Court Opinion

ID: 9463827
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 23:17:22.084153+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:18.273163
License: Public Domain

OPINION OF THE COURT
ALDISERT, Circuit Judge.
The major question for decision is whether the principles of Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971), as reiterated in Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd., 420 U.S. 592, 95 S.Ct. 1200, 43 L.Ed.2d 482 (1975), bar a federal court from prohibiting sessions on Friday, the Islamic Sabbath of appellant, in a pending criminal trial in state court when available state procedures to remedy the alleged constitutional infringement have not been exhausted. Joanne D. Chesimard, the appellant in this court and the defendant in the state criminal proceedings, is a Sunni or Orthodox Muslim who observes Jumah or Jumuah (Friday) as her weekly holy day. She asserts her First Amendment right to free exercise of religion as the basis of her request for federal injunctive or declaratory relief prohibiting state officials from conducting proceedings on Friday in her trial. The district court denied the requested relief. Acting on appellant’s motion for a stay of the district court’s order and on appellee’s petition for summary affirmance, a panel of this court granted appellant declaratory relief on her First Amendment free exercise contention. The full court vacated the panel’s order and granted rehearing in banc. After additional briefing and oral argument before the court in *65banc, we grant appellee’s motion for summary affirmance of the judgment of the district court.1 We do so on the basis of Huffman, supra, 420 U.S. at 609, 95 S.Ct. at 1211 which requires “that Younger standards must be met to justify federal intervention in a state judicial proceeding as to which a losing litigant has not exhausted his state appellate remedies.”
I.
Indicted in New Jersey on two counts of murder, one count of armed robbery, one count of illegal possession of a weapon, and four counts of assault on two police officers, Joanne Chesimard filed numerous pre-trial motions in the state trial court. Concentrating our attention on the First Amendment claim, the account of the New Jersey proceedings discloses that on April 12,1976, Judge Theodore Appelby, of the Superior Court of New Jersey, denied appellant’s motion to recess court on Fridays during the trial in order to permit her to observe her Muslim Sabbath. Ms. Chesimard moved for leave to appeal the adverse decision to the Superior Court, Appellate Division. The Appellate Division denied her request.
New Jersey court rules explicitly permit a litigant to seek leave to appeal to its Supreme Court from an interlocutory order of the Appellate Division, “when necessary to prevent irreparable injury.” New Jersey Court Rule 2:2—2(b).2 The essence of appellant’s claim for federal injunctive or declaratory relief is that she will suffer irreparable injury. If this can be asserted in this court system, the same argument may be asserted in the New Jersey court system under N.J.Ct.R. 2:2-2(b) to obtain Supreme Court review of the Appellate Division’s order. We therefore reject appellant’s contention that by virtue of New *66Jersey Court Rule 2:2-53 she had “no recourse whatsoever to the Supreme Court”. Appellant’s Supporting Memorandum at 4. We are instructed by the New Jersey Attorney General that “[e]ven at this late stage of the proceeding, the New Jersey Supreme Court may entertain a motion to proceed nunc pro tunc.” Amicus Curiae Brief of New Jersey Attorney General at 5. The Attorney General argues that although there is generally a 15-day time limit on the filing of interlocutory appeals, see New Jersey Court Rules 2:4-1(e)4 and 2:5-6(a),5 any rule of court may be relaxed in the interest of justice under New Jersey Court Rule 1:1-2.6
Given the nature of Ms. Chesimard’s important and sensitive claim, we cannot characterize it as frivolous nor can we assume that the New Jersey Supreme Court would ignore it. The New Jersey Supreme Court is a distinguished tribunal which has been most solicitous of the First Amendment rights of members of the Muslim faith. For example, in Holden v. Board of Education of City of Elizabeth, 46 N.J. 281, 216 A.2d 387 (1966), the court held that Muslim school children who, for religious reasons, refuse to pledge allegiance to the American flag cannot be excluded from New Jersey’s schools. The Court there recognized “a religion known as Islam [whose members] are taught that their sole allegiance is to Almighty God Allah. . . . Their religious teachings are based on the Quran, as interpreted to them by one Elijah Muhammad, whom they regarded as their leader and spiritual prophet.” 216 A.2d at 389. Particularly in light of Holden, we cannot assume that the New Jersey Supreme Court would be unwilling to give appellant’s important First Amendment claim priority consideration similar to that afforded by this court.7
