Martin Reiner v. State of California Department of Industrial Relations et al

Filing 4

ORDER 1) TO SHOW CAUSE RE ROOKER-FELDMAN AND YOUNGER DOCTRINES; and 2) STAYING ACTION by Magistrate Judge Ralph Zarefsky. Response to Order to Show Cause due by 11/16/2012. (See document for details). (ib)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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MARTIN REINER,

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Plaintiff,
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vs.
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT )
OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, ET AL., )
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Defendants.
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CASE NO. CV 12-08649 JST (RZ)
ORDER –
1.
TO SHOW CAUSE RE
ROOKER-FELDMAN and
YOUNGER DOCTRINES; and
2.
STAYING ACTION

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The pro se plaintiff is a workers’ compensation (WC) defense attorney. He

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alleges that one of the claims he was challenging in proceedings before the state Workers’

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Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) proved to be fraudulent, or at least fraudulently

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amplified, due to the dishonesty of the claimant’s lawyer. Plaintiff not only was

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unsuccessful in proving the fraud but also was ordered to pay substantial sanctions.

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Plaintiff unsuccessfully sought writs of review in the California Court of Appeal and

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California Supreme Court. He now turns to this federal district court, asserting among

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other things that the conduct for which he was sanctioned was free speech protected by the

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First Amendment. But what he truly is doing is seeking federal review of an adverse state

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ruling.

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Litigants may not seek to appeal, or otherwise relitigate, state-court losses in

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federal district courts. Federal jurisdiction over appeals from state courts lies exclusively

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in the Supreme Court and is beyond the original jurisdiction of federal district courts.

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Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 415-16, 44 S.Ct.149, 68 L.Ed.2d 362 (1923).

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This jurisdictional bar also excludes claims that are “inextricably intertwined” with those

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a state court has already decided. District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460

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U.S. 462, 486-87, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983). Taken together, these holdings

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have come to be known as the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, which today is understood to

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mean that a party who loses in the state courts is barred from seeking what, in effect, would

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be appellate review of the state judgment in a federal district court. Johnson v. De Grandy,

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512 U.S. 997, 1005-06, 114 S.Ct. 2647, 129 L.Ed.2d 775 (1994). This rule applies even

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when the challenge to the judgment involves federal constitutional issues. Dubinka v.

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Judges of the Superior Court, 23 F.3d 218, 221 (9th Cir. 1994).

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In addition, federal courts may abstain from actions – even if they technically

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do have jurisdiction – that implicate state legal proceedings that (1) are ongoing,

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(2) involve important state interests, and (3) provide the plaintiff with an adequate

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opportunity to litigate the very federal claims he seeks to litigate in federal court. This is

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commonly called “Younger abstention.” See Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746,

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27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971); San Remo Hotel v. City & County of San Francisco, 145 F.3d

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1095, 1103 (9th Cir. 1998); see also Colorado River Water Conservation Dist. v. United

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States, 424 U.S. 800, 96 S.Ct. 1236, 47 L.Ed.2d 483 (1976).

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The Court ORDERS Plaintiff to show cause in writing, by no later than 30

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days from the filing date of this Order, why this action should not be dismissed without

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prejudice pursuant to the Rooker-Feldman doctrine and/or Younger abstention.

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Plaintiff shall serve a copy of this Order on Defendants in conjunction with

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service of process, or, if process already has been served, he shall serve a copy of the Order

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on each already-served Defendant forthwith.

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Pending resolution of this Order To Show Cause, the Court STAYS this

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action. No Defendant served with process need file any first paper until the stay is vacated.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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DATED: October 17, 2012

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RALPH ZAREFSKY
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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