Opinion ID: 1741618
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Abstention Doctrine

Text: We find it necessary to address the federal abstention doctrine because our views expressed in this opinion do not conform to the decision of the United States District Court in Davis v. Page . The right to counsel in juvenile dependency proceeding has not been addressed by the United States Supreme Court. Further, only one federal appellate court, the Ninth Circuit in Cleaver v. Wilcox , has written on the issue, and we have adhered to their view. The United States Supreme Court has expressly developed a policy of self-restraint, directing the federal judiciary to avoid interference with state court proceedings and accept jurisdiction only when (a) the claimants have no opportunity to present their federal constitutional claims in state proceedings, or (b) there is bad faith conduct by the state, or (c) the challenged state statute is wholly and flagrantly violative of express constitutional prohibitions, in whatever manner and against whomever an effort might be made to apply it. Moore v. Sims, 442 U.S. 415, 99 S.Ct. 2371, 60 L.Ed.2d 994 (1979); Juidice v. Vail, 430 U.S. 327, 97 S.Ct. 1211, 51 L.Ed.2d 376 (1977); Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd., 420 U.S. 592, 95 S.Ct. 1200, 43 L.Ed.2d 482 (1975); Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971). The instant facts do not warrant federal intervention, particularly in light of the recent decision in Moore v. Sims . In Sims the United States Supreme Court reversed a federal intervention declaring unconstitutional the statutory scheme for child abuse proceedings in Texas, including the participants' right to counsel. The Court said: Certainly, abstention is appropriate unless state law clearly bars the interposition of the constitutional claims. 442 U.S. at 425-26, 99 S.Ct. at 2378. The application of the abstention doctrine does not preclude judicial consideration of an alleged constitutional right; rather, it directs that a proceeding affecting state statutes or a state judicial procedure be resolved first in the state courts, absent bad faith by the state or the lack of a state forum or procedure with which to consider the particular contention. [5] In both the instant case and Davis, there was a direct avenue in the state juvenile dependency proceeding to raise the claim of a constitutional right to counsel. Appellees could have appealed an adverse finding from either a nonfinal order, see Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.100, or a final judgment direct to the Supreme Court of Florida. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. [6] Florida courts have historically sought cooperation rather than confrontation with the federal judiciary. This is illustrated by the fact that we were the first state to establish a certification process by which a federal appellate court could certify a question of state law to the Supreme Court of Florida. § 25.031, Fla. Stat. (1979); Fla.R. App.P. 9.510. In this instance, however, we decline to defer to the decision of the United States District Court in Davis v. Page .