Opinion ID: 2976124
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Merits of Younger Abstention

Text: Younger abstention requires a federal court to abstain from granting injunctive or declaratory relief that would interfere with pending state judicial proceedings. Younger, 401 U.S. at 40-41. We look to three factors to determine whether a court should abstain from hearing a case under the Younger doctrine: “(1) there must be on-going state judicial proceedings; (2) those proceedings must implicate important state interests; and (3) there must be an adequate opportunity in the state proceedings to raise constitutional challenges.” Sun Refining, 921 F.2d at 639. O’Neill contested only the first factor, arguing that there was no ongoing state judicial proceeding because the filing of the grievance was a predicate to, but did not start, a state judicial proceeding.2 We reject O’Neill’s argument, as the district court did, because the Ohio Supreme Court has held that the filing of a grievance is the beginning of the judicial process. Hecht v. Levin, 613 N.E.2d 585, 588 (Ohio 1993).3 In Hecht, the court was asked to decide whether the filing of a grievance under Gov. Bar R. V is part of a judicial proceeding in the context of a libel and slander lawsuit. If the filing of a grievance is part of a judicial proceeding, then the griever is immune from libel and slander charges. The court concluded that the filing of a grievance is part of a “judicial proceeding” because “such a filing initiates the purely judicial disciplinary procedure created by this court pursuant to Article IV of the Ohio Constitution.” Id. The court recognized that a grievance is subject to investigation and independent review in order to “separate the wheat from the chaff” before the filing of a formal complaint by the appropriate state authorities. Id. at 589. Nevertheless, the court held that the filing and investigation of a grievance was part of a state “judicial proceeding.” Despite this clear statement that judicial proceedings begin with the filing of a grievance, O’Neill argues that Hecht is not controlling because it determined that the filing of a grievance begins the judicial process in the context of a lawsuit, not a disciplinary action. We are not persuaded that the different context requires us to disregard Hecht’s unambiguous holding. Accordingly, the district court should have refrained from exercising its jurisdiction in this case. The injunction ordered by the district court is DISSOLVED, and the judgment in favor of O’Neill is VACATED. _________________ 2 O’Neill does not challenge the finding that the other two factors supporting Younger abstention were present. In Squire, an Ohio state court judge filed suit against Coughlan in federal district court, alleging that the disciplinary process deprived her of due process by not revealing all of her accusers’ names. The district court dismissed the case sua sponte based on Younger abstention, and we affirmed. We decided that judicial disciplinary proceedings are state judicial proceedings, qualifying them for Younger abstention; that the state has an important interest in attorney and judicial disciplinary proceedings; and that the process affords the accused an adequate opportunity to raise constitutional challenges. Squire, 469 F.3d at 556-57. 3 The disciplinary procedures for judges adopts the procedures used for attorney discipline. “Except as provided in Sections 2(B) and (4) of this rule, complaints and grievances involving alleged misconduct by Justices, judges, and candidates for judicial office . . . shall be brought, conducted, and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this rule and Gov. Bar. R. V.” GOV. JUD. R. II. No. 07-3206 O’Neill v. Coughlan Page 6 DISSENT _________________