Opinion ID: 715779
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Challenge to the Appellate Division's Denial of Campbell's Application

Text: 17 Campbell contends that the Appellate Division's denial of his application and its order that he provide additional medical information as a pre-condition to renewing his application violate the ADA. The district court held that under the Supreme Court's decisions in Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 415-16, 44 S.Ct. 149, 150, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923), and District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983), it did not have subject matter jurisdiction over this claim. We agree. 18 Rooker established that no court of the United States other than [the Supreme Court] could entertain a proceeding to reverse or modify [a civil judgment of a state court]. Rooker, 263 U.S. at 416, 44 S.Ct. at 150. Feldman was a suit very similar to this one. Two unsuccessful applicants for admission to the District of Columbia Bar brought suit in the United States District Court seeking to invalidate their rejection by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. They based their challenge on the contention that the District of Columbia's rule limiting admission to graduates of accredited law schools violated various provisions of federal law. Feldman, 460 U.S. at 464-65, 468-69, 472, 103 S.Ct. at 1305-06, 1307-08, 1309-10. 19 The Supreme Court viewed the suit in Feldman as raising two types of claims--[t]he first [being] a constitutional challenge to the state's general rules and regulations governing admission; the second [being] a claim, based on constitutional or other grounds, that the state has unlawfully denied a particular applicant admission. Feldman, 460 U.S. at 485, 103 S.Ct. at 1316 (quoting Doe v. Pringle, 550 F.2d 596, 597 (10th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 916, 97 S.Ct. 2179, 53 L.Ed.2d 227 (1977)). The Supreme Court held that lower federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain suits of the first type, but not of the second. Feldman, 460 U.S. at 485-86, 103 S.Ct. at 1316-17. As to the second, review of a judicial decision of the state court on an individual's application may be had only in the Supreme Court. Id. at 486, 103 S.Ct. at 1316-17. 20 To the extent that the Feldman plaintiffs were challenging the lawfulness of the District of Columbia's rule limiting eligibility to graduates of accredited law schools, the Court ruled that the federal district court had jurisdiction to entertain such a suit because the court's promulgation of the rule was of legislative, rather than judicial, character. Id. at 486-87, 103 S.Ct. at 1316-17. To the extent, however, that the plaintiffs were protesting the ruling which denied their personal applications to be considered for the bar, that ruling was found to be of judicial character and therefore not reviewable in a federal court other than the Supreme Court. Id. at 479, 486-87, 103 S.Ct. at 1313, 1316-17. 21 Campbell contends his circumstances are different because he is challenging the Appellate Division's request for information, rather than its denial of his application. We see no merit to the distinction he draws. The Appellate Division denied his application, allowing him to renew upon submission of appropriate medical evidence. The Appellate Division based its decision on the unique facts of Campbell's case; it did not purport to establish a rule of general application. See McCready v. Michigan State Bar, 881 F.Supp. 300, 304 (W.D.Mich.1995). We find this denial no less judicial than the denials in Feldman. 22 The fact that the decision of the Appellate Division may be considered interlocutory, rather than final, does not change this conclusion. It cannot be the meaning of Rooker- Feldman that, while the inferior federal courts are barred from reviewing final decisions of state courts, they are free to review interlocutory orders. Nor does Campbell make a compelling point in his contention that he is prevented by the interlocutory nature of the order from securing any review at all. Assuming the order of the Appellate Division would be considered interlocutory in New York, cf. N.Y. Civ. Prac. L. & R. § 5611, he has various options open to him. Based on his refusal to submit further medical evidence, he can request that the Appellate Division finally deny his petition. Alternatively, he may seek permission to appeal to the Court of Appeals, see N.Y. Civ. Prac. L. & R. § 5602, whose action would be subject to review in the Supreme Court. 23 What he may not do is sue in the federal district court for review of the New York court's adjudication of his petition.