Court Opinion

ID: 9463828
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 23:17:22.089821+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:18.280943
License: Public Domain

ADAMS, Circuit Judge,
dissenting in part.
I respectfully dissent from the Court’s disposition of the Younger v. Harris1 issue.2
*69My grounds for disagreement with the majority are two-fold. First, I believe that Younger is not applicable in the situation before us, but rather that federal remedial relief is available under the principle of Gerstein v. Pugh.3 Second, even if it were to be decided that this case does not fit within the Pugh guidelines but instead falls within the general ambit of Younger, I would conclude that we are presented here with one of the “exceptional” cases referred to in the latter formulation where federal intervention is nonetheless permissible.
I.
In recognition of the perception that “a federal lawsuit to stop a prosecution in a state court is a serious matter,”4 the Supreme Court in Younger v. Harris5 and its progeny6 has enunciated a regime of comity between federal and state judicial processes, that has deep roots in American jurisprudence.7 Younger declares that a federal court may not interfere in an ongoing state criminal proceeding absent a showing of prosecutorial bad faith or harassment or other extraordinary circumstances.8 And even in those instances where the initial predicate for federal intervention has been made out, a federal court must still stay its hand unless the party seeking relief can demonstrate that without a federal equitable remedy he will suffer harm that is both great and immediate and has no adequate remedy at law.9
The principles set forth in Younger are most salutary. Younger calls upon us un-grudgingly to show “a proper respect for state functions,” and to recognize that in our federal system state courts as well as federal courts have a solemn obligation to preserve the constitutional rights of the citizenry.10 Moreover, because the administration of the criminal process is one of the core functions of the states and since constitutional rights may normally be vindicated in the ordinary course of an unfolding prosecution, we should exhibit considerable reticence when requested to intrude in a state criminal trial.11
II.
That Younger is an important ingredient in the preservation of the frictionless operation of our federal system does not at all answer the question whether its strictures apply to the factual setting that is presented to us. In my opinion, it would appear that they do not.
*70The linchpin of Younger, as I see it, is its disapprobation of federal court action that “imposes a substantial impediment upon a state criminal trial,”12 a concept usually described as federal “interference” or “intrusion.” The most basic type of action that Younger inveighs against is the halting of an ongoing state prosecution.13 This, however, does not fully describe the full reach of the Younger doctrine. Interference with certain component aspects of state criminal trials have been found to be equally offensive to basic notions of comity. Thus, eases such as Kugler v. Helfant14 and Stefanelli v. Minard15 have made clear that, in the usual situation, federal courts should not supplant state judicial processes in determining whether certain evidence can constitutionally be admitted at a state criminal trial.16
These admonitions, however, do not encompass all federal court actions that have the possibility of touching upon a state criminal prosecution. The Supreme Court has indicated that, in some cases, certain federal equitable decrees may issue even though they may affect the operation of the state criminal processes.
An example of this can be found in Ger-stein v. Pugh.17 Pugh was a federal class action brought by persons arrested for felonies. They sought a ruling that the State of Florida was constitutionally required to provide them with an expeditious hearing on the question of probable cause for arrest and an appropriate remedy to rectify this deprivation. The district court granted relief, and the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court affirmed. In the lower courts, the state had urged that the issuance of equitable relief in favor of the plaintiff class would transgress the teachings of Younger. The Supreme Court rejected this contention noting that:18
The injunction was not directed at the state prosecutions 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.
A fuller statement of the rationale underpinning this position can be found in Judge Tuttle’s carefully-crafted opinion for the Fifth Circuit in Pugh.19 Younger, Judge
*71Tuttle stated, was not applicable because the plaintiffs in the Pugh litigation:20
sought no relief which would impede pending or future prosecutions on various charges in the state courts of Florida. Rather, while accepting that the state courts were the proper forum for consummation of criminal proceedings against them, the plaintiffs argued that the state was nevertheless obligated to submit them to preliminary probable causé hearings.
Judge Tuttle recognized that not every allegedly unconstitutional state pretrial procedure would provide a proper occasion for federal intervention. Pugh was such a case, however, since the relief requested was not against any state prosecution “as such,”21 and because plaintiffs merely desired “to challenge an aspect of the criminal justice system [which affects a constitutional right that] cannot be vindicated in the state court trial.”22 Finally, Judge Tuttle noted that the fact that the plaintiffs could have sought identical relief in a state equitable action was not sufficient to erect a Younger bar to federal proceedings. Younger, he submitted, was not applicable in a situation where a federal claim could not be ruled upon in a single pending or future state proceeding.23
