918
Opinion of the Court
course, place the same construction on its Appellate Rule 11(a)(1) as we have placed on § 1291. But that is clearly a choice for that court to make, not one that we have any authority to command.
IV
Petitioners also contend that, to the extent that Idaho Appellate Rule 11(a)(1) does not allow an interlocutory appeal, it is pre-empted by § 1983. Relying heavily on Felder v. Casey, 487 U. S. 131 (1988), petitioners first assert that preemption is necessary to avoid "different outcomes in § 1983 litigation based solely on whether the claim is asserted in state or federal court," id., at 138. Second, they argue that the state procedure "impermissibly burden[s]" the federal immunity from suit because it does not adequately protect their right to prevail on the immunity question in advance of trial.8
For two reasons, petitioners have a heavy burden of persuasion in making this argument. First, our normal presumption against pre-emption is buttressed by the fact that the Idaho Supreme Court's dismissal of the appeal rested squarely on a neutral state Rule regarding the administration of the state courts.9 As we explained in Howlett v. Rose, 496 U. S. 356, 372 (1990):
8 See Brief for Petitioners 22.
9 Unlike the notice-of-claim rule at issue in Felder v. Casey, 487 U. S., at 140-145, Idaho Appellate Rule 11(a)(1) does not target civil rights claims against the State. See also Howlett v. Rose, 496 U. S. 356, 380-381 (1990). Instead, it generally permits appeals only of "[j]udgments, orders and decrees which are final," without regard to the identity of the party seeking the appeal or the subject matter of the suit. Petitioners claim that the rule is not neutral because it permits interlocutory appeals in certain limited circumstances but denies an appeal here. But we have never held that a rule must be monolithic to be neutral. Absent evidence that Appellate Rule 11(a)(1) discriminates against interlocutory appeals of § 1983 qualified immunity determinations by defendants—as compared with other types of appeals—we must deem the state procedure neutral.
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