William Herrera v. City of Palmdale , 918 F.3d 1037 ( 2019 )


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  •                   FOR PUBLICATION
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
    WILLIAM ROBERT HERRERA; MONA               No. 17-55761
    MOLINA HERRERA, Individually and
    on behalf of their minor child N.P.H.;        D.C. No.
    WILLIAM RYAN HERRERA; PALMDALE             2:16-cv-09453-
    LODGING, LLC, a California Limited           MWF-FFM
    Liability Company,
    Plaintiffs-Appellants,
    OPINION
    v.
    CITY OF PALMDALE; COUNTY OF LOS
    ANGELES; BUD DAVIS; GEORGE
    SCHNEIDER; ROB BRUCE; NARDY
    LOPEZ; MARK DYLER; ANNE
    AMBROSE; NOEL JAMES DURAN;
    JAMES PURTEE; SARA SHREVES;
    RAPOSAS; BLAKELY; ANTHONY
    BONELLI; MARK MILLER; MUNOZ;
    LEON; JACOBS; DANA; MYLES;
    SORROW; DIAZ; ARCIDIANCONO;
    DOLLENS; BRANDON; GALLAGHER;
    WALDEN; DOES, 1–10 inclusive,
    Defendants-Appellees.
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Central District of California
    Michael W. Fitzgerald, District Judge, Presiding
    2               HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE
    Argued and Submitted December 6, 2018
    Pasadena, California
    Filed March 20, 2019
    Before: Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain and Sandra S. Ikuta,
    Circuit Judges, and George Carem Steeh, * District Judge.
    Opinion by Judge O’Scannlain
    SUMMARY **
    Civil Rights
    The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the
    district court’s order granting defendants’ motions for
    abstention in an action brought pursuant to 
    42 U.S.C. § 1983
    and the Fair Housing Act alleging that the City of Palmdale
    and the County of Los Angeles committed numerous
    violations in connection with assessing code violations on
    plaintiffs’ motel property and evicting plaintiffs and their
    tenants from the motel.
    When plaintiffs brought their suit in federal court, the
    City almost simultaneously filed a complaint in state court
    asserting that plaintiffs’ hotel was a public nuisance and
    seeking the appointment of a receiver to take possession and
    *
    The Honorable George Caram Steeh III, United States District
    Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, sitting by designation.
    **
    This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It
    has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader.
    HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE                  3
    control of the property. The district court found that
    abstention was proper under Younger v. Harris, 
    401 U.S. 37
    (1971), and dismissed the claims for declaratory and
    injunctive relief, and stayed the claims for damages pending
    resolution of proceedings in the state action.
    The panel first held that it had jurisdiction over the
    appeal from the district court’s order granting the motions
    for abstention even though the district court merely stayed
    rather than dismissed the damages claims. The panel held
    that the state nuisance enforcement action brought by the
    City (1) was a civil enforcement proceeding within the scope
    of the Younger doctrine; (2) implicated important state
    interests; and (3) provided an adequate opportunity to raise
    the federal constitutional claims.      The panel further
    concluded that because plaintiffs’ request for declaratory
    relief in the district court would have the same practical
    impact as injunctive relief on the pending state proceeding
    as a result of the preclusive effect of the federal court
    judgment, Younger abstention was also appropriate as to
    such relief.
    Addressing the claims for damages under § 1983 for
    violations of the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments
    and the Contract Clause of the Constitution and the Fair
    Housing Act, the panel held that success by the plaintiffs on
    such claims would invalidate the code enforcement
    proceeding, and Younger abstention was therefore
    appropriate as to those claims.
    Finally, the panel held that the district court erred in
    abstaining from the § 1983 damages claim alleging
    violations of the Fourth Amendment. The panel held that the
    relief sought based on alleged Fourth Amendment violations
    simply did not meet the Court’s requirement that the relief
    4            HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE
    have the practical effect of enjoining the state court
    proceeding. The panel stated that the Fourth Amendment
    claim must be severed from the other claims and that the
    district court should consider it on the merits upon remand.
    COUNSEL
    Frank Alan Weiser (argued), Law Offices of Frank A.
    Weiser, Los Angeles, California, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
    John M. Fujii (argued) and Matthew R. Silver, Silver &
    Wright LLP, Irvine, California, for Defendant-Appellee City
    of Palmdale.
