal

Question Removal, 71 Iowa L. Rev. 717, 727 (1986)

(citing Frankfurter & Landis, 39 Harv. L. Rev. at 6465 & n.31, 91-93; Harold Hyman, A More Perfect

Union, 536-40 (1973); Stanley Kutler, Judicial Power

and Reconstruction Politics, 157-58 (1968); William

Wiecek, The Reconstruction of Federal Judicial

Power, 1863-1875, 13 Am. J. Legal Hist. 333, 341

(1969)).

The Judiciary Act of 1875 also changed how

parties could seek appellate review of remand orders.

In the years prior, “orders of remand were not

reviewable by appeal or writ of error for want of a

final judgment.” Thermtron Prods., Inc. v.

Hermansdorfer, 423 U.S. 336, 346 (1976) (citing

Chicago & A.R. Co. v. Wiswall, 90 U.S. 507 (1874)),

abrogated on other grounds, Quackenbush v. Allstate

Ins. Co., 517 U.S. 706 (1996).

11

But parties could still seek judicial review of

remand orders through a writ of mandamus from the

Supreme Court. See Chicago & A.R., 90 U.S. at 508

(“The remedy in such a case is by mandamus to

compel action, and not by writ of error to review what

has been done.” (citations omitted)).

This short-lived process changed in 1875 when

Congress provided that parties could appeal remand

orders to the Supreme Court. Judiciary Act of 1875,

ch. 137, § 5, 18 Stat. at 472. This statutory

jurisdiction to review remand orders, however, did not

last long.

C. The Purpose Of The First Bar On

Appellate Review Of Remand Orders

Differed From The Rationale For

Section 1447(d)’s General Rule.

1. The flood of cases filed in—and removed to—

federal court soon overwhelmed the judiciary. So

Congress restricted federal-removal jurisdiction in

1887. This contraction of federal-removal jurisdiction

used different tactics for different levels of the

judiciary. First, the 1887 Act provided that only

defendants could remove “any suit of a civil nature, at

law or in equity, arising under the Constitution or

laws of the United States.” Act of Mar. 3, 1887, ch.

373, § 2, 24 Stat. 552, 553.

This affected federal-removal jurisdiction in

two ways. The statute’s plain language prohibited

plaintiffs from removing cases to federal court, which

the Judiciary Act of 1875 permitted. Relatedly, the

Court interpreted this provision as forbidding

removals when the only basis for removal was a

12

federal-law defense. Tennessee v. Union & Planters’

Bank, 152 U.S. 454, 462 (1894).

The 1887 Act also marked the first time that

Congress restricted appellate review of remand

orders. Under the statute, when a circuit court

determined “that the cause was improperly removed”

it had to “remand[]” the case “to the State court from

whence it came” and “no appeal or writ of error from

the decision of the circuit court so remanding such

case [was] allowed.” Act of Mar. 3, 1887, ch. 373, § 2,

24 Stat. at 553.

Unsurprisingly, the Court had to decide

whether parties could use the pre-1875 practice of

petitioning for a writ of mandamus after a remand

order. The answer was resounding: No. See Ex parte

Pennsylvania Co., 137 U.S. 451, 454 (1890) (Congress

intended “to make” remand orders “final and

conclusive. * * * The abrogation of the writ of error

and appeal would have had little effect in putting an

end to the question of removal, if the writ of

mandamus could still have been sued out in this

court”).

This restriction on appellate review of remand

orders, however, must be seen in context. In 1887,

there were no courts of appeals reviewing decisions of

the lower federal courts. Cf. Evarts Act, ch. 517, § 2,

26 Stat. 826, 826-27 (1891) (creating courts of

appeals). Rather, the Supreme Court heard all

appeals from circuit courts. Judiciary Act of 1789, ch.

20, §§ 13, 22, 1 Stat. at 81, 84. Although this may have

been manageable in our country’s early days, 100

years later the growth of America meant that the

13

Supreme Court was overrun with appeals in both

criminal and civil cases.

Given this flood of cases, “[e]very one agreed

that the labors of the Justices must be lightened.”

