MBE Practice Exam | Questions with 100% Correct Answers | Verified

A city brings a state court condemnation proceeding on a house within the city. The house is in disrepair and would be nearly impossible to bring to the level of city building codes. The homeowner, an outspoken critic of city government, believes that the city has dealt with her unusually harshly because of her political stands. She intends to remove the case to federal court based on her defense that the city is seeking retribution for her exercise of her First Amendment rights. Will the homeowner be able to remove the case to federal court? - The correct answer is:No, because the face of the complaint does not contain a federal question. Discussion of correct answer:Not every issue of federal law can be used to establish federal subject matter jurisdiction. Federal district courts have original jurisdiction over civil actions that arise under the US Constitution and treaties, as well as its federal laws. However, the Supreme Court has held that a party can only establish federal question jurisdiction if the federal question is apparent on a fair reading of a "well-pleaded complaint" [Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co. v. Mottley, 211 U.S. 149 (1908)]. As a result, the homeowner cannot remove to federal court solely based on a defense that raises a federal question. A pilot owned a house in a small town and, after having it listed for sale for over six months, he had no takers. The pilot still had a mortgage on the house and needed to sell it before he could purchase another home. Mortgages had become difficult for new buyers to obtain due to a