Opinion ID: 532625
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Rooker Doctrine.

Text: 48 Finally, we do not view our conclusion that the state court lacks appellate jurisdiction over the FERC determination to be at odds with the doctrine of Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 415-16, 44 S.Ct. 149, 150, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923). Instead, we consider it Rooker 's necessary complement. 49 In Rooker, the Supreme Court held that the lower federal courts do not have appellate jurisdiction to review state court decisions. Such jurisdiction is vested only in the state appellate courts and in the Supreme Court of the United States. 263 U.S. at 416, 44 S.Ct. at 150. The rule applies even when the state court decision is challenged as unconstitutional, id.; District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 482, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 1314, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983); Van Sickle v. Holloway, 791 F.2d 1431, 1436 (10th Cir.1986), or when the state court erroneously decides a federal question, see Texaco Inc. v. Pennzoil Co., 784 F.2d 1133, 1142 (2d Cir.1986), rev'd on other grounds, 481 U.S. 1, 107 S.Ct. 1519, 95 L.Ed.2d 1 (1987). 50 As the Supreme Court articulated in Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Eng'rs, 398 U.S. 281, 286, 90 S.Ct. 1739, 1743, 26 L.Ed.2d 234 (1970), the Rooker doctrine is a necessity in a nation with two separate legal systems: 51 [T]his dual system could not function if state and federal courts were free to fight each other for control of a particular case. Thus, in order to make the dual system work and to prevent needless friction between state and federal courts, Oklahoma Packing Co. v. Gas Co., 309 U.S. 4, 9, 60 S.Ct. 215, 218, 84 L.Ed. 447 (1940), it was necessary to work out lines of demarcation between the two systems. 52 However, the Rooker line of demarcation, and the principles of comity it represents, cannot be observed unilaterally if it is to achieve its desired effects. Just as the federal courts lack jurisdiction to review the decisions of the state courts, so also must state courts defer to the federal appellate process mandated by Congress. 11 What is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander. Otherwise, the needless friction that Rooker seeks to prevent would be commonplace. 53 Here, despite the existence of the prior FERC determination and the exclusive review provisions of Sec. 19, the state court proceeded to decide a question that could have and should have been raised before FERC and, based on its determination of that issue, enjoined enforcement of the FERC order. We do not dispute the assertion of the appellees that the Oklahoma courts have jurisdiction to decide questions of federal preemption. See, e.g., Chick Kam Choo v. Exxon Corp., 486 U.S. 140, ----, 108 S.Ct. 1684, 1691, 100 L.Ed.2d 127 (1988). However, that issue was not advanced in a vacuum. Preemption was considered by the state court only after the FERC certificate issued and after the exclusive judicial review provisions of Sec. 19 attached. 12 Consequently, the state action crosses the Rooker boundary, just as a federal court exceeds its jurisdiction when it disregards the exclusivity of a state's ongoing appellate process. This court will not misuse Rooker to shield a state court injunction that runs afoul of the very principles of comity that lay at Rooker 's base. 13 54 Thus, it is our view that the deference afforded the decisions of state courts under Rooker is not warranted where, as here, a state court has erroneously taken appellate jurisdiction over issues that have been previously decided by a federal agency, or when review of those issues could have and should have been sought pursuant to the federal statutory scheme. 55