    Ashlee Clark (argued), Gilbert M. Nishimura, and Andrew
    Charles Pongracz, Seki, Nishimura & Watase, LLP, Los
    Angeles, California, for Defendant-Appellee County of Los
    Angeles.
    HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE                  5
    OPINION
    O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge:
    We must decide whether a district court may abstain
    from addressing claims that seek federal relief while a
    simultaneous action is ongoing in state court.
    I
    A
    William (“Bill”) Herrera and his wife, Mona Herrera,
    operate a 48-unit motel in Palmdale, California. The motel
    is owned by Palmdale Lodging, LLC, a privately owned
    company formed by Bill and Mona. The City of Palmdale
    (“City”) licensed Palmdale Lodging to operate the motel.
    After purchasing the motel in June 2016, Bill, Mona, and
    Palmdale Lodging spent approximately $250,000 to upgrade
    and to renovate the motel, and contracted with Motel 6 to
    operate the motel as a franchise. They also evicted those
    whom they considered to be “problem tenants who had prior
    to their ownership and possession caused crime problems at
    the motel.”
    On November 17, 2016, the City obtained a civil
    inspection warrant to investigate suspected violations of the
    Palmdale Municipal Code, the California Building
    Standards Code, the California Health and Safety Code, and
    other laws. The warrant was executed on November 21,
    2016. Bill and Mona allege that the inspection warrant was
    executed without notice and included a search of their
    personal residence, located within the motel, without their
    permission. They further claim that sheriffs from the County
    of Los Angeles (“County”) held Bill and their two children
    6              HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE
    at gunpoint for an hour and a half during the inspection of
    their personal residence.
    On December 13, 2016, the City issued a Notice and
    Order to Repair or Abate (“Notice and Order”), which
    identified more than 400 code violations on the motel
    property. The Notice and Order required the violations to be
    repaired or abated within thirty days, and ordered the Herrera
    family and all motel tenants to vacate the property within
    two days.
    On December 15, 2016, the City and County closed the
    motel and evicted the Herrera family and all motel tenants.
    Bill and Mona contend that they were not afforded an
    opportunity to appeal the Notice and Order. Bill and Mona
    further contend that the City and County prevented them
    from doing “any work to upgrade or repair the motel for the
    alleged code violations” despite their requests to do so.
    B
    On December 21, 2016, Bill and Mona, individually and
    on behalf of their minor daughter, their son William Ryan
    Herrera, and Palmdale Lodging (collectively, the
    “Herreras”) filed this federal civil rights action in the Central
    District of California against the City, County, and
    individual defendants, alleging violations under 
    42 U.S.C. § 1983
     and the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”), 
    42 U.S.C. § 3601
    , et. seq. (“the federal action”). A First Amended
    Complaint alleged numerous federal constitutional
    violations by the City, County, and City and County
    officials, and a disparate impact claim under the FHA. The
    Herreras requested declaratory and injunctive relief,
    monetary damages, and attorney’s fees.
    HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE                             7
    Almost simultaneously, the City filed a Nuisance
    Complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court against
    Bill Herrera and Palmdale Lodging (“the state action”). The
    City sought, among other things, a declaration that the motel
    is a public nuisance, the appointment of a receiver to take
    possession and control of the property, and injunctive relief
    prohibiting the state-action defendants “from maintaining or
    allowing any public nuisances” and “requiring [them] to
    abate all violations of law” on the property.
    In the federal action, the City filed a motion for
    abstention, or, in the alternative, a motion to dismiss. The
    County filed a nearly identical motion the next day. The
    Herreras opposed both motions. On May 16, 2017, the
    district court granted both motions, concluding that
    abstention was appropriate under Younger v. Harris, 
    401 U.S. 37
     (1971). The district court therefore dismissed the
    claims for declaratory and injunctive relief in the federal
    action, and stayed the claims for damages pending resolution
    of proceedings in the state action.
    The Herreras timely appeal, challenging the district
    court’s order granting the motions for abstention. 1
    II
    As a threshold matter, the City argues that our court lacks
    jurisdiction over the appeal from the district court order
    granting the motions for abstention because the district court
    1
    The City’s unopposed motion for judicial notice of the state court
    complaint, state court order appointing a receiver, and state court docket,
    and the County’s two unopposed motions for judicial notice of the state
    action defendants’ answer to the state court complaint and state action
    defendants’ reservation of federal claims in the state action are
    GRANTED.