Frankfurter & Landis, 39 Harv. L. Rev. at 49. And

this first bar on appellate review of remand orders

“provided a ‘quick fix’ for a serious and difficult

problem” of an overworked Supreme Court. Rhonda

Wasserman, Rethinking Review of Remands:

Proposed Amendments to the Federal Removal

Statute, 43 Emory L.J. 83, 101 (1994).

The graph below2 shows the sharp rise in

merits cases decided by the Supreme Court during

Reconstruction. It also shows how the bar on appeals

of remand orders in 1887 and the creation of the

courts of appeals in 1891 acted as a pressure valve.

There is thus no doubt about Congress’s

objective in 1887 or that it achieved that goal.

Because the situation today differs in meaningful

Dr. Adam Feldman created the graph, which is

available at https://bit.ly/3prmxGT.

2

14

ways, this Court should broadly interpret the

exception to Section 1447(d)’s general bar on

appellate review of remand orders.

2. Congress soon overhauled the entire federal

judiciary. See generally Judicial Code of 1911, ch. 231,

36 Stat. 1084. This reorganization saw the

elimination of the circuit courts and established the

current three-level judiciary we know well.

The new legislation retained the Judiciary Act

of 1887’s bar on appellate review of remand orders.

See Judicial Code of 1911, ch. 231, § 28, 36 Stat. at

1095 (If a “district court” held “that the cause was

improperly removed” it had to “remand[ it] to the

State court from whence it came” and appellate courts

could not hear an “appeal or writ of error from the

decision.”). Although the Judicial Code of 1911 closely

mirrored the Judiciary Act of 1887, parties sought to

use the pre-1875 practice of writs of mandamus to

obtain appellate review of remand orders. The Court

once again rejected this circuitous path to review. See

In re Matthew Addy Steamship & Commerce Corp.,

256 U.S. 417, 420 (1921).

In 1948, Congress enacted Section 1447. Act of

June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 869, 939. But it forgot

to include the bar on appellate review of remand

orders. See id. Congress fixed that the next year when

it added subsection (d) to the statute. Act of May 24,

1949, ch. 139, § 84, 63 Stat. 89, 102.

The purpose of Section 1447(d)’s bar on

appellate review of remand orders substantially

differs from the reasons that the Judiciary Act of 1887

barred such review. The current bar on appellate

15

review reflects a deliberate “policy” choice by

“Congress” to not “interrupt[ ] the litigation of the

merits of a removed cause by prolonged litigation of

questions of jurisdiction of the district court to which

the cause is removed.” Powerex Corp. v. Reliant

Energy Servs., Inc., 551 U.S. 224, 238 (2007)

(quotation omitted); Bd. of Cty. Commissioners of

Boulder Cty. v. Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc., 965 F.3d

792, 816 (10th Cir. 2020) (citations omitted).

3. The difference in purpose between the

Judiciary Act of 1887 and Section 1447(d) explains

why the Court has read Section 1447(d) narrowly: It

cuts against Congress’s purpose in allowing

defendants to remove cases to federal court. This

Court should do the same here.

The trend began in Thermtron Products. There,

the Court read its prior decisions on reviewing

remand orders through mandamus actions very

narrowly. Although Matthew Addy Steamship &

Commerce and Pennsylvania Company held that the

Supreme Court could not review remand orders in

mandamus proceedings, the Court read those

decisions to apply only when district courts remand

cases because they were removed “improvidently and

without jurisdiction.” Thermtron Prods., 423 U.S. at

343.

After narrowly construing Addy Steamship &

Commerce and Pennsylvania Company, the Court

held that the pre-1875 practice of reviewing remand

orders in mandamus proceedings was allowed if the

district court remanded the case for an improper

purpose such as an overcrowded docket. Thermtron

Prods., 423 U.S. at 353. But this was just the

16

beginning of the narrowing construction of Section

1447(d)’s bar to appellate review of remand orders.

