Opinion ID: 202772
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Younger Abstention on the Equitable Claims

Text: 34 Younger abstention is most commonly applied to suits seeking injunctive or declaratory relief, see Rio Grande, 397 F.3d at 70, and we begin with the Rossis' requests for these remedies. 35 The Younger doctrine is based on principles of comity, and unless there are extraordinary circumstances, it instructs federal courts not to interfere with ongoing state-court litigation, or, in some cases, with state administrative proceedings. Maymó-Meléndez v. Álvarez-Ramírez, 364 F.3d 27, 31 (1st Cir.2004); see also Middlesex County Ethics Comm. v. Garden State Bar Ass'n, 457 U.S. 423, 431, 102 S.Ct. 2515, 73 L.Ed.2d 116 (1982). Although the doctrine is frequently associated with state criminal prosecutions, it has been extended to certain coercive civil cases. See Maymó-Meléndez, 364 F.3d at 31 & n. 3. Following Supreme Court case law, see Middlesex County, 457 U.S. at 432, 102 S.Ct. 2515, we have articulated the basic analytical framework for Younger abstention. Abstention is appropriate when the requested relief would interfere (1) with an ongoing state judicial proceeding; (2) that implicates an important state interest; and (3) that provides an adequate opportunity for the federal plaintiff to advance his federal constitutional challenge. See Brooks v. N.H. Supreme Court, 80 F.3d 633, 638 (1st Cir. 1996); Bettencourt v. Bd. of Registration in Med., 904 F.2d 772, 777 (1st Cir.1990). 16 36 The threshold issue of interference is clearly satisfied here. Granting the Rossis' requests for injunctive relief would substantially interfere with the lien enforcement proceeding: if the Rossis obtain the return of their funds from the court registry, they will deprive the Superior Court of its ability to satisfy any claim that Gem may have against those funds. See Rio Grande, 397 F.3d at 70 (Interference is . . . usually expressed as a proceeding that either enjoins the state proceeding or has the `practical effect' of doing so.); see also Keystone Elevator Co., Inc. v. Johnson & Wales Univ., 850 A.2d 912, 923 (R.I.2004) (explaining that once there has been a lien substitution, the funds in the registry become the sole security for the former-lienholder's claim). Similarly, if the Rossis obtain their requested declaratory relief, and it is adjudged that the old Mechanics' Lien Law is unconstitutional as applied to them, they will essentially have obtained a judgment that the continuation of the state proceeding against them violates their due process rights. This too is interference for Younger purposes. See Samuels v. Mackell, 401 U.S. 66, 72-73, 91 S.Ct. 764, 27 L.Ed.2d 688 (1971); Rio Grande 397 F.3d at 70. 37 Turning to the three-part test for Younger, it is plain that the first and third requirements are satisfied. There is an ongoing judicial proceeding, as the lien enforcement action remains pending before the Superior Court. And it is clear that the state proceeding provides an adequate forum for the Rossis to present their constitutional challenge. Indeed, the Rossis raised a due process challenge, had it at least partially adjudicated by the state courts, and now actively contend that their as-applied challenge is or will be pending before the Superior Court. 17 38 That leaves the second Younger requirement, that an important state interest be implicated. This requires slightly more discussion. In several cases, the Supreme Court has recognized that states have important interests in administering certain aspects of their judicial systems. Pennzoil, 481 U.S. at 12-13, 107 S.Ct. 1519; see also Middlesex County, 457 U.S. at 434-35, 102 S.Ct. 2515 (state bar disciplinary proceedings); Trainor v. Hernandez, 431 U.S. 434, 444, 97 S.Ct. 1911, 52 L.Ed.2d 486 (1977) (writ of attachment proceedings instituted by the state); Juidice v. Vail, 430 U.S. 327, 335, 97 S.Ct. 1211, 51 L.Ed.2d 376 (1977) (state's process for enforcing its contempt judgments); Casa Marie, Inc. v. Superior Court of P.R., 988 F.2d 252, 263 (1st Cir.1993) (state's process for enforcing its civil judgments through the use of civil contempt). State proceedings can sometimes implicate these interests even when the proceedings are initiated by private actors. See Bettencourt, 904 F.2d at 777 n. 6 (discussing Pennzoil ). 