    8              HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE
    has not entered final judgment. Specifically, the City argues
    that we are without jurisdiction over the appeal because the
    district court has merely stayed, rather than dismissed, the
    Herreras’ damages claims, and thus it retains jurisdiction
    over such claims.
    A
    Under 
    28 U.S.C. § 1291
    , the Court of Appeals has
    jurisdiction over appeals from “final decisions of the district
    courts of the United States.” Generally, “[a] district court
    order abstaining under Younger and dismissing the case ends
    the litigation. It is a final appealable order.” Confederated
    Salish v. Simonich, 
    29 F.3d 1398
    , 1401 (9th Cir. 1994).
    Indeed, when a court abstains under Younger, claims for
    injunctive and declaratory relief are typically dismissed. See
    Gilbertson v. Albright, 
    381 F.3d 965
    , 975, 981 (9th Cir.
    2004) (en banc). However, our court has also recognized
    that, when a district court abstains from considering a
    damages claim under Younger, it must stay—rather than
    dismiss—the damages action until state proceedings
    conclude. See 
    id. at 984
     (“[W]hen damages are at issue
    rather than discretionary relief, deference—rather than
    dismissal—is the proper restraint. To stay instead of to
    dismiss the federal action preserves the state’s interests in its
    own procedures, the federal plaintiff’s opportunity to seek
    compensation in the forum of his choice, and an appropriate
    balance of federal-state jurisdiction.”). Pursuant to this rule,
    the district court dismissed the claims for declaratory and
    injunctive relief, and stayed the claims for damages pending
    resolution of the state court proceedings.
    B
    “[A] stay is not ordinarily a final decision for purposes
    of § 1291.” Moses H. Cone Mem’l Hosp. v. Mercury Constr.
    HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE                             9
    Corp., 
    460 U.S. 1
    , 10 n.11 (1983). However, a stay order
    may be “final for purposes of appellate jurisdiction” where
    the order puts the litigant “effectively out of court.” 
    Id. at 9
    ;
    see also Idlewild Liquor Corp. v. Epstein, 
    370 U.S. 713
    , 715
    n.2 (1962). This is precisely what the stay of the Herreras’
    damages claims has effected here. “[T]he object of the stay
    is to require . . . an essential part of the federal suit to be
    litigated in a state forum.” Moses H. Cone, 
    460 U.S. at
    10
    n.11. Yet such stay is “lengthy and indefinite,” which
    creates “a danger of denying justice by delay.” Blue Cross
    & Blue Shield of Ala. v. Unity Outpatient Surgery Ctr., Inc.,
    
    490 F.3d 718
    , 724 (9th Cir. 2007); see also 
    id. at 723
    (“Moses H. Cone applies whenever there is a possibility that
    proceedings in another court could moot a suit or an issue,
    even if there is no guarantee that they will do so.”). 2
    2
    We recognize that the district court has permitted the Herreras to
    reserve their stayed damages claims for litigation in federal court under
    England v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, 
    375 U.S. 411
    ,
    421–22 (1964). England protects a “litigant who has properly invoked
    the jurisdiction of a Federal District Court to consider federal
    constitutional claims” from being compelled “to accept instead a state
    court’s determination of those claims.” 
    Id. at 415
    . Although a district
    court order granting an England reservation of jurisdiction “is not a final
    judgment immediately appealable under 
    28 U.S.C. § 1291
    ” because
    “[s]uch order does not end the litigation on the merits,” Confederated
    Salish, 
    29 F.3d at 1406
    , the England reservation is not at issue on appeal
    here. The district court order granting Younger abstention is appealable
    under Moses H. Cone, and we see no reason why the Herreras’
    reservation of claims should preclude appellate review of the otherwise
    appealable order granting Younger abstention. Cf. Confederated Salish,
    
    29 F.3d at
    1406–07 (concluding that our court lacked jurisdiction over
    the appeal of the order granting England reservation, but nonetheless
    exercising jurisdiction over the appeal of the order granting abstention
    under Railroad Commission of Texas v. Pullman, 
    312 U.S. 496
     (1941)).
    Here, the reservation simply provides insurance to the Herreras that they
    10              HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE
    Under Moses H. Cone, even the stay—the resolution
    required by our court when granting Younger abstention on
    damages claims—is effectively a final decision and thus the
    district court order is final for purposes of appellate review.
    See also Parris v. Taft, 630 F. App’x 895, 898 (11th Cir.
    2015) (“Because the district court stayed the case until Mr.