This case admittedly is not on all fours with Pugh. In Pugh, the state trials had not yet commenced and the relief that the plaintiffs requested would have had no direct impact on their trials. Chesimard’s trial, in contrast, has already begun, and proscribing Friday sessions will admittédly have some effect on the state court trial. Nonetheless, I am convinced that this case is governed by the considerations articulated in Pugh, and that the present problem is not the type that Younger and Kugler were designed to address.
Unlike the situations in Younger and the cases following it, the relief sought by Che-simard is not directed at the state criminal prosecution as such. The Younger plaintiffs, in effect, attempted to block the entire state criminal proceeding. A declaration against the holding of Friday sessions, however, is surely not the equivalent of halting a state criminal action.
Nor would such a declaration have the disruptive effect on the internal processes of the state trial that federal adjudication of evidentiary questions, the relief requested in Kugler and Stefanelli, would threaten. Indeed, it appears that the relief demanded would, in no meaningful way, change the substance of Chesimard’s trial or threaten the integrity of the operation of the state criminal process.
Moreover, as was the case in Pugh, Chesi-mard, within the confines of her trial, cannot win relief from the practice to which she objects — trial sessions on Fridays. This is so because Judge Appelby has ordered that the trial take place on Fridays, and each time that it does, Chesimard’s constitutional rights will be abridged. It would accordingly be necessary for her to seek a delay in the proceedings in order to invoke state appellate processes. Thus, the “interference” with the trial brought on by employing state appellate remedies, if any are available, would be practically identical with the interference that would be caused by the bringing of a federal action, a factor that would distinguish this case from Younger and Kugler.
It would appear that one of the reasons for interdicting federal interference with state criminal actions is to avoid prejudice to the integrity of such proceedings. In this case the only prejudice that might flow from the trial court’s not sitting on Fridays would be an extension of the length of the trial. This, of course, is a matter of some concern, particularly because the jury in this case is being sequestered. Yet, it was admitted at oral argument that no one had any objection to holding longer sessions on *72the other four weekdays, or even to having court on Saturdays.24 If these alternatives were utilized the chance of a longer trial would, as a practical matter, evaporate, thus removing the possibility that prejudice would flow from the federal court action.
I recognize that, in a formal sense, a federal declaratory judgment that a state court, under the facts here, should not sit on Fridays may be deemed an “intrusion” upon state criminal processes. However, it is significant that the majority, in a candid fashion, concedes that this may not be so.25 In any event, such an order, even it can be considered to be a technical interference, is in my opinion, so de minimis that it should not be characterized as the sort of occurrence that Younger and Kugler endeavored to prevent.
The Pugh doctrine, that certain controversies collateral to the basic state criminal proceeding are not subject to the mandate of Younger, is a necessary one. This is the case since, without the Pugh principle, constitutional claims, like the one asserted by Chesimard, would go without redress. Such a result would raise serious constitutional concerns because it is questionable whether the ordinarily salubrious requirements of comity have sufficient force to permit the violation of constitutional rights to go without remedy.
I would thus conclude that the relief sought by Chesimard does not pose the threat of substantial interference with a state criminal trial that the Younger line of cases forbids, and that federal equitable relief in this case would not be barred by the precepts of comity.26
III.
Assuming that the relief requested by Chesimard does not fit within the contours of the Pugh doctrine, but instead constitutes sufficient interference with state criminal proceedings to bring Younger into play, the relief sought should, nonetheless, be granted. This is so since I believe that the peculiar congerie of facts before us would fall within the “exceptional circumstances” limitation to the Younger rule.27
Chesimard’s predicament would appear to reveal rather clearly the imminence of great and irreparable harm. She is an Orthodox Muslim, and the sincerity of her beliefs has not been disputed. The Muslim faith recognizes Friday or Jumah as its Sabbath, and its tenets prohibit its adherents from attending any public function on that day.
The state judge’s order that trial proceed on Fridays thus places Chesimard in a harsh dilemma. She is forced to choose between conforming to her religious precepts or at*73tending a trial on criminal charges in order to assist in her defense.
What seems to divide the Court is not whether Chesimard is threatened with serious harm on account of the proposed Friday sessions, because the majority assumes that this is so, but whether this harm is irreparable, great and immediate, and whether Che-simard lacks an adequate remedy at law so as to fall within the exceptional circumstances qualification to the Younger rule. These inquiries pivot primarily on the question whether Chesimard has exhausted her state appellate remedies.
