Ambinder writes:

Reading through the complaint filed by 13 state attorneys general, against the health reform legislation, reader @calchala was struck by something that wasn't there: the lack of any specific case citation to buttress the underlying claim that it is unconstitutional for the federal government to impose on individuals a mandate to buy health care and to punish those who don't by levying a fine.

I refer Ambinder to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a):

A pleading that states a claim for relief must contain:

(1) a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court's jurisdiction, unless the court already has jurisdiction and the claim needs no new jurisdictional support;

(2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief; and

(3) a demand for the relief sought, which may include relief in the alternative or different types of relief.

Note the lack of any requirement for case citations.  This goes a long way toward explaining why, in nine years of clerking and practicing law, I saw maybe two complaints that contained case citations.

The AG's lawsuit has all manner of problems.  The lack of case citations isn't one of them.

UPDATE:  And apparently Eugene Volokh beat me to the punch here by three hours, and unsurprisingly offers a more thorough explanation.  I honestly hadn't read his piece, but figure I should link to it anyway.

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