    Parris’s related state criminal proceedings were resolved, the
    order left him effectively out of court. Thus, the order is a
    final decision, and we have appellate jurisdiction.”). We are
    satisfied that we have jurisdiction to review the district court
    order on appeal.
    III
    Turning to the merits, the Herreras argue that the district
    court erred by abstaining under Younger.
    Younger abstention is grounded in a “longstanding
    public policy against federal court interference with state
    court proceedings.” Younger, 
    401 U.S. at 43
    . The Supreme
    Court has “identified two sources for this policy: the
    constraints of equity jurisdiction and the concern for comity
    in our federal system.” Gilbertson, 
    381 F.3d at 970
    . Most
    importantly, Younger abstention permits federal courts to
    “preserve respect for state functions such that the national
    government protects federal rights and interests in a way that
    will not ‘unduly interfere with the legitimate activities of the
    States.’” 
    Id.
     (quoting Younger, 
    401 U.S. at 44
    ).
    A federal court may abstain under Younger in three
    categories of cases: “(1) parallel, pending state criminal
    proceedings, (2) state civil proceedings that are akin to
    may litigate their stayed damages claims after state court proceedings
    have finished.
    HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE                  11
    criminal prosecutions, and (3) state civil proceedings that
    implicate a State’s interest in enforcing the orders and
    judgments of its courts.” ReadyLink Healthcare, Inc. v.
    State Comp. Ins. Fund, 
    754 F.3d 754
    , 759 (9th Cir. 2014)
    (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). First
    identified in New Orleans Public Service, Inc. v. Council of
    New Orleans (“NOPSI”), 
    491 U.S. 350
     (1989), these three
    categories are known as the NOPSI categories. See Sprint
    Commc’ns, Inc. v. Jacobs, 
    571 U.S. 69
    , 72–73 (2013).
    To warrant Younger abstention, a state civil action must
    fall into one of the NOPSI categories, and must also satisfy
    a three-part inquiry: the state proceeding must be
    (1) “ongoing,” (2) “implicate important state interests,” and
    (3) provide “an adequate opportunity . . . to raise
    constitutional challenges.” Middlesex Cty. Ethics Comm. v.
    Garden State Bar Ass’n, 
    457 U.S. 423
    , 432 (1982); see also
    ReadyLink, 754 F.3d at 759. If the state proceeding falls into
    one of the NOPSI categories and meets the three Middlesex
    factors, a federal court may abstain under Younger so long
    as “the federal action would have the practical effect of
    enjoining the state proceedings.” ReadyLink, 754 F.3d at
    759.
    A
    The Herreras first argue that the state nuisance
    proceeding does not fall into one of the NOPSI categories
    because it is not “a civil enforcement proceeding[] that is
    akin to a criminal prosecution.”
    The Supreme Court has held to the contrary, and
    recognized that a state nuisance proceeding may warrant
    Younger abstention from federal claims. See Huffman v.
    Pursue, Ltd., 
    420 U.S. 592
    , 607 (1975). In Huffman, the
    Court considered the applicability of Younger abstention in
    12           HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE
    a federal § 1983 action where there was an ongoing state
    nuisance enforcement proceeding against the manager of an
    obscene film theater. Id. at 595–98. Explaining that “the
    proceeding is both in aid of and closely related to criminal
    statutes which prohibit the dissemination of obscene
    material,” the Court determined that “[t]he propriety of
    federal-court interference with an Ohio nuisance proceeding
    must . . . be controlled by application of those same
    considerations of comity and federalism” at issue when the
    state proceedings are criminal in nature. Id. at 604, 607.
    Thus, the Court held that the district court should have
    abstained, unless an exception to Younger applied. Id. at
    611.
    In NOPSI itself, the Supreme Court cited Huffman to
    clarify that Younger abstention may apply “beyond state
    criminal prosecutions, to civil enforcement proceedings.”
    NOPSI, 
    491 U.S. at 368
    ; see also Woodfeathers, Inc. v.
    Washington County, 
    180 F.3d 1017
    , 1021 (9th Cir. 1999)
    (“Civil actions brought by a government entity to enforce
    nuisance laws have been held to justify Younger
    abstention.”). And the Court recently reaffirmed such
    application of Younger:
    Our decisions applying Younger to instances
    of civil enforcement have generally
    concerned state proceedings akin to a
    criminal prosecution in important respects.
