Opinion ID: 594745
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Haynes's Standing

Text: 65 As a final matter, we now consider whether Haynes was properly dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. We have already explained that Haynes was improperly dismissed under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. This does not mean, however, that Haynes's complaint is without its problems. 66 Under Article III of the United States Constitution, only parties with a real interest or stake in the litigation have standing to sue in federal court. Gora v. Costa, 971 F.2d 1325, 1328 (7th Cir.1992). We seriously question whether Haynes has standing to raise the claims he alleges in his complaint. Many of Haynes's allegations focus on the allegedly improper motives and investigation tactics in the attorney professional responsibility investigation against Leaf. Such investigations do not seem to implicate Haynes's privacy interests and/or cause him direct harm. See generally O'Bannon v. Town Court Nursing Center, 447 U.S. 773, 790, 100 S.Ct. 2467, 2477, 65 L.Ed.2d 506 (1980) (enforcement of valid state regulations against business does not deprive clients of constitutionally protected interests in life, liberty, or property). Nonetheless, Haynes makes at least one allegation which he has standing to argue. 67 In the original complaint Haynes alleges that Brian Henderson and Lynne Levihn brought a suit against Leaf and him for the sole purpose of embarrassing and humiliating them. In the amended complaint Haynes expands this allegation, saying that this suit was filed under the direction of the Board, a state agency. This expansion sufficiently asserts, for purposes of standing, that this action was taken under the color of state law. Haynes, moreover, may have standing to raise other claims under the amended complaint. However, none of the parties have raised or addressed the issue of Haynes's standing; rather, this court raised the question at oral argument. We, therefore, remand for further proceedings on this issue. 68 The Defendants also raised the argument to this court that we should dismiss Haynes's action under the Eleventh Amendment. There may, indeed, be some problems with Haynes's claims against some of the Defendants under the Eleventh Amendment, particularly with respect to the Board and the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Since the district court, however, has not yet addressed the application of the Eleventh Amendment to this case and considering that remand is necessary to resolve questions of standing, we will not comment on the Eleventh Amendment's application to this case. Rather, we will give the district court an opportunity to consider this issue on remand. 69 We further note that there appears at this stage to be some substantive problems with Haynes's claims. Indeed, the allegation that the Justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court have entered into a racial plot and conspiracy with others seems, to say the least, to push the bounds of reason and credibility. If the district court finds Haynes's claims as lacking in merit as the Wisconsin Supreme Court found Leaf's claims to be, this may be a prime case for sanctions. At this stage, however, we are only looking to the question of jurisdiction, and we of course leave the question of sanctions to the district court.