II.
The centerpiece of the Younger principle is the requirement that one seeking federal intervention in a pending criminal proceeding must show not merely the irreparable injury which is a normal prerequisite for an injunction, but also that the injury would be “great and immediate”: “The threat to the plaintiff’s federally protected rights must be one that cannot be eliminated by his defense against a single criminal prosecution.” 401 U.S. at 46, 91 S.Ct. at 751. The claim is made here that Ms. Chesimard’s free exercise right could not be asserted as a defense to the criminal prosecution. But it is equally true that the right could not be raised in the absence of a *67criminal prosecution and that it has, in fact, been asserted as part of an ongoing criminal prosecution. Ms. Chesimard raised her free exercise claim by pre-trial motion in the state court. Although the state system provides for interlocutory review of the adverse ruling she received, Ms. Chesimard has chosen not to pursue her available state remedies to their fullest extent. Under these circumstances, we believe the federal hand must be stayed. Like the Huffman Court, “we do not believe that a State’s judicial system would be fairly accorded the opportunity to resolve federal issues arising in its courts if a federal district court were permitted to substitute itself for the State appellate courts.” Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd., supra, 420 U.S. at 609, 95 S.Ct. at 1211. Whether federal intervention would be justified in the absence of state procedures for interlocutory review, or upon af-firmance by the state Supreme Court, is a question we need not decide because Huffman makes clear that irreparable injury cannot exist when available state procedures have not been exhausted.
Nor does the withholding of federal relief under these circumstances do violence to the traditional notion that exhaustion of state judicial remedies is ordinarily not a prerequisite to relief sought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as it is to relief sought under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 92 S.Ct. 509, 30 L.Ed.2d 438 (1971). “By requiring exhaustion of state appellate remedies for the purposes of applying Younger, we in no way undermine Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 [81 S.Ct. 473, 5 L.Ed.2d 492] (1967). There we held that one seeking redress under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for a deprivation of federal rights need not first initiate state proceedings based on related state causes of action. 365 U.S. at 183 [81 S.Ct. at 482]. Monroe v. Pape had nothing to do with the problem presently before us, that of the deference to be accorded to state proceedings which already have been initiated and which afford a competent tribunal for the resolution of federal issues.” Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd. supra, 420 U.S. at 609 n. 21, 95 S.Ct. at 1211.
in.
Although we affirm the district court on Younger principles because we find that Ms. Chesimard has not exhausted her state appellate remedies, it is necessary to discuss briefly the contention that Younger is not applicable to this case because of the peculiar nature of the relief sought. It is contended that the request for Friday recesses is a collateral matter, not related to the central guilt-determination process, and that such collateral matters are not within the Younger rationale. While we recognize this distinction, suggested in Conover v. Montemuro, 477 F.2d 1073, 1082 (3d Cir. 1973), and noted in Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 108 n. 9, 95 S.Ct. 854, 860, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975), we are not persuaded that it commands a different result in the present pósture of this case. The Gerstein Court’s entire discussion of the point was as follows:
The District Court correctly held that respondent’s claim for relief was not barred by the equitable restrictions on federal intervention in state prosecutions. Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 [91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669] (1971). The injunction was not directed at the state prosecution as such, but only at the legality of pretrial detention without a judicial hearing, an issue that could not be raised in defense of the criminal prosecution. The order to hold preliminary hearings could not prejudice the conduct of the trial on the merits. See Conover v. Montemuro, 477 F.2d 1073, 1082 (3d Cir. 1972); cf., Perez v. Ledesma, 401 U.S. 82 [91 S.Ct. 674, 27 L.Ed.2d 701] (1971); Stefanelli v. Minard, 342 U.S. 117 [72 S.Ct. 118, 96 L.Ed. 138] (1951).

