Motion to strike

U.S. federal courts
Rule 12(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that "the court may order stricken from any pleading any insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter." "Immaterial matter is that which has no essential or important relationship to the claim of relief" and "[i]mpertinent matter consists of statements that do not pertain, and are not necessary, to the issues in question." "The function of a 12(f) motion to strike is to avoid the expenditure of time and money that must arise from litigatin spurious issues by dispensing with those issues prior to trial."