Standage Ventures, Inc., an Arizona Corporation v. State of Arizona and County of Pinal

Appellants filed this action against the State of Arizona in a court of that state. Arizona removed it to the United States District Court under 28 U.S.C. § 1441 (b) on the ground that the action “arises under the . . . laws . of the United States.” 28 U. S.C. § 1331(a). The district court denied appellants’ motion to remand. The case was tried, and Arizona prevailed on the merits. Appellants contend that the action was not within the jurisdiction of the district court. We agree.

To establish jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (a), it must appear from the face of the complaint, “affirmatively and distinctly” and not merely “argumentatively,” that the suit “really and substantially involves a dispute or controversy respecting the validity, construction, or effect of [a law of the United States], upon the determination of which the result depends.” Shulthis v. McDougal, 225 U.S. 561, 569 , 32 S.Ct. 704, 706 , 56 L.Ed. 1205 (1912). “To bring a case within the statute, a right or immunity created by the Constitution or laws of the United States must be an element, and an essential one, of the plaintiff’s cause of action. The right or immunity must be such that it will be…