Opinion ID: 776048
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: furnishes adequate compensation for counsel

Text: 76 (2) a court order that uniform standards be promulgated and adopted governing the representation of indigent [sic] consistent with the judgment in this case; 77 (3) monitor the implementation of those standards; 78 (4) award attorney's fees and other proper relief. 79 Id. at 676. The plaintiffs sought to avoid Younger by contending that they do not seek to contest any criminal conviction, nor to restrain any criminal prosecution, and that they seek only to have this Court consider systemic issues which cannot be raised in any individual case. Id. at 677. The Sixth Circuit nevertheless applied Younger, reasoning that a decree of the sort requested by the plaintiffs would, inevitably, interfere with every state criminal proceeding. Id. In some regard, the SEP's requirements will have a discernible impact on juvenile court proceeding in New Mexico albeit not to the same degree as the order requested in Luckey. 80 The fact that the SEP's requirements constrain the State's attorneys, rather than the court directly, does not preclude Younger's application, for the reasoning reflected in the above line of cases applies not just to state court judges, but to officers of the court. For example, in J.P. v. DeSanti, 653 F.2d 1080 (6th Cir. 1981), the plaintiffs brought suit challenging state court probation officers' practice of preparing social histories of juvenile defendants and providing them to the court before disposition of the cases. The histories included extensive personal histories of the defendants, but were not made available to the defendants themselves. See id. at 1082. The Sixth Circuit held that the Supreme Court case law requires abstention if federal intervention would cause interference with such a state proceeding and the federal issue can be raised in the state proceeding. Id. at 1084. Under this standard, the court observed that the juvenile court's predisposition use of social histories is an integral part of [its] handling of cases, and that the proposed relief would entail[] ongoing federal court interference with the daily operations of the juvenile court. Id. at 1084. Under these circumstances, Younger abstention was required. Id. at 1085. 81 Younger governs whenever the requested relief would interfere with the state court's ability to conduct proceedings, regardless of whether the relief targets the conduct of a proceeding directly. See News-Journal Corp. v. Foxman, 939 F.2d 1499, 1511 (11th Cir. 1991) (abstaining from hearing newspaper's challenge to state court's pre-trial gag order because an injunction impermissibly would restrict the ability of the trial court to impanel an impartial jury); Kevorkian v. Thompson, 947 F. Supp. 1152, 1164 (E.D. Mich. 1997) (holding that enjoining state from prosecuting defendant would violate Younger). 82 The relevant case law supports abstention where, as here, federal court oversight of state court proceedings is required, coupled with significant restrictions on the freedom of attorneys to present information to the court. Under these circumstances, it is appropriate to apply Younger, especially given the Supreme Court's recent emphasis on the importance of independent and unfettered advocacy to the operation of the courts. See Legal Servs. Corp., 121 S. Ct. at 1050-51. Accordingly, Younger mandates that the federal courts abstain from enforcing at least some of the SEP's provisions. 83 After concluding that Younger requires abstention in this case, the district court simply applied Younger to the entire SEP without verifying that the enforcement of each provision would interfere with state court proceedings. A provision-by-provision Younger analysis appears prudent, however, for the fact that one provision may not be enforceable in light of Younger does not necessarily warrant voiding the entire consent decree (see SEP at 9-10 (providing that State is relieved from performing particular provision if that performance is rendered impossible)), or dismissing the entire action. Cf. Doran v. Salem Inn, Inc., 422 U.S. 922, 930-31 (1975) (dismissing claims of one plaintiff pursuant to Younger, but allowing co-plaintiffs' claims to proceed because they did not pose risk of interference with ongoing state court proceedings); Ballard v. Wilson, 856 F.2d 1568, 1571-72 (5th Cir. 1988) (dismissing claims for injunctive relief pursuant to Younger, but allowing claim for monetary damages where such claim was not cognizable in state court proceedings). 