Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_15-cv-03148/USCOURTS-cand-3_15-cv-03148-1/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Jerry Brown
Respondent
Roger Lee Walker
Petitioner

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ROGER LEE WALKER,

Plaintiff,

v.

JERRY BROWN,

Defendant.

Case No. 15-cv-03148-JD 

ORDER DISMISSING CASE

Petitioner, a civil detainee, filed a habeas action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. He is 

currently awaiting trial to be civilly committed pursuant to California’s Sexually Violent Predators 

Act (SVPA). See Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code 6600, et seq. Petitioner filed a form petition that sought 

to stop the California Department of State Hospitals from using certain standards, procedures, and 

assessment tools in determining if a person is a Sexually Violent Predator. He also sought to stop 

his commitment trial and to be released from inpatient treatment. Plaintiff is currently being held 

in Coalinga, CA which is located in the Eastern District of California. He stated the underlying 

commitment proceeding arose from Alameda County, which is in this district. Petitioner was 

ordered to show cause why this case should not be dismissed due to Younger abstention.

1

 He has 

not filed a response or otherwise communicated with the Court.

A federal court generally will not enjoin or directly intercede in ongoing state court 

proceedings absent extraordinary circumstances. Younger, 401 U.S. at 40-41, 43-45. Federal 

courts will abstain if the state proceeding 1) is currently pending, 2) involves an important state 

interest, and 3) affords the petitioner an adequate opportunity to raise constitutional claims. 

 

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Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971).

Case 3:15-cv-03148-JD Document 9 Filed 11/17/15 Page 1 of 4
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United States District Court

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Middlesex County Ethics Committee v. Garden State Bar Ass’n., 457 U.S. 423, 432 (1982). For 

abstention to be appropriate, the federal court action must enjoin the state proceeding or have the 

practical effect of doing so by interfering in a way that Younger disapproves. Gilbertson v. 

Albright, 381 F.3d 965, 977-78 (9th Cir. 2004) (en banc). This principle of abstention has been 

applied to collateral attacks on criminal convictions; federal habeas corpus does not lie, absent 

special circumstances, to adjudicate the merits of a state criminal charge prior to a judgment of 

conviction by a state court, Braden v. 30th Judicial Circuit Court of Kentucky, 410 U.S. 484, 489

(1973), or even during the time a case is on appeal in the state courts, New Orleans Pub. Serv., 

Inc. v. Council of City of New Orleans, 491 U.S. 350, 369 (1989). This principle has also been 

applied to pending state civil proceedings where important state interests are at stake. Middlesex 

County Ethics Committee, 457 U.S. at 432; Moore v. Sims, 442 U.S. 415, 423 (1979) (pending 

child custody proceeding); Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd., 420 U.S. 592, 604 (1975) (pending nuisance 

action).

SVPA proceedings involve important state interests. The importance of a state’s interest 

may be shown by a close relationship between noncriminal proceedings to proceedings that are 

criminal in nature. Middlesex County Ethics Comm., 457 U.S. at 432. The SVPA proceedings are 

closely related to proceedings that are criminal in nature and involve state interests of protection of 

the public and mental health treatment, which under California law are considered to be 

compelling, Hubbart v. Superior Court, 19 Cal. 4th 1138, 1153 n. 20 (1999), and are the types of 

interests categorized as legitimate and important under federal authority, Dept. of Revenue of Ky. 

v. Davis, 553 U.S. 328, 340 (2008) (health, safety and welfare of citizens); Hill v. Colorado, 530 

U.S. 703, 715 (2000) (traditional police power of the state to protect the health and safety of 

citizens). 

Specifically, the Younger abstention principles have been applied to SVPA proceedings. 

See, Smith v. Plummer, 458 Fed. Appx. 642, 643 (9th Cir. Nov. 15, 2011) (unpublished); Cruz v. 

Ahlin, 2011 WL 5290092, at *3 (C.D.Cal. Aug. 24, 2011) (unpublished) (collecting cases).

The case is DISMISSED in light of the case law cited above. To the extent petitioner 

challenges the conditions of his confinement, he must file an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 

Case 3:15-cv-03148-JD Document 9 Filed 11/17/15 Page 2 of 4
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in the Eastern District of California where he is currently confined.2 To the extent he wishes to 

challenge the lawfulness of his commitment he must file a petition for habeas corpus pursuant to 

28 U.S.C. § 2254 after he has been committed and exhausted his claims in state court. All 

pending motions are denied as moot and the Clerk shall close this case.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: November 17, 2015

________________________

JAMES DONATO

United States District Judge

 

2

Petitioner has already filed a case challenging his treatment. See Walker v. Allenby, Case No. 

15-cv-0198-LJO-MJS (E.D. Cal.) 

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ROGER LEE WALKER,

Plaintiff,

v.

JERRY BROWN,

Defendant.

Case No. 15-cv-03148-JD 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, the undersigned, hereby certify that I am an employee in the Office of the Clerk, U.S. 

District Court, Northern District of California.

That on November 17, 2015, I SERVED a true and correct copy(ies) of the attached, by 

placing said copy(ies) in a postage paid envelope addressed to the person(s) hereinafter listed, by 

depositing said envelope in the U.S. Mail, or by placing said copy(ies) into an inter-office delivery 

receptacle located in the Clerk's office.

Roger Lee Walker ID: CO-001619-6

Coalinga State Hospital

P.O. Box 5003

Coalinga, CA 93210-5003 

Dated: November 17, 2015

Susan Y. Soong

Clerk, United States District Court

By:________________________

LISA R. CLARK, Deputy Clerk to the 

Honorable JAMES DONATO

Case 3:15-cv-03148-JD Document 9 Filed 11/17/15 Page 4 of 4