I agree with my brethren in the majority that the question of exhaustion is a proper inquiry in a Younger situation. Although the Supreme Court has continuously held that exhaustion of state court remedies is not a precondition to obtaining relief under section 1983 28 — the basis of Chesimard’s federal action — exhaustion would nonetheless appear to be a legitimate component of the “immediate and irreparable harm” and the “no adequate remedy at law” requirements for federal intervention in Younger-type cases. Indeed, this is the mandate of the Supreme Court in Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd29
The exhaustion problem here would seem to reduce to a fairly simple question, namely whether the federal courts must forbear from acting because Chesimard arguably still has available within the state system an interlocutory appeal nunc pro tunc to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The majority answers in the affirmative, reasoning, on the basis of Huffman, that a case of irreparable injury-cannot be made out if a federal plaintiff has yet to utilize any remaining state appellate remedy. Because of the special circumstances presented here, I cannot agree with this proposition.
Huffman is a different case from the one before us. There, the state court defendant, after an adverse verdict at trial,30 commenced a section 1983 action instead of immediately pursuing clearly available state appellate remedies. The Supreme Court held that such a deliberate bypass of the state appellate process was inimical to the spirit of comity described by Younger.31
The present ease in no way represents an attempt to deprive the state appellate courts of their legitimate function. When the state trial judge, during pretrial proceedings, initially indicated that he intended to hold Friday sessions, Chesimard immediately sought leave to appeal in the state intermediate appellate court. But leave to appeal was denied. We were advised at oral argument that the only reason that leave to appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court was not pursued at that time was the fact that the state trial judge had indicated that no pretrial proceedings would take place on Fridays. And, indeed, no pretrial motions were heard on Fridays. It was only after Judge Appelby, in January 1977, a date when the time for appeal had long since elapsed, declared that trial sessions would take place on Fridays that Chesimard commenced her federal action.
At oral argument before the original panel in this appeal, the attorneys for both Chesimard and the State indicated to this Court that Chesimard had exhausted her available state appellate remedies. No mention of the nunc pro tunc possibility was made at that time. Only after the motion for a stay of the panel’s order was filed was there brought to our attention the possible existence of the availability of leave to appeal nunc pro tunc to the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Moreover, at no point has this Court been informed how amenable the New Jersey Supreme Court is to the nunc pro tunc *74procedure, or how much time it is apt to consume. These factors would appear to make the present case far different from the situation in Huffman where the federal plaintiff was clearly seeking to avoid the process of direct appeal from an adverse state trial verdict.
In addition to these considerations, an occurrence at the en banc argument provides a further reason for concluding that federal action is not barred by the possible availability of a nunc pro tunc leave to appeal. At that argument, counsel for Che-simard stated that he was willing immediately to pursue the nunc pro tunc remedy if the State would agree that no Friday sessions would be held meanwhile. But the state prosecutor declined to go along with this proposal. If Chesimard is required to pursue the suggested state remedy, she will be compelled to undergo a deprivation of her rights under the first amendment on each Friday that sessions are held until there is a determination by the New Jersey Supreme Court. Consequently, I would conclude that, as a practical matter, Chesi-mard has exhausted her state appellate remedies for the purposes of the Younger doctrine.32
Furthermore, it should be noted that the state remedy here is not an adequate substitute for federal equitable relief. A federal decree would promptly terminate the possibility that Chesimard’s first amendment rights will be violated. On the other hand, if it is necessary for her to go to the state courts for relief there would loom the possibility that Chesimard would be subjected to one or more instances where her constitutional rights would be infringed before a state remedy could be had. Such would appear to be a particularly grievous possibility given the nature of the constitutional right in question, for if Chesimard’s first amendment liberties are abridged, there does not appear to be any available mode of redress for such violations.33
Since, a state remedy would be insufficient to rectify Chesimard’s grievance, I would conclude that she has made out a sufficient case of great, immediate and irreparable harm under the exceptions to the Younger rule so as to warrant federal equitable relief.
Thus, I would remand the cause to the district court with instructions to enter a declaratory judgment that the holding of Friday sessions in Chesimard’s state court trial should, on the basis of the present record, not take place.
Judges MARIS and VAN DUSEN join in this opinion.