Ibid.

Conover, like Gerstein, did not involve the guilt-determination process; it concerned the right to a preliminary hearing prior to the filing of charges in a juvenile case. Federal action in Conover did not affect the adjudication of the merits of any charge. Indeed, Conover placed express precedential reliance on Lewis v. Kugler, 446 F.2d 1343 *68(3d Cir. 1971), and recognized the narrow compass of that decision:
Even if a state prosecution is pending, injunctive or declaratory relief against state officers with respect to violations of federal constitutional rights not- amounting to an injunction which will halt or substantially interfere with a pending prosecution may still be available. Lewis v. Kugler, supra at 1349.
Conover v. Montemuro, supra, 477 F.2d at 1080 (emphasis added).
The issue raised under the Gerstein formulation is whether the federal order sought would “prejudice the conduct of the trial on the merits.” 420 U.S. at 108, n. 9, 95 S.Ct. at 860. Or, as stated by this court in Conover, the question is whether the federal order will “substantially interfere with a pending prosecution.” 477 F.2d at 1080. Persuasive arguments can be made on either side of the question whether an order that requires that a pending state trial not be conducted on Fridays creates a sufficient degree of interference with the “conduct of the trial on the merits” to require application of Younger principles. But it cannot be gainsaid that, even if the order would not substantially interfere with the conduct of the trial, to permit federal intervention here when state interlocutory appellate review remains available would unnecessarily displace the state’s supreme court of its role in supervising the conduct of trials in state courts. Unlike the situation in Conover, in which the order sought did not have reference to any particular trial court ruling in an ongoing proceeding, intervention here would deprive the New Jersey Supreme Court of an opportunity to review a discrete judicial ruling in a pending trial.
Accordingly, we conclude that Younger is applicable in the present posture of the case and need not consider its applicability to the situation in which state appellate review is unavailable or completed.
Moreover, the fact that the relief sought here can be characterized as collateral to the central fact-finding and guilt determination process does not necessarily remove it from Younger’s reach. Kugler v. Hel-fant, 421 U.S. 117, 95 S.Ct. 1524, 44 L.Ed.2d 15 (1975), vacating and remanding 500 F.2d 1188 (3d Cir. 1974) (in banc), reminded this court that even collateral issues may substantially interfere with the conduct of the trial on the merits, requiring application of the principles of equity and comity which underlie Younger: “If the federal equity power must refrain from staying State prosecutions outright to try the central question of the validity of the statute on which the prosecution is based, how much more reluctant must it be to intervene piecemeal to try collateral issues.” Ibid., 421 U.S. at 130, 95 S.Ct. at 1533, quoting Stefanelli v. Minard, 342 U.S. 117, 123, 72 S.Ct. 118, 96 L.Ed. 138 (1951).
IV.
Finally, the Supreme Court has crisply answered the contention that although Younger precludes injunctive relief, federal declaratory relief is nevertheless available: “[T]he basic policy against federal interference with pending state prosecutions would be frustrated as much by the declaratory judgment procedure ordered by the Court of Appeals as it would be by the permanent injunction originally sought by [petitioner].” Kugler v. Helfant, supra, 421 U.S. at 131, 95 S.Ct. at 1534, citing Samuels v. Mackell, 401 U.S. 66, 73, 91 S.Ct. 764, 27 L.Ed.2d 688 (1971).
Appellee’s motion for summary affirmance is granted and the judgment of the district court will be affirmed. The mandate of the court will issue forthwith.

