View source for Motion to strike (court of law)

A '''motion to strike''' is a request by one party in a United States trial requesting that the presiding judge order the removal of all or part of the opposing party's [[pleading]] to the court.  These [[motion (legal)|motion]]s are most commonly sought by the defendant, as to a matter contained in the plaintiff's complaint; however, they may also be asserted by plaintiffs to a defendant's answer or other pleadings such as cross-complaints.  The [[Federal Rules of Civil Procedure]] states that "The court may strike from a pleading an insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-01 |title=Federal Rules of Civil Procedure |url=https://www.uscourts.gov/rules-policies/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=United States Courts |page= |at=Rule 12 (f) |language=en}}</ref>  Similarly, for example, the [[California Code of Civil Procedure]] provides that a motion to strike may be made to strike out any "irrelevant, false, or improper matter inserted in any pleading."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-06-26 |title=California Code of Civil Procedure |url=https://california.public.law/codes/ca_civ_proc_code_section_436 |access-date=2023-01-09 |website=California.Public.Law |at=Section 436}}</ref>  A motion to strike may also be used to request the elimination of all or a portion of a trial witness's testimony. During a [[jury trial]], if a motion to strike witness testimony is granted, the jury is typically instructed to disregard the stricken statements.
==References==
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[[Category:Legal motions|Strike]]
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