    Such       enforcement          actions       are
    characteristically initiated to sanction the
    federal plaintiff, i.e., the party challenging
    the state action, for some wrongful act. In
    cases of this genre, a state actor is routinely a
    party to the state proceeding and often
    initiates the action.       Investigations are
    HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE                 13
    commonly involved, often culminating in the
    filing of a formal complaint or charges.
    Sprint, 571 U.S. at 79–80 (internal quotation marks and
    citations omitted).
    The nuisance action pending in state court against Bill
    Herrera and Palmdale Lodging closely resembles the civil
    enforcement actions described in Sprint. The City, a state
    actor, obtained and executed an inspection warrant, and
    identified more than four hundred violations of State and
    local laws on the motel property. Such investigation by the
    City is characteristic of the state actions that warrant
    Younger abstention under Sprint. The City then issued a
    Notice and Order to Repair or Abate the violations, and, as
    described in Sprint, “initiate[d]” an action for nuisance
    abatement and receivership, alleging that the motel property
    “contains numerous violations of State and local laws and
    poses a severe life and health and safety hazard to any
    occupants, nearby residents, and the public.” The state
    nuisance complaint requested, among other forms of relief:
    the appointment of a receiver to take possession and control
    of the property, an injunction preventing Bill Herrera and
    Palmdale Lodging from collecting rent or income from the
    property and from claiming any state tax deduction on the
    property, and imposition of civil penalties against Bill
    Herrera and Palmdale Lodging. In keeping with the
    objective of the enforcement actions described in Sprint,
    such relief would “sanction” the Herreras for their alleged
    failure to comply with state and local laws.            The
    investigation, initiation, and requested sanctions of the
    proceeding here are therefore consistent with the
    enforcement actions described in Sprint and at issue in
    Huffman.
    14            HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE
    We are satisfied that the state nuisance enforcement
    action brought by the City against Bill Herrera and Palmdale
    Lodging is a civil enforcement proceeding within the scope
    of the Younger doctrine.
    B
    The Herreras next argue that, even if the state action falls
    within one of the NOPSI categories, Younger abstention is
    nonetheless inappropriate because two of the three
    Middlesex factors are not met.
    1
    Initially, the Herreras argue that the state proceeding
    does not implicate important state interests. The City
    disputes such argument, claiming that it has an important
    interest in eliminating public nuisances and enforcing local
    and state codes to protect the public from dangerous
    conditions. The state action sought to enforce health and
    safety provisions, and to abate public nuisances.
    We have previously held that such nuisance actions
    implicate important state interests and thus satisfy this
    second Middlesex factor. See, e.g., Woodfeathers, 180 F.3d
    at 1021 (holding that a state action enforcing ordinances
    declaring waste to be a nuisance implicated important state
    interests); Potrero Hills Landfill, Inc. v. County of Solano,
    
    657 F.3d 876
    , 884 (9th Cir. 2011) (listing “a wide range of
    civil contexts,” including nuisance abatement, in which
    abstention was “necessary to protect the state’s unique
    interest in exercising its basic executive functions”). The
    Herreras offer no meaningful distinction between these cases
    and their own. Thus, the Herreras’ argument to the contrary
    is foreclosed by our court’s precedent, and we conclude that
    HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE                   15
    the state nuisance proceeding at issue here implicates
    important state interests.
    2
    Next, the Herreras argue that the state proceedings do not
    provide an adequate opportunity to raise federal
    constitutional claims, as required by Middlesex.
    Specifically, the Herreras argue that (1) their alleged civil
    rights violations are “irrelevant” to the issue whether the
    motel is a public nuisance, and that (2) Mona Herrera and
    her children are unable to raise their civil rights claims
    because they are not parties to the state action. We address
    each argument in turn.
    a
    A federal court’s exercise of Younger abstention does not
    turn on whether the federal plaintiff actually avails himself
    of the opportunity to present federal constitutional claims in
    the state proceeding, but rather whether such an opportunity
    exists. See Juidice v. Vail, 
    430 U.S. 327
    , 337 (1977)
    (explaining that plaintiffs “need be accorded only an
    opportunity to fairly pursue their constitutional claims in the
    ongoing state proceedings, and their failure to avail
    themselves of such opportunities does not mean that the state
    procedures were inadequate” (citation omitted)). “[T]he
    burden on this point rests on the federal plaintiff to show
    ‘that state procedural law barred presentation of [its]
    claims.’” Pennzoil Co. v. Texaco, Inc., 
    481 U.S. 1
    , 14 (1987)
    (second alteration in original) (quoting Moore v. Sims, 
    442 U.S. 415
    , 432 (1979)); see also Lebbos v. Judges of Superior
    Court, 
    883 F.2d 810
    , 815 (9th Cir. 1989).