. 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971).

. I agree with the majority’s analysis of the other issues. See Majority opinion at n. 1.

. 420 U.S. 103, 95 S.Ct. 854, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975).

. 401 U.S. at 42, 91 S.Ct. at 749.

. 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971). Younger was one of six cases disposed of simultaneously by the Supreme Court. See also Byrne v. Karalexis, 401 U.S. 216, 91 S.Ct. 777, 27 L.Ed.2d 792 (1971); Dyson v. Stein, 401 U.S. 200, 91 S.Ct. 769, 27 L.Ed.2d 781 (1971); Perez v. Ledesma, 401 U.S. 82, 91 S.Ct. 674, 27 L.Ed.2d 701 (1971); Boyle v. Landry, 401 U.S. 77, 91 S.Ct. 758, 27 L.Ed.2d 696 (1971); Samu-els v. Mackell, 401 U.S. 66, 91 S.Ct. 764, 27 L.Ed.2d 688 (1971).

. See, e. g., Doran v. Salem Inn, Inc., 422 U.S. 922, 95 S.Ct. 2561, 45 L.Ed.2d 648 (1975); Hicks v. Miranda, 422 U.S. 332, 95 S.Ct. 2281, 45 L.Ed.2d 223 (1975); Kugler v. Helfant, 421 U.S. 117, 95 S.Ct. 1524, 44 L.Ed.2d 15 (1975); Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd., 420 U.S. 592, 95 S.Ct. 1200, 43 L.Ed.2d 482 (1975).

. See Helfant v. Kugler, 500 F.2d 1188, 1199-1200 (3d Cir. 1974) (en banc) (Adams, J., dissenting), rev’d 421 U.S. 117, 95 S.Ct. 1524, 44 L.Ed.2d 15 (1975).

. 401 U.S. at 46-50, 53, 91 S.Ct. 746. See also Kugler v. Helfant, 421 U.S. 117, 123-25, 95 S.Ct. 1524, 44 L.Ed.2d 15 (1975).

. 401 U.S. at 45-46, 91 S.Ct. 746.

. Id. 401 U.S. at 44, 91 S.Ct. 746.

. Judge Gibbons’ opinion appears to state that the importance of Younger lies in its establishment of a relationship “between the national law and state enforcement of its own law.” Opinion of Gibbons, J., at 80. It goes on to indicate, however, that imposition of federal standards upon the state criminal process at any point could be viewed as an intrusion on the states for purposes of Younger. Opinion of Gibbons, J., at 80. I am concerned that the logical implications of this approach, might well undermine the underlying premises of the Younger rule.

. See Helfant v. Kugler, 500 F.2d 1188, 1205 (3d Cir. 1974) (en banc) (Adams, J., dissenting), rev’d, 421 U.S. 117, 95 S.Ct. 1524, 44 L.Ed.2d 15 (1975); Conover v. Montemuro, 477 F.2d 1073, 1082 (3d Cir. 1973).

. See, e. g., Doran v. Salem Inn, Inc., 422 U.S. 922, 95 S.Ct. 2561, 45 L.Ed.2d 648 (1975) (request for preliminary injunction); Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971) (request for permanent injunction).

. 421 U.S. 117, 95 S.Ct. 1524, 44 L.Ed.2d 15 (1975).

. 342 U.S. 117, 72 S.Ct. 118, 96 L.Ed. 138 (1951).

