Opinion ID: 463698
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: standard of review

Text: 50 In deciding a motion to dismiss on the pleadings for want of subject matter jurisdiction the allegations of the complaint should be construed favorably to the pleader. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). See also Walker v. Jones, 733 F.2d 923, 925-26 (D.C.Cir.1984). The District Court, however, is not limited to the allegations of the complaint in deciding a Rule 12(b)(1) motion. Here the District Court properly relied on extra-pleading material in deciding the motion. 5 C. WRIGHT & A. MILLER, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Sec. 1350 at 549-550 & n. 77 (1969 & 1985 Supp.) (collecting citations). 51 The District Court, however, did not purport to make any factual findings on disputed issues. See Hohri, 586 F.Supp. at 773. To the degree it relied on extra-pleading material it did so only where such documents supplied undisputed facts. See, e.g., id. at 788 (relying on the undisputed facts in the Ennis and Burling memoranda to establish fraudulent concealment). In such circumstances we engage in an independent review of the legal sufficiency of the District Court's views and of its application of the law to undisputed facts in the historical record. See Williamson v. Tucker, 645 F.2d 404, 413 (5th Cir.1981). In so doing we construe the allegations of the complaint most favorably to the appellants unless such allegations are contradicted by the undisputed historical documents on which the District Court based its judgment.