Case Name: L'Keith Antwan IRVING Plaintiff-Appellant v. Corporal Heath DICKSON; Officer Chris Bruno Defendants-Appellees
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2018-03-02
Citations: 713 F. App'x 527
Docket Number: No. 17-3246
Parties: L’Keith Antwan IRVING Plaintiff-Appellant v. Corporal Heath DICKSON; Officer Chris Bruno Defendants-Appellees
Judges: Before GRUENDER, MURPHY, and KELLY, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 713
Pages: 527–528

Head Matter:
L’Keith Antwan IRVING Plaintiff-Appellant v. Corporal Heath DICKSON; Officer Chris Bruno Defendants-Appellees
No. 17-3246
United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
Submitted: February 13, 2018
Filed: March 2, 2018
L’Keith Antwan Irving, Pro Se
Before GRUENDER, MURPHY, and KELLY, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
In this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action, L'Keith Irving appeals after the district court—in light of a then-pending proceeding in state court—dismissed Irving's complaint pre-service and without prejudice, based on abstention under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971). Irving also moves in this court for leave to amend his complaint.
Upon careful review, we conclude that the dismissal based on Younger was improper. See Norwood v. Dickey, 409 F.3d 901, 903 (8th Cir. 2005) (abuse-of-discretion standard of review); cf. Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A. v. Riney, 21 F.3d 793, 797 (8th Cir. 1994) (necessary predicate for Younger dismissal is the opportunity to raise and have timely decided by competent state tribunal the federal issues involved). We thus vacate the dismissal order and remand this case to the district court for further proceedings. We also deny Irving's motion seeking this court's permission to amend his complaint.