    The Herreras’ argument that the federal action is
    “irrelevant” to the state action does not satisfy such burden,
    16            HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE
    and the Herreras have pointed to no other reason why the
    state action defendants could not raise their federal
    constitutional claims in the enforcement proceeding. The
    state proceeding is a civil action in Los Angeles County
    Superior Court over which the state court has general
    jurisdiction. According to the California Code of Civil
    Procedure, in such a proceeding, “[a] party against whom a
    cause of action has been asserted in a complaint or cross-
    complaint may file a cross-complaint setting forth . . . [a]ny
    cause of action he has against any of the parties who filed
    the complaint or cross-complaint against him.” Cal. Code
    Civ. Pro. § 428.10. The Herreras have not demonstrated that
    state procedural law otherwise barred such a cross-complaint
    in the state action here.
    Thus, the Herreras’ first challenge to the adequacy of
    their opportunity to raise federal constitutional claims in the
    state action must fail.
    b
    The Herreras also urge that the state proceedings do not
    provide an adequate opportunity to Mona and her children to
    raise federal constitutional claims because they are not
    parties to the state action.
    Younger abstention generally applies only where the
    federal plaintiffs are also defendants in the ongoing state
    proceeding. See Benavidez v. Eu, 
    34 F.3d 825
    , 832 (9th Cir.
    1994). However, both the Supreme Court and our court have
    recognized that “there plainly may be some circumstances in
    which legally distinct parties are so closely related that they
    should all be subject to the Younger considerations which
    govern any one of them.” Doran v. Salem Inn, Inc., 
    422 U.S. 922
    , 928 (1975). In Hicks v. Miranda, 
    422 U.S. 332
    , 337–
    38 (1975), the Court considered a federal challenge brought
    HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE                   17
    by a theater, its owner, and its employees to an ongoing state
    enforcement proceeding of a California obscenity statute.
    Although some of the federal plaintiffs were not parties to
    the state enforcement proceeding at the time the federal
    action was filed, the Court nonetheless invoked Younger
    abstention. 
    Id. at 348
    . The Court explained that, because the
    claims of the federal plaintiffs would nonetheless interfere
    with the state case, the “same comity considerations
    appl[ied]” to warrant abstention. 
    Id. at 349
     (quoting Allee v.
    Medrano, 
    416 U.S. 802
    , 831 (1974) (Burger, C.J.,
    concurring)).       Because the parties’ interests were
    “intertwined” with those of the state court defendants,
    Younger abstention was proper as to all federal plaintiffs. Id.
    at 348.
    Likewise, our court has suggested that parties with “a
    sufficiently close relationship or sufficiently intertwined
    interests” may be “treated similarly for purposes of Younger
    abstention.” Canatella v. California, 
    404 F.3d 1106
    , 1116
    (9th Cir. 2005). We do not stand alone. Several of our sister
    circuits have upheld a decision to abstain under Younger
    where the parties to the federal and state actions were not
    identical, so long as their interests were sufficiently
    intertwined. See, e.g., Spargo v. N.Y. State Comm’n on
    Judicial Conduct, 
    351 F.3d 65
    , 81–82 (2d Cir. 2003)
    (considering whether legal interests were “sufficiently
    intertwined”); Cedar Rapids Cellular Tel., L.P. v. Miller,
    
    280 F.3d 874
    , 881–82 (8th Cir. 2002) (considering whether
    interests are “closely related”); Collins v. Kendall County,
    
    807 F.2d 95
    , 101 (7th Cir. 1986) (concluding that Younger
    abstention considerations applied equally where plaintiffs
    were “all related to the same business entity” and “share[d]
    the same interest in contesting the state litigation”);
    Women’s Cmty. Health Ctr. of Beaumont, Inc. v. Tex. Health
    Facilities Comm’n, 
    685 F.2d 974
    , 981–82 (5th Cir. 1982)
    18            HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE
    (abstaining where interests were “so completely intertwined
    that the same Younger bar must apply to all”).
