Opinion ID: 6982219
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: district court review of state court injunction

Text: Finally, Churchill County argues that the district court’s order enjoining the Nevada state court proceeding amounted to direct federal district court review of a state court decision. Specifically, Churchill County objects to the district court’s ruling that the state court’s injunction is void for lack of jurisdiction and that the state court misinterpreted a state statute. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1257, the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to review certain state court decisions. Under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, the lower federal courts do not have this authority. See Feldman, 460 U.S. at 476, 103 S.Ct. 1303; Rooker, 263 U.S. at 416, 44 S.Ct. 149. Churchill County is mistaken, however, in characterizing the district court’s actions as appellate review of a state court judgment. Although the district court opined that the state court had erred in interpreting a Nevada statute, the district court’s decision amounted to a determination that it had exclusive jurisdiction over the matter at issue and that it needed to protect its exclusive jurisdiction. That is, the district court’s decision rested on its own determination that it had exclusive jurisdiction, not on any error on the part of the state court in asserting jurisdiction. 9 If Churchill County’s argument were to succeed, it would be impossible for a federal court to enjoin a state court proceeding, despite satisfying an exception to the Anti-Injunction Act, because the federal court would always be bound by the state court’s determination of jurisdiction. Moreover, as discussed above, this circuit has expressly upheld the admittedly “highly extraordinary” scheme of having the federal district court exercise appellate review of the State Engineer’s decisions in cases arising under the Alpine and Orr Ditch Decrees. Alpine II, 878 F.2d at 1219 n. 2. Because this scheme does not require federal court review of Nevada state court proceedings, it also does not implicate the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. Therefore, the district court did not run afoul of the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.