. In her petition to the district court, Ms. Chesi-mard requested relief on three grounds: removal, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1443 et seq.; habeas corpus, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254; and injunctive relief, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1981 et seq. Faced with an inartfully drawn petition in which jurisdictional claims were made without reference to the specific acts leading to each category of requested relief, the district court addressed primarily the removal claim, disposing of the habeas corpus claim and the civil rights claim in footnotes.
We affirm the denial of the petition for removal under 28 U.S.C. § 1443 as untimely filed. Title 28 U.S.C. § 1446(c) requires the removal petition to be filed at any time “before trial”. Here the petition for removal was filed after two days of jury voir dire involving 64 prospective jurors. We agree with the Ninth Circuit that the phrase “before trial” must be construed to mean “before proceedings for empanelling a jury.” United States ex rel. Walker v. Gunn, 511 F.2d 1024 (9th Cir.), cert, denied, 423 U.S. 849, (1975). See also Chesimard v. Kuhlthau, 370 F.Supp. 473, 475 (D.N.J.1974).
It is unclear whether appellant predicates her free exercise claim upon her habeas corpus petition or her § 1981 et seq. request. In any event, we affirm the denial of habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 because appellant clearly failed to exhaust state remedies. Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 275, 92 S.Ct. 509, 30 L.Ed.2d 438 (1971); Moore v. De Young, 515 F.2d 437, 443—47 (3d Cir. 1975). See N.J.Stat. Ann. 2A:67-1 et seq. (New Jersey state habeas corpus procedures).
Finally, we also affirm the district court’s refusal to grant relief against the conditions of Ms. Chesimard’s confinement, as alleged in her petition. Although the district court was not restricted by Younger principles on this issue, see Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 95 S.Ct. 854, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975), by the time the proceedings were filed in federal court, the state trial had already begun. Ms. Chesimard’s attendance at trial necessarily alters the confined regimen asserted in her petition below, inasmuch as she will not be confined in her cell for at least four or five days a week. Under these circumstances, we will not disturb the ruling of the district court. Moreover, we note that a similar petition to relieve these same conditions was the subject of lengthy proceedings before Judge George H. Barlow in Joanne Chesimard (Assata Shakur) v. Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders et al., Civil Action No. 76-582. A 15-page opinion discussing the conditions was filed July 15, 1976.

. N.J.Ct.R. 2:2-2 provides:
Appeals may be taken to the Supreme Court by its leave from interlocutory orders:
(a) Of trial courts in cases where the death penalty has been or may be imposed and in post-conviction proceedings in cases in which the death penalty was imposed.
(b) Of the Appellate Division when necessary to prevent irreparable injury;
(c) On certification by the Supreme Court to the Appellate Division pursuant to R. 2:12.

. N.J.Ct.R. 2:2-5 provides:
A judgment of the Appellate Division on an appeal to it from an interlocutory order, decision or action shall be deemed to be interlocutory and not appealable to the Supreme Court as a final judgment, unless the judgment of the Appellate Division is dispositive of the action.

. N.J.Ct.R. 2:4-1 provides:
(c) Applications for leave to appeal from interlocutory orders, decisions or actions shall be made within the time provided by R. 2:5-6(a).

. N.J.Ct.R. 2:5-6 provides:
(a) Appeals. Applications for leave to appeal from interlocutory orders of courts or of judges sitting as statutory agents and from interlocutory decisions or actions of state administrative agencies or officers shall be made by serving and filing with the appellate court a notice of motion for leave to appeal, as prescribed by R. 2:8-1, within 15 days after entry of such order or the date of service of such administrative decision or notice of such administrative action.

. N.J.Ct.R. 1:1-2 provides:
The rules in Part I through Part VII, inclusive, shall be construed to secure a just determination, simplicity in procedure, fairness in administration and the elimination of unjustifiable expense and delay. Unless otherwise stated, any rule may be relaxed or dispensed with by the court in which the action is pending if adherence to it would result in an injustice. In the absence of rule, the court may proceed in any manner compatible with these purposes.

. One day after the district court entered its final order of January 20, 1977, a single judge of this court entertained, but did not grant, a motion for temporary relief; a panel then was assembled on an emergency basis to hear oral argument on January 25; subsequent to the panel’s action and, again, on an emergency basis, the full court summoned ten circuit judges from three states for the sole purpose of hearing oral argument in banc on February 18.