. The scope of the Court’s concern was indicated in Stefanelli, 342 U.S. at 123-24, 72 S.Ct. at 121:
If we were to sanction this intervention, we would expose every State criminal prosecution to insupportable disruption. Every question of procedural due process of law— with its far-flung and undefined range— would invite a flanking movement against the system of State courts by resort to the federal forum, with review, if need be to this Court, to determine the issue. Asserted unconstitutionality in the impaneling and selection of the grand and petit juries, in the failure to appoint counsel, in the admission of a confession, in the creation of an unfair trial atmosphere, in the misconduct of the trial court — all would provide ready opportunities, which conscientious counsel might be bound to employ, to subvert the orderly effective prosecution of local crime in local courts.

. 420 U.S. 103, 95 S.Ct. 854, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975).

. 420 U.S. at 108 n. 9, 95 S.Ct. at 860. It should be noted that the Court, in this footnote, indicated that Stefanelli presented a distinguishable problem.
That Pugh and the Younger line of cases are complementary rather than conflicting aspects of our system of federalism is made clear by the fact that Pugh was decided by the Supreme Court during the same term as Duran, Hicks, Kugler, and Huffman.

. Pugh v. Rainwater, 483 F.2d 778 (5th Cir. 1973), affd, 420 U.S. 103, 95 S.Ct. 854, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975).

. 483 F.2d at 781.

. Id (emphasis in the original).

. Id. at 782.

. Id. This Court adopted a substantially similar approach in Conover v. Montemuro, 477 F.2d 1073 (3d Cir. 1973).

. Indeed, after the opinions were filed, we were informed by counsel that the state trial court proceeded to hold trial sessions on Saturday.

. See Majority Opinion at 68.

. I also believe that the arguable availability of a state court remedy does not mean that Chesimard is unable to make out, for the purposes of a Pugh analysis, the traditional prerequisites for equitable relief — irreparable harm and lack of an adequate remedy at law. It is true that, if the present case represents a Younger situation, I would conclude that the clear availability of a state remedy might bar a finding of irreparable harm. See pp. 72-73 infra. Such would seem to be so because in Younger -type circumstances, a state remedy is viewed as precedent to a federal one.
Pugh cases, however, are without the scope of Younger; instead, they are governed by the teachings of McNeese and Monroe that exhaustion of state remedies is unnecessary prior to the invocation of section 1983. In such instances, the question is not whether the plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a federal remedy, the inquiry in Younger cases. Rather, the question is whether the plaintiff will be subjected to irreparable injury in the absence of some equitable relief, whether it be federal or state. Under such a test, the dilemma with which Chesimard is faced makes her entitlement to a remedy manifest.

. See 401 U.S. at 53, 91 S.Ct. 746. In my opinion in Heifant v. Kugler, 500 F.2d 1188, 1204-05 (3d Cir. 1974), I expressed a concern that an exceptional circumstances category might not exist. However, Mr. Justice Stewart’s opinion for the unanimous Supreme Court in that case stated that although the parameters of “extraordinary circumstances” could not be definitely laid out, that category was a legitimate exception to the Younger rule. 421 U.S. at 124-25, 95 S.Ct. 1524.

. See, e. g., McNeese v. Board of Educ., 373 U.S. 668, 671, 83 S.Ct. 1433, 10 L.Ed.2d 622 (1963); Monroe v. Page, 365 U.S. 167, 183, 81 S.Ct. 473, 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961).

. 420 U.S. 592, 609, 95 S.Ct. 1200, 43 L.Ed.2d 482 (1975).

. The state court proceedings in Huffman were not criminal in nature. Although technically civil, they were characterized by the court as being “akin to a criminal prosecution.” 420 U.S. at 604, 95 S.Ct. 1200.

. Id. at 609, 95 S.Ct. 1200.

. It is significant that in habeas corpus proceedings, where exhaustion of state court remedies is mandated by statute, see 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b), courts have adopted a practical rather than a technical approach to exhaustion. See, e. g., United States ex rel. Sostre v. Festa, 513 F.2d 1313, 1314 n. 1 (2d Cir. 1975); United States ex rel. Sanders v. Arnold, 535 F.2d 848, 851-55 (3d Cir. 1976) (Adams, J., dissenting).

. As Judge Gibbons has appropriately noted, see Opinion of Gibbons, J., at 78-79, a damage action by Chesimard would appear to be barred by the doctrine of absolute judicial immunity. See Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967). It would also seem that the absolute prosecutorial immunity mandated by Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 96 S.Ct. 984, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976), would pose an equal roadblock.