Two decades later, the Court re-affirmed that

Section “1447(d) must be read in pari materia with

[Section] 1447(c), so that only remands based on

grounds specified in [Section] 1447(c) are immune

from review under [Section] 1447(d).” Things

Remembered, Inc. v. Petrarca, 516 U.S. 124, 127

(1995) (citation omitted). Yet later that same term,

the Court clarified how it could review such orders.

The Court held that a remand order that falls

outside the scope of Section 1447(c) is amenable to

immediate appellate review. Quackenbush, 517 U.S.

at 714. This meant that appellate courts could not

avoid appellate review by relying on the

extraordinary nature of a writ of mandamus. Courts

of appeals thus regularly inquire into whether a

remand order is an appealable order. See, e.g.,

Campbell-McCormick, Inc. v. Oliver, 874 F.3d 390,

396 (4th Cir. 2017).

Because “[f]ew statutes read more clearly than

28 U.S.C. § 1447(d),” Osborn v. Haley, 549 U.S. 225,

262 (2007) (Scalia, J., dissenting), that language

should be given its plain-text meaning. An atextual

interpretation of Section 1447(d) would track the

rationale for the similar bar in the Judiciary Act of

1887. But it would not match the purpose of Section

1447(d)—ensuring that appeals of remand orders do

not delay merits adjudication.

The Fourth Circuit held—and Respondent

concedes—that courts of appeals have jurisdiction to

decide whether removal was proper under Section

17

1442 or 1443. Neither the Fourth Circuit nor

Respondent showed that a court of appeals’s

addressing all the grounds for remand significantly

delays adjudication of the appeal. This suggests the

only way to advance Congress’s purpose is to allow

full review of the District Court’s remand order here.

D. Congress Has Explicitly Expanded

Appellate Review Of Remand Orders.

As described above, the Court has slowly

allowed appellate review of remand orders even

without congressional enactment. But three times

over the past 60 years Congress has explicitly

permitted private parties to appeal remand orders.

Congress has not, however, further restricted

appellate jurisdiction over remand orders.

1. This trend began with the Civil Rights Act of

1964. Fearing that Southern officials could avoid

liability for civil rights violations, Congress amended

Section 1447(d) so that courts of appeals could review

remand orders when removed under Section 1443.

Pub. L. No. 88-352, § 901, 78 Stat. 241, 266.

This addition to Section 1447(d) was an

important part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Representative Kastenmeier explained that cases

remanding civil rights suits to state courts needed

appellate review. 110 Cong. Rec. 2,770 (1964).

Opponents of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 argued that

permitting such review would cause delay. But

Representative Kastenmeier insisted that allowing

defendants to appeal remand orders would not be

“dilatory” or “contribute to dilatory tactics.” Id. In

other words, the right to appeal was not “an

18

extraordinary remedy.” Id. Rather, it was meant to

implement Congress’s intent that federal judges

review these cases. See id.

The upper chamber echoed the importance of

appellate review: Senator Kuchel noted that “[s]ome

district judges in the South have referred civil rights

cases back to unfriendly State courts.” 110 Cong. Rec.

6,564. This frustrated Congress’s purpose in allowing

for removal in those cases. So appellate review—

including by the Supreme Court—was necessary.

The Court soon decided a case showing why

appellate review was important. When Georgia

charged 20 African-Americans after they sought

service in a restaurant, they removed the case to

federal court. See Rachel v. Georgia, 342 F.2d 336, 341

(5th Cir. 1965). A district court sua sponte remanded

the case to state court. Exercising its renewed

jurisdiction to review such orders, the Court held that

it had jurisdiction to hear the appeal and that

removal was proper. See generally Georgia v. Rachel,

384 U.S. 780 (1966). This history shows that Congress

expanded the power of appellate courts to review

remand orders to further the purpose of remand—

ensuring federal judges decide important cases.

Interpreting Section 1447(d) to allow for

appellate review of the entire remand order

accomplishes both goals. It ensures that cases like

these—which are of national importance—are

decided by federal judges. It also does not delay merits

adjudication because the courts of appeals are

reviewing the remand orders.

19

2. Congress did not give private parties the

right to appeal more remand orders until 2005, when

Congress passed the Class Action Fairness Act

(CAFA). Now courts of appeals may allow appeals

from cases removed to federal court under CAFA. 28

U.S.C. § 1453(c)(1).

