The Rise of the Common Law of Federal Pleading: Iqbal, Twombly, and the Application of Judicial Experience

SINCE 1938, Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Federal Rules or Rules) has set the standard for how much a plaintiff must allege at the outset of a lawsuit in order to avoid dismissal for failure to state a claim. Rule 8 requires that a plaintiff must include in the complaint a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. Federal courts developed a well-settled set of principles to apply when deciding whether to dismiss a claim. Among these principles are the following: (1) the plaintiffs factual allegations are accepted as true;(2) the court must construe the complaint liberally (in favor of the plaintiff) and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff;(3) the court may not consider matters or information beyond what is stated on the face of the complaint, judicially noticed facts, and any attachments to the complaint;(4) the complaint must provide notice to the defendant of the plaintiffs claims and the grounds on which they rest;and (5) the court should not dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that it is impossible for the plaintiff to prove some set of facts in support of his or her claim which would entitle him or her to relief. These principles can be summarized as: the court must accept the vision of the world described in the plaintiffs complaint and it must view the events that transpired in that world as the plaintiff would view them. This concept is consistent with the adversarial litigation process we have adopted in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Villanova Law Review is the property of Villanova University School of Law and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder\u27s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.

The Rise of the Common Law of Federal Pleading: Iqbal, Twombly, and the Application of Judicial Experience

SINCE 1938, Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Federal Rules or Rules) has set the standard for how much a plaintiff must allege at the outset of a lawsuit in order to avoid dismissal for failure to state a claim. Rule 8 requires that a plaintiff must include in the complaint a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. Federal courts developed a well-settled set of principles to apply when deciding whether to dismiss a claim. Among these principles are the following: (1) the plaintiffs factual allegations are accepted as true;(2) the court must construe the complaint liberally (in favor of the plaintiff) and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff;(3) the court may not consider matters or information beyond what is stated on the face of the complaint, judicially noticed facts, and any attachments to the complaint;(4) the complaint must provide notice to the defendant of the plaintiffs claims and the grounds on which they rest;and (5) the court should not dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that it is impossible for the plaintiff to prove some set of facts in support of his or her claim which would entitle him or her to relief. These principles can be summarized as: the court must accept the vision of the world described in the plaintiffs complaint and it must view the events that transpired in that world as the plaintiff would view them. This concept is consistent with the adversarial litigation process we have adopted in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Villanova Law Review is the property of Villanova University School of Law and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder\u27s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.

A Civil Method of Law Enforcement on the Reservation: In Rem Forfeiture and Indian Law

Two of the greatest sustainable resources currently available to American Indian tribes in their struggle to gain economic independence are tourism and gambling. Both resources require tribes to admit large numbers of non-Indians onto their reservations. This article proposes and assesses in rem forfeiture as a viable method of law enforcement for American Indian tribes. It considers the scope and limits of tribal sovereignty and the civil/criminal jurisdictional dichotomy established by Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe and Montana v. United States. The article concludes that enacting and enforcing in rem forfeiture provisions would broaden the limited array of law enforcement tools available to tribes to deal with Non-Indians who visit their reservations

Rotation periods of exoplanet host stars

The stellar rotation periods of ten exoplanet host stars have been determined using newly analysed Ca II H & K flux records from Mount Wilson Observatory and Stromgren b, y photometric measurements from Tennessee State University's automatic photometric telescopes (APTs) at Fairborn Observatory. Five of the rotation periods have not previously been reported, with that of HD 130322 very strongly detected at Prot = 26.1 \pm 3.5 d. The rotation periods of five other stars have been updated using new data. We use the rotation periods to derive the line-of-sight inclinations of the stellar rotation axes, which may be used to probe theories of planet formation and evolution when combined with the planetary orbital inclination found from other methods. Finally, we estimate the masses of fourteen exoplanets under the assumption that the stellar rotation axis is aligned with the orbital axis. We calculate the mass of HD 92788 b (28 MJ) to be within the low-mass brown dwarf regime and suggest that this object warrants further investigation to confirm its true nature.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 15 pages, 11 figure

The Na I D resonance lines in main sequence late-type stars

We study the sodium D lines (D1: 5895.92 \AA; D2: 5889.95 \AA) in late-type dwarf stars. The stars have spectral types between F6 and M5.5 (B-V between 0.457 and 1.807) and metallicity between [Fe/H] = -0.82 and 0.6. We obtained medium resolution echelle spectra using the 2.15-m telescope at the argentinian observatory CASLEO. The observations have been performed periodically since 1999. The spectra were calibrated in wavelength and in flux. A definition of the pseudo-continuum level is found for all our observations. We also define a continuum level for calibration purposes. The equivalent width of the D lines is computed in detail for all our spectra and related to the colour index (B-V) of the stars. When possible, we perform a careful comparison with previous studies. Finally, we construct a spectral index (R_D') as the ratio between the flux in the D lines, and the bolometric flux. We find that, once corrected for the photospheric contribution, this index can be used as a chromospheric activity indicator in stars with a high level of activity. Additionally, we find that combining some of our results, we obtain a method to calibrate in flux stars of unknown colour.Comment: 12 pages, including 14 figures and 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Further evidence for the planet around 51 Pegasi

The discovery of the planet around the solar-type star 51 Pegasi marked a watershed in the search for extrasolar planets. Since then seven other solar-type stars have been discovered, of which several have surprisingly short orbital periods, like the planet around 51 Peg. These planets were detected using the indirect technique of measuring variations in the Doppler shifts of lines in the spectra of the primary stars. But it is possible that oscillations of the stars themselves (or other effects) could mimic the signature of the planets, particularly around the short-period planets. The apparent lack of spectral and brightness variations, however, led to widespread acceptance that there is a planet around 51 Peg. This conclusion was challenged by the observation of systematic variations in the line profile shapes of 51 Peg, which suggested stellar oscillations. If these observations are correct, then there is no need to invoke a planet around 51 Peg to explain the data. Here we report observations of 51 Peg at a much higher spectral resolution than those in ref.9, in which we find no evidence for systematic changes in the line shapes. The data are most consistent with a planetary companion to 51 Peg.Comment: LaTeX, 6 pages, 2 figures. To appear in 8 January 1998 issue of Natur

The CORALIE survey for southern extra-solar planets. X. A Hot Jupiter orbiting HD73256

Recent radial-velocity measurements obtained with the CORALIE spectrograph on the 1.2-m Euler Swiss telescope at La Silla unveil the presence of a new Jovian-mass Hot Jupiter around HD 73256. The 1.85-M_Jup planet moves on an extremely short-period (P=2.5486 d), quasi-circular orbit. The best Keplerian orbital solution is presented together with an unsuccessful photometric planetary-transit search performed with the SAT Danish telescope at La Silla. Over the time span of the observations, the photometric follow-up of the candidate has nevertheless revealed a P=14-d photometric periodicity corresponding to the rotational period of the star. This variation as well as the radial-velocity jitter around the Keplerian solution are shown to be related to the fair activity level known for HD 73256.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Accepted in A&