39 The Supreme Court's decision in Pennzoil is especially instructive. Pennzoil involved a breach of contract suit in the Texas state courts between two corporations, Pennzoil and Texaco. 481 U.S. at 4, 107 S.Ct. 1519. Pennzoil won a large jury verdict, and if it recorded this judgment in any Texas county, and followed certain other procedures, Texas law would have allowed it to enforce the judgment through forced sale of Texaco property. See id. A separate Texas rule provided that if Texaco wished to appeal the trial court judgment, the only way Texaco could stave off enforcement of the judgment during the appeal was if it posted a bond. Id. at 4-5, 107 S.Ct. 1519. The bond amount would have been prohibitively large in that case. Id. at 5, 107 S.Ct. 1519. But rather than challenge this procedure in the Texas state courts, Texaco filed a § 1983 suit in federal court claiming that the Texas procedure was unconstitutional, and the company sought to enjoin Pennzoil from enforcing its judgment. Id. at 6-7, 107 S.Ct. 1519. The Supreme Court held that Younger abstention was appropriate, and it decided that important state interests were affected, even though the Texas procedures served to vindicate the interests of private litigants. Id. at 10, 12-13, 107 S.Ct. 1519. That was because the procedures stood in aid of the authority of the judicial system, so that its orders and judgments are not rendered nugatory. Id. at 13, 107 S.Ct. 1519 (quoting Juidice, 430 U.S. at 336 n. 12, 97 S.Ct. 1211) (internal quotation marks omitted). 40 This case, like Pennzoil, involve[s] challenges to the processes by which the State compels compliance with the judgments of its courts. Id. at 13-14, 107 S.Ct. 1519. As in Pennzoil, a federal court is being asked not only to interfere with the execution of [a] state judgment[], but [to] do so on grounds that challenge the very process from which that judgment derives. Id. at 14, 107 S.Ct. 1519. And just as Pennzoil involved a bond meant to act as security for Pennzoil's anticipated final judgment, here the funds in the registry act as security for Gem's anticipated successful claims. 18 41 It is true, however, that this case differs from Pennzoil in that the Rossis attack a pre-judgment process, rather than a post-judgment process. And the Third Circuit, anxious to find a limiting principle for Pennzoil, has speculated that in an appropriate case, Younger may not bar interference with a privately initiated state proceeding in which the state court has not yet rendered judgment. Schall v. Joyce, 885 F.2d 101, 109 (3d Cir.1989). 42 Whatever the merits of the Third Circuit's concerns, this is not an appropriate case to prevent Younger abstention. Instead, this case presents special concerns because the state court proceeding, a petition to enforce a mechanics' lien, is an in rem proceeding under state law. See Tilcon Gammino, Inc. v. Commercial Assocs., 570 A.2d 1102, 1107 (R.I.1990). Consistent with the in rem nature of the proceeding, the Superior Court has taken jurisdiction over a res, and the Rossis' funds are in the court's registry. It is well established that this provides strong reasons to defer to a state court proceeding. See Colorado River, 424 U.S. at 818, 96 S.Ct. 1236; Donovan v. City of Dallas, 377 U.S. 408, 412, 84 S.Ct. 1579, 12 L.Ed.2d 409 (1964). 19 Thus, we conclude that the Rossis seek to interfere with a state proceeding in a way that implicates an important state interest, and so the second test under Younger has been met. Cf. Kelm v. Hyatt, 44 F.3d 415, 419-20 (6th Cir.1995) (applying Younger in a pre-judgment civil proceeding based on the unique concerns surrounding interference with a state's domestic relations law). 43 We find that Younger abstention is appropriate on the Rossis' § 1983 claims for equitable relief. We affirm the district court's dismissal of the plaintiffs' constitutional claims insofar as they seek equitable relief. See Bettencourt, 904 F.2d at 781.