    The Herreras are all related to the same corporation,
    Palmdale Lodging. In fact, Mona—though not a named
    defendant in the state action—is a co-founder of state-
    defendant Palmdale Lodging. And the children, with their
    parents, reside at the motel which is the subject of the state
    action. Furthermore, the federal claims arise from a single
    proceeding to abate code violations at Palmdale Lodging’s
    motel and the corresponding investigation.                 Such
    relationship goes beyond identity of interests; rather, the
    family members were allegedly deprived of their civil rights
    collectively during the investigation, and the ongoing
    nuisance proceeding related to the motel which Bill and
    Mona operate and at which the family resides. The federal
    claims of Mona and her children present the same risk of
    interference in the state proceeding as do the federal claims
    of Bill and Palmdale Lodging—indeed, all the federal
    plaintiffs seek the same relief from the state court
    proceedings. As in Hicks, the comity considerations raised
    by the federal claims of those not party to the state action are
    indistinguishable from those raised by the state defendants.
    The parties’ interests are therefore sufficiently intertwined.
    We are thus persuaded that the closely intertwined
    interests of Mona, the children, and the state defendants, Bill
    and Palmdale Lodging, warrant subjecting them all to the
    same Younger abstention considerations. The Herreras’
    second challenge to the adequacy of their opportunity to
    raise constitutional claims in the state action also fails.
    C
    Finally, the Herreras argue that the exercise of Younger
    abstention was improper because the relief sought in the
    HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE                    19
    federal action would not “enjoin—or have the practical
    effect of enjoining—ongoing state proceedings.”
    ReadyLink, 754 F.3d at 758. Specifically, the Herreras argue
    that the issues raised in the federal action are “wholly distinct
    from the state court question.”
    1
    Alleging violations of their civil rights under § 1983 and
    the FHA, the Herreras request injunctive, declaratory, and
    monetary relief. Certainly the Herreras’ request that the
    court enjoin the City from closing the motel and evicting the
    Herreras from their personal residence would enjoin directly
    the state action. Furthermore, the Supreme Court has “held
    that Younger applies to requests for declaratory relief
    because ‘ordinarily a declaratory judgment will result in
    precisely the same interference with and disruption of state
    proceedings that the longstanding policy limiting injunctions
    was designed to avoid.’” Gilbertson, 
    381 F.3d at 971
    (quoting Samuels v. Mackell, 
    401 U.S. 66
    , 72 (1971)).
    Because the request for declaratory relief would have “the
    same practical impact as injunctive relief on a pending state
    proceeding as a result of the preclusive effect of the federal
    court judgment,” Gilbertson, 
    381 F.3d at 975
    , Younger
    abstention is also appropriate as to such relief.
    2
    The Herreras’ request for monetary relief is not so
    straightforward. Our court has recognized that “Younger
    principles apply to actions at law . . . because a
    determination that the federal plaintiff’s . . . rights have been
    violated would have the same practical effect as a
    declaration or injunction on pending state proceedings.” 
    Id. at 968
    . “[T]o determine whether the federal plaintiff is
    entitled to damages,” the district court often first decides
    20            HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE
    whether a violation of the plaintiff’s civil rights has
    occurred, imposing the same intrusion as a declaratory
    judgment by the federal court. 
    Id.
     at 979–80.
    a
    We first consider the Herreras’ claims for damages under
    § 1983 for alleged violations of the First, Fifth, and
    Fourteenth Amendments and the Contract Clause of the
    Constitution, and under the FHA—in other words, all of
    their damages claims except those concerning the Fourth
    Amendment. Relief on such claims requires the district
    court to determine first whether violations of their civil
    rights have occurred in the course of the state enforcement
    proceeding, which would create a federal court judgment
    with preclusive effect over the ongoing state action. See
    Gilbertson, 
    381 F.3d at 978
     (“Preclusion rules may be
    relevant to determining the practical effect of a federal
    court’s relief.”). For example, a holding by the district court
    that the Herreras are entitled to damages under § 1983
    because City officials violated their Fifth Amendment rights
    would include a determination that the state action
    constituted a taking of property without just compensation.
