Court Opinion

ID: 9471188
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:26:38.826766+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:42:18.252342
License: Public Domain

HATCHETT, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. For the reasons stated in the district court opinion, Younger abstention is appropriate in this case. Bearing in mind the importance that the Supreme Court places on principles of federalism and comity, Younger and its progeny teach that a federal court should err on the side of abstention unless there are compelling circumstances present. In accordance with this interpretation, the Fifth Circuit in Duke v. Texas, 477 F.2d 244 (5th Cir.1973), stated that two express conditions must be present before a federal plaintiff may be granted injunctive relief. First, the plaintiff must show that he will suffer irreparable injury if the federal court abstains. Second, he must show that he does not have an adequate remedy at state law. As discussed in the district court opinion, these conditions are not present in this case.
*525The majority relies upon Moore v. Sims, 442 U.S. 415, 423 n. 8, 99 S.Ct. 2371, 2377 n. 8, 60 L.Ed.2d 994, 1003 n. 8 (1979), for the position that abstention may be inappropriate even though none of the explicit Younger exceptions are present. Although the language in Moore arguably narrows the Younger abstention doctrine, one must look at the case in its entirety. In Moore, the Supreme Court held that abstention was proper based on reasons which are applicable to this case. Regarding the principle of comity, the Court noted that the state was a party to the case. The State of Florida is similarly involved in this case. The Court stated that abstention is appropriate unless state law clearly bars the interposition of constitutional claims. Moore, 442 U.S. at 425-26, 99 S.Ct. at 2378-79, 60 L.Ed.2d at 1004-1005. As discussed by the district court, the preemption issue can be raised in the state proceeding.
The majority reasons that Younger abstention is inappropriate due to the fact that federal preemption is readily apparent; because the state tribunal will be acting beyond the lawful limits of its authority, abstention is not necessary to serve principles of comity. I find preemption to be far from apparent in this situation. Although the State of Florida can neither impose conditions upon, nor regulate, the pilotage of federally-enrolled vessels, the State does have authority to regulate the receipt and continued validity of state licenses. State action against a pilot’s state license in no way affects the status of that pilot’s federal license. Consequently, there is a strong argument that federal preemption does not necessarily bar state proceedings against a state license for misconduct which occurred on a federally-enrolled vessel. Because the issue of preemption can be dealt with in the state proceeding, abstention is appropriate in this case.