Federal abstention is no romp in the park

A slew of rules guide the relationship between the state and federal courts, specifically, when you can sue in federal court on state law matters, and when you can sue in federal court on issues that remain under review in state court. We call this the "abstention" doctrine, created by the courts and not the Constitution. These are not the most exciting rules in the world, but they exist to ensure that the federal courts are not stepping on the state courts.

The case is Gristina v. Merchan, issued on March 12. This case was argued in January 2023, demonstrating the complicated nature of federal abstention. Having handled abstention issues, I can tell you that abstention is not a romp in the park. Very few cases take more than two years to decide, but one reason for this is the lengthy dissent that challenges the majority's reasoning.

Plaintiff was convicted in state court in 2012 on prostitution-related offenses. Nearly 10 years after she pleaded guilty, she wanted the state court to unseal several transcripts and other materials related to her prosecution. She said the Sixth Amendment allowed her to make such a motion. The state court, for the most part, ruled against plaintiff, stating that some transcripts were already available (but should not have been made available in the first instance) and others had to remain under seal. 

Plaintiff then challenged the criminal court's ruling in an Article 78 proceeding, which is unique to state practice and allows for an expedited challenge to arbitrary and capricious rulings. The Article 78 challenge was denied, but plaintiff took an appeal to the Appellate Division and the New York State Court of Appeals. While those appeals were pending, however, she sued the criminal court judge in federal court, seeking an order that would release the transcripts and related materials. So plaintiff actually had simultaneous state and federal proceedings.

In the end, plaintiff lost her state appeals. But the federal case was dismissed as well, under the so-called Younger-abstention, named after a U.S. Supreme Court case that prohibits federal court interference with state court proceedings. Younger v. Harris was decided in 1971. While Younger is more than 50 years old, courts are still applying it in new situations. This is one such situation.

First, the Second Circuit (Lee and Merriam, with Menashi in dissent) says that the Article 78 petition qualifies as a state court proceeding under the Younger doctrine. This is so because the Article 78 deals with the state court's ability to govern itself. 

The other main issue is whether Younger abstention warrants dismissal of the federal case even if the state proceeding is over by the time the federal judge rules on the federal case. The Second Circuit holds that "our Court's case law . . . clearly indicates that the Younger abstention issue is evaluated at the time of filing, and it is not continuously re-evaluated throughout the pendency of the proceeding." The Court of Appeals stands behind these prior cases and says they serve to "create an incentive for plaintiffs to file duplicative proceedings in federal court before the end of their state court proceedings, hoping that by the time the district or circuit court ruled on the merits, the state proceedings would have ended." That would undermine one of the policies in Younger: to avoid duplicative state and federal court proceedings.