The purpose underlying CAFA’s review

provision shares similarities with the Civil Rights Act

of 1964. First, Congress wanted to avoid delayed

merits adjudication. See S. Rep. No. 109-14, 49, as

reprinted in 2005 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3, 46 (Congress

wanted to provide appellate review of remand orders

in CAFA cases “without unduly delaying the litigation

of class actions”).

Second, Congress wanted to provide “the

reassurance of fairness and competence that a federal

court can supply to an out-of-state defendant facing

suit in state court.” S. Rep. No. 109-14 at 5, 2005

U.S.C.C.A.N. at 6 (quoting Davis v. Carl Cannon

Chevrolet-Olds, Inc., 182. F.3d 792, 797 (11th Cir.

1999)). Congress believed that the federal courts were

“the proper forum” for these lawsuits. Id.

Again, Congress thought that the best way to

achieve these two goals was to provide for appellate

review of remand orders. And the delay caused by an

appeal in a CAFA-remand case dwarfs the delay

caused when a court of appeals considers more issues

in a single appeal. Although a court of appeals must

decide CAFA appeals within 60 days, 28 U.S.C.

§ 1453(b)(2), the clock does not start until the court of

appeals grants a petition under Federal Rule of Civil

Procedure 23(f). Morgan v. Gay, 471 F.3d 469, 472 (3d

Cir. 2006). In some circuits, this can take many

20

months or years. See Richardson v. Kane, No. 138046 (3d Cir. July 30, 2015) (granting Rule 23(f)

petition 828 days after petition was filed). Broadly

interpreting Section 1447(d)’s exception to the bar on

appellate review thus reflects Congress’s intent in

passing Section 1453(c)(1).

3. Congress waited only six years to again

expand appellate review of remand orders. In 2011,

Congress granted the courts of appeals jurisdiction to

hear appeals from remand orders when the removal

rests on Section 1442. Removal Clarification Act of

2011, Pub. L. No. 112-51, § 2(d), 125 Stat. 545, 546.

The reason for this expansion in appellate

review of remand orders matched the two enactments

discussed above. Congress again reiterated that

federal officers “should not be forced to answer for

conduct asserted within their Federal duties in a state

forum that invites ‘local interests or prejudice’ to color

outcomes.” H.R. Rep. No. 112-17, 3, as reprinted in

2011 U.S.C.C.A.N. 420, 422.

Congress concluded that this goal was being

frustrated because courts of appeals could not review

improperly remanded cases. See H.R. Rep. No. 112-17

at 4, 2011 U.S.C.C.A.N. at 423. So every time

Congress has allowed private parties to appeal

remand orders it has manifest its preference that

neutral federal judges decide cases of special federal

interest—like this one. And Congress has decided

that the best way to solve these problems is to allow

for appellate review of remand orders.

Finally, nothing in these recent enactments

expanding the scope of appellate review of remand

21

orders suggests that Congress wants these provisions

narrowly interpreted. Rather, the history shows that

Congress wants federal courts to decide these cases

even if that sometimes includes having appellate

review of remand orders.

*

*

*

From the time the Framers drafted the

Constitution in Philadelphia to today, history shows

that having federal courts decide important federal

questions is the chief aim of Article III. Although the

scope of appellate review of remand orders has ebbed

and flowed over the years, Congress has conferred

statutory jurisdiction over such appeals whenever the

courts of appeals can quickly render a decision. The

Fourth Circuit therefore erred by not considering all

Petitioners’ grounds for removal.

22

CONCLUSION

This Court should reverse the Fourth Circuit’s

judgment or, in the alternative, vacate and remand

for resolution of Petitioners’ other arguments for why

removal was proper.

Respectfully submitted,

JOHN M. MASSLON II

Counsel of Record

CORY L. ANDREWS

WASHINGTON LEGAL FOUNDATION

2009 Massachusetts Ave. NW

Washington, DC 20036

(202) 588-0302

jmasslon@wlf.org

November 23, 2020