Since the Judiciary Act of 1789, defendants have been able to remove to federal court state court suits over which the district court would have diversity of citizenship jurisdiction if it had been filed there. Removal is accomplished simply by the defendant timely e-filing in the district court of a notice of removal, signed under Rule 11, that states the basis for federal jurisdiction and attaches a copy of the state court pleadings.

Since the revision of Title 28 in 1948, however, 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b)(2) has limited diversity removal to suits against an out of state defendant by providing that an action otherwise removable solely on the basis of diversity “may not be removed if any of the parties in interest properly joined and served is a citizen of the state where the action is brought.” The rationale of the restriction is that diversity jurisdiction is only necessary to protect out-of-state defendants from potential local prejudice in the state courts, and that a defendant sued in its home state therefore does not need to burden the federal courts.