84 Some of the SEP's provisions may be characterized as stand-alone provisions, amenable to enforcement independent of the more problematic provisions. While this issue is best left for the district court to resolve on remand, this court offers some preliminary observations. Enforcement of the provisions governing training of social workers (SEP at 2-3), the development of a computerized management information system (SEP at 7), and qualifications for social workers (SEP at 7-8) do not appear to risk interference with state court proceedings. As discussed above, the provisions governing assessment and treatment planning conferences present a stronger risk of running afoul of Younger. Also, federal enforcement of the provision calling for the use of state-created Citizen Review Boards may be problematic. Under state law, the Board reviews the disposition of children in the Department's custody prior to judicial review. The Board then submits a report to the Children's Court, which becomes part of the child's permanent court record. See NM ST 32A-8-5, 32A-8-6. In making the Citizen's Review Board proceedings enforceable by a federal district court, the SEP asks the federal court to review the operation of a mechanism that is an essential part of the state court proceedings. This certainly suggests a risk of improper interference with state proceedings under Younger. See DeSanti, 653 F.2d at 1085-86 (applying Younger abstention where plaintiff sought to enjoin probation officers' practice of preparing social histories of juvenile defendants because the juvenile court's use of the histories is an integral part of [its] handling of cases). Many of the remainder of the SEP's provisions appear to be procedural, setting forth the means by which the State can exit the decree's requirements, and it is not obvious, at least on the record before us, that they would pose Younger problems. 85 However, rather than making decisions as to which provisions do, and do not, violate Younger, we deem it more prudent to remand for further briefing and findings by the district court. The various SEP provisions may present complexities not apparent on the record before us. Thus, the district court should determine in the first instance which, if any, of the SEP's provisions can be enforced in light of Younger. 86 Finally, we must consider whether the state proceedings offer adequate opportunities for Appellants to raise their claims. In opposing abstention on the grounds that the federal remedy requested is not available in state court, [p]laintiffs bear the burden of proving that state procedural law barred presentation of their claims in the New Mexico Children's Court. J.B. v. Valdez, 186 F.3d at 1292. As an initial matter, it is clear that the Children's Court has the power to consider federal claims, including claims of procedural due process violations. See State ex rel. Children, Youth & Families Dep't v. Ruth Anne E. (In re Ruth Anne E.), 974 P.2d 164, 171 (N.M. Ct. App. 1999) (reversing Children's Court for failing to grant continuance on procedural due process grounds to allow incarcerated parent to attend hearing to terminate parental rights); T.B. v. State (In re T.B.), 913 P.2d 272, 276 (N.M. Ct. App. 1996) (affirming Children's Court's rejection of a motion for attorneys fees under 42 U.S.C. 1988 in light of the Children's Court's dismissal of a due process claim brought under 42 U.S.C. 1983). 87 Appellants contend, however, that it is not enough that they may be able to raise their federal claims in the context of their individual proceedings before the Children's Court. Rather, they argue that abstention is inappropriate because the Children's Court Rules of Civil Procedure make no provision for class actions, and therefore the Children's Court will never be presented with a set of facts that would enable it to grant the systemic injunctive relief they sought against the Department in the present action. 88 We assume without deciding that the Children's Court is not authorized to hear class actions and other representative suits. 6 However, we could find no case, and Appellants cite none, that hold that a party is entitled to avoid the effects of the Younger abstention doctrine in cases where relief is available to individual litigants in ongoing state proceedings but not to represented parties in a class action. See J.B. v. Valdez, 186 F.3d at 1292 (abstaining in light of court's conclusion that plaintiffs fail to clearly show that the Children's Court could not have adjudicated these federal claims during the periodic review process). Moreover, we note that Appellants have not attempted to raise their procedural due process claims in their individual proceedings. [W]hen a litigant has not attempted to present his federal claims in related state-court proceedings, a federal court should assume the state procedures will afford an adequate remedy, in the absence of unambiguous authority to the contrary. Pennzoil Co. v. Texaco, Inc., 481 U.S. 1, 15 (1987). Here, the Appellants have failed unambiguously to show that the relief they seek, including structural relief, would not effectively be available through the Children's Court. III. CONCLUSION 89 We affirm the district court's ruling that Appellants' claims are not barred by the Eleventh Amendment, albeit for different reasons than were reflected in the district court's opinion. Some of Appellants' claims may run afoul of the Younger abstention doctrine, but we vacate and remand so that the district court may determine whether any of the SEP's provisions may be enforced in light of Younger. The district court's judgment is AFFIRMED in part and VACATED in part. The case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.