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Title 28 — Judiciary and Judicial Procedure

Part IV · Chapter 89 — District Courts; Removal of Cases from State Courts

§ 1443. Civil rights cases

Statutory text

Any of the following civil actions or criminal prosecutions, commenced in a State court may be removed by the defendant to the district court of the United States for the district and division embracing the place wherein it is pending:

(1)

Against any person who is denied or cannot enforce in the courts of such State a right under any law providing for the equal civil rights of citizens of the United States, or of all persons within the jurisdiction thereof;

(2)

For any act under color of authority derived from any law providing for equal rights, or for refusing to do any act on the ground that it would be inconsistent with such law.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Title 28, United States Code, section —

    Pub. L. 80–646 · 62 Stat. 869

    Enacted · 28 U.S.C. § 1443

    (June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 938.)

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    (June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 938.)

0 of 1 references resolved to an enrolled provision · 1 partial

Notes

Historical and Revision Notes

Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 74 (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, § 31, 36 Stat. 1096).

Other provisions of section 74 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., are incorporated in sections 1446 and 1447 of this title.

Words “or in the part of the State where such suit or prosecution is pending” after “courts of such States,” were omitted as unnecessary.

Changes were made in phraseology.

Credits

(June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 938.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc28.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-04-17

USLM identifier /us/usc/t28/s1443