Opinion ID: 388137
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Federal Judicial Intervention.

Text: 10 At the outset we are confronted with the question whether this court should assume jurisdiction and decide this case on its merits. 11 Davis contends that the special circumstances of this case negate the need for exhaustion of state remedies. Alternatively, he contends that state remedies have been exhausted. He asserts that the unique status given tribal sovereignty constitutes a special circumstance. 5 12 Public policy and 28 U.S.C. § 2283 6 discourage federal court interference with state court proceedings. Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 40-41, 91 S.Ct. 746, 748-749, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971). Younger, which dealt with a federal stay or injunction of a pending state criminal prosecution, was based on the notion of 'comity,' that is, a proper respect for state functions. Id. at 43-44, 91 S.Ct. at 750. The same policy has been applied to federal habeas corpus relief from a state criminal trial. E. g., Kolski v. Watkins, 544 F.2d 762, 766 (5th Cir. 1977); United States ex rel. Scranton v. New York, 532 F.2d 292, 295 (2d Cir. 1976); United States ex rel. Tyler v. Hall, 444 F.Supp. 104, 106 (E.D.Mo.1978). However, the rule of comity does not limit the power of the federal courts to dispense with the exhaustion requirement altogether where special circumstances exist. E. g., Braden v. Thirtieth Judicial Circuit Court, 410 U.S. 484, 489, 93 S.Ct. 1123, 1126-1127, 35 L.Ed.2d 443 (1973) (speedy trial rights); Ex parte Royall, 117 U.S. 241, 251, 6 S.Ct. 734, 740, 29 L.Ed. 868 (1886); United States ex rel. Russo v. Superior Court, 483 F.2d 7, 12 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1023, 94 S.Ct. 447, 38 L.Ed.2d 313 (1973) (double jeopardy). 13 The federal district court held that requiring Davis to defend himself in a criminal trial would not justify habeas corpus relief under the both great and immediate irreparable injury test of Younger. As the district court noted, while Davis has exhausted his pretrial state remedies he could appeal a state conviction on the ground of the unlawfulness of the arrest. 7 And as Younger teaches, the cost, anxiety, and inconvenience of having to defend against a single criminal prosecution could not by themselves be considered irreparable in the special legal sense of that term. Instead, the threat to the plaintiff's federally protected rights must be one that cannot be eliminated by his defense against a single criminal prosecution. Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. at 46, 91 S.Ct. at 751. 14 As stated, it is urged here that serious questions of tribal sovereignty and state-tribal relations are raised to such an extent as to constitute special circumstances justifying dispensing with exhaustion requirements as contemplated by Braden and Russo. 15 The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians has appeared amicus curiae and has undertaken to raise questions as to the extent to which the state must recognize sovereignty and control of the tribal government over the reservation's inhabitants. Thus, it may be said that in a sense we are to be concerned not only with the personal injury to Davis but with broader tribal interests as well. 16 Tribal sovereignty undoubtedly includes the power to establish a court system. American Indian Policy Review Commission, 95th Cong., 1st Sess., Final Report (Comm.Print 1977), at 99 (hereinafter Final Report), and the trust responsibility of the federal government includes protecting tribal sovereignty. Id. at 104. 8 Indeed, the federal courts historically have protected tribal sovereignty from state interference. Moe v. Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, 425 U.S. 463, 96 S.Ct. 1634, 48 L.Ed.2d 96 (1976); McClanahan v. Arizona Tax Comm'n, 411 U.S. 164, 93 S.Ct. 1257, 36 L.Ed.2d 129 (1973); Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515, 561, 8 L.Ed. 483 (1832). Moreover, considerations of comity underlying Younger to a degree may be said to apply to tribal governments as well. 9 And if we were presented with a claim filed to protect the extradition process prior to surrender of the individual petitioner to the demanding state considerations of comity and concern for tribal sovereignty might well dictate exercise of federal jurisdiction. 17 Such a pre-surrender case decided before Younger was Arizona ex rel. Merrill v. Turtle, 413 F.2d 683 (9th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 1003, 90 S.Ct. 551, 24 L.Ed.2d 494 (1970). In Merrill after the Navajo Tribal Court declined to extradite a reservation Indian to Oklahoma, Arizona honored an extradition demand by Oklahoma and arrested the Indian on the reservation. The habeas corpus petition was brought in the asylum jurisdiction (Arizona) to prevent the demand jurisdiction (Oklahoma) from taking custody of him. The federal court entertained the petition and it was granted on the ground that Arizona had no extradition jurisdiction over Indian residents of the Navajo Reservation which would justify an arrest on the Reservation upon a demand from Oklahoma. 18 But Merrill is not the case before us. Here, Davis is in custody of North Dakota. There is a pending state criminal prosecution in which Davis' rights may be recognized and we are convinced that neither the asserted tribal interest, Davis' individual interest, nor any combination of the two justifies our exercise of habeas jurisdiction. 19 From what has been said, it is clear that the judgment of the district court should be affirmed and this opinion brought to a close. Even so, the position taken by the dissent seems to call for a statement on the merits and we undertake a brief discussion of the personal jurisdiction issue despite some misgiving brought on by Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord, --- U.S. ----, 101 S.Ct. 669, 66 L.Ed.2d 571 (1981), in which the Supreme Court held that this court in In re Multi-Piece Rim Products Liability, 612 F.2d 377 (8th Cir. 1980), having decided it had no jurisdiction of an interlocutory appeal erred in ruling prospectively on the merits of the appeal. 20