Opinion ID: 441619
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Principle of Comity and Younger Abstention

Text: 24 The District Court also held that the principle of comity requires dismissal of this case because intervention in this dispute would unduly interfere with the legitimate functioning of the judicial and administrative processes of the District of Columbia. Dist.Ct.Op. at 8. Federal courts in general have the duty to adjudicate claims brought to them that are within their jurisdiction; there is no general principle that forbids federal courts from interfering in the processes of state and local courts when that interference is in reality the vindication of federal rights in cases within their jurisdiction. However, based on principles of equity--and in particular the principle that equity courts will not lightly enjoin criminal prosecutions in other courts, see Douglas v. City of Jeannette, 319 U.S. 157, 162-164, 63 S.Ct. 877, 880-881, 87 L.Ed. 1324 (1943)--the doctrine of Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971), and its progeny restrains federal courts from interfering in ongoing state judicial proceedings. It is presumably this doctrine on which the District Court was relying in referring to the principle of comity. 4 25 In Younger v. Harris the Supreme Court held that, absent extraordinary circumstances, federal courts may not enjoin an ongoing state criminal proceeding. In subsequent cases this prohibition has been extended to some civil proceedings that are in the nature of enforcement actions. See, e.g., Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd., 420 U.S. 592, 95 S.Ct. 1200, 43 L.Ed.2d 482 (1975) (civil action to abate showing of obscene movies); Juidice v. Vail, 430 U.S. 327, 97 S.Ct. 1211, 51 L.Ed.2d 376 (1977) (civil contempt proceedings); Trainor v. Hernandez, 431 U.S. 434, 97 S.Ct. 1911, 52 L.Ed.2d 486 (1977) (state action to recover welfare payments); Moore v. Sims, 442 U.S. 415, 99 S.Ct. 2371, 60 L.Ed.2d 994 (1979) (state action to gain custody of abused children). It has also been extended to cases in which the state proceeding was not pending at the time the federal action commenced, but in which the state action did begin before the federal action reached proceedings on the merits of the case. Hicks v. Miranda, 422 U.S. 332, 95 S.Ct. 2281, 45 L.Ed.2d 223 (1975). However, all valid applications of Younger have in common the principle that federal equitable intervention is not warranted if the federal plaintiff can secure a full and fair day in court on his constitutional claims by raising them by way of defense in a state enforcement proceeding which is already underway or is imminent anyway. P. BATOR, P. MISHKIN, D. SHAPIRO & H. WECHSLER, HART AND WECHSLER'S THE FEDERAL COURTS AND THE FEDERAL SYSTEM 283 (1981 Supp.). The core idea is that the federal plaintiff should not be permitted to split an ongoing case by bringing what are in effect federal defenses to the state proceeding in federal court. Instead, given the obligation of state and local courts (no less than federal courts) to enforce the Constitution and federal laws, the federal plaintiff should be forced to raise his constitutional or other federal defenses to the state's action before the state or local court in which he is already a party. 26 This analysis is sufficient to demonstrate that Younger principles do not require dismissal of appellants' complaint, for there are no ongoing proceedings in the local courts in which appellants could raise their federal constitutional claims. When the District Court reached its decision in this case on July 18, 1983, proceedings in Interstate General I and Interstate General II had terminated in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Therefore, the only possible ground for Younger dismissal in this case would be if Interstate General III was the kind of local enforcement proceeding in which appellants could have had a full and fair opportunity to present their federal claims. But, as we noted above, appellants' claims are in a number of respects considerably broader than the claims they were able to assert in the proceedings in local courts or before RAO itself. And the relief they seek in this case is far broader than that which the local court could have granted in the administrative review proceeding. Therefore, the District Court erred in its alternative holding that this case should be dismissed on Younger grounds. There being no pending state enforcement proceedings that would have afforded appellants a full and fair opportunity to litigate their constitutional claims, the predicate for Younger abstention was simply absent in this case. 5 Cf. Sullivan v. Murphy, supra, 478 F.2d at 961-962.