    Plainly, such determination that the state proceeding is itself
    unconstitutional would interfere with the ongoing state
    enforcement action in the same way as would a declaratory
    judgment by the federal court. Id. at 979–80. Thus, like the
    claims for declaratory relief, resolution of the claims for
    damages under § 1983 for violations of the First, Fifth, and
    Fourteenth Amendments and the Contract Clause of the
    Constitution and the FHA would collectively “frustrate the
    state’s interest in administering its judicial system, cast a
    negative light on the state court’s ability to enforce
    constitutional principles, and put the federal court in the
    position of prematurely or unnecessarily deciding a question
    HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE                   21
    of federal constitutional law.” Id. at 980. Success by the
    Herreras on such claims would invalidate the code
    enforcement proceeding, and Younger abstention is
    therefore appropriate as to such claims.
    b
    Finally, we consider separately the Herreras’ claims for
    damages under § 1983 for alleged violations of the Fourth
    Amendment. Cf. AmerisourceBergen Corp. v. Roden, 
    495 F.3d 1143
    , 1147 (9th Cir. 2007) (considering only whether
    the district court properly abstained under Younger from
    Count I, where the parties conceded that the district court
    properly dismissed Count II); Joseph A. ex rel. Corrine
    Wolfe v. Ingram, 
    275 F.3d 1253
    , 1272 (10th Cir. 2002)
    (considering federal claim seeking enforcement of numerous
    provisions of a consent decree and noting that “[a] provision-
    by-provision Younger analysis appears prudent, however,
    for the fact that one provision may not be enforceable in light
    of Younger does not necessarily warrant voiding the entire
    consent decree . . . or dismissing the entire action”).
    Although the allegations of Fourth Amendment violations
    arise from investigations conducted in the course of the state
    enforcement action, we fail to see how determinations on
    such claims by the federal court would intrude in the ongoing
    state nuisance proceeding in the impermissible way that the
    Herreras’ other damages claims would.
    The Fourth Amendment claims arise from the
    defendants’ search of the motel and subsequent entry onto
    the property to enforce the abatement proceedings, rather
    than from a challenge to the state proceeding as a whole or
    the state’s allegedly discriminatory motivation in initiating
    such action. A ruling in favor of the Herreras on such claims
    would presumably not invalidate the basis for the code-
    violation enforcement proceedings, and the Fourth
    22               HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE
    Amendment claims themselves are not at issue in such
    proceedings. See AmerisourceBergen, 
    495 F.3d at
    1151–52
    (holding that Younger abstention from a breach of contract
    claim was improper where federal jurisdiction over the claim
    “would not have enjoined or in any way impeded the
    ongoing litigation” in state court where there was no
    “counterclaim in state court proceedings attempting to
    enforce” such contract claim). We may not abstain based on
    a mere “potential for conflict.” 
    Id. at 1151
    . Thus, unlike a
    determination that the civil proceeding itself is
    constitutionally deficient, a determination that a Fourth
    Amendment violation occurred and that the Herreras are
    entitled to monetary damages would not “have the same
    practical effect as a declaration or injunction on pending
    state proceedings.” Gilbertson, 
    381 F.3d at 968
    .
    We thus conclude that the district court erred in
    abstaining from the § 1983 damages claim alleging
    violations of the Fourth Amendment. We recognize that
    such decision raises the possibility of piecemeal litigation.
    Although related to the same sequence of events, the relief
    sought based on alleged Fourth Amendment violations
    simply does not meet our court’s requirement that the relief
    have the practical effect of enjoining the state court
    proceeding. See ReadyLink, 754 F.3d at 758. Recalling our
    “oblig[ation] to decide cases within the scope of federal
    jurisdiction,” Sprint, 571 U.S. at 72, this claim must be
    severed and the district court shall consider it on the merits
    upon remand. 3
    3
    The Herreras also argue that the district court erred in abstaining
    because an exception to Younger abstention for bad faith or other
    extraordinary circumstances applies. See Middlesex, 
    457 U.S. at 435
    ;
    San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Political Action Comm.
    HERRERA V. CITY OF PALMDALE                            23
    IV
    In sum, we are satisfied that the district court abstained
    properly in every aspect, except with respect to the allegedly
    unreasonable search, which must be severed from the other
    claims. On remand, the district court should consider the
    Herreras’ claims for damages under § 1983 for alleged
    violations of the Fourth Amendment. 4
    The order of the district court is AFFIRMED IN PART
    AND REVERSED AND REMANDED IN PART. The
    parties shall bear their own costs on appeal.
    v. City of San Jose, 
    546 F.3d 1087
    , 1092 (9th Cir. 2008). However,
    because the Herreras failed to raise this argument below, we consider
    this argument waived on appeal. See In re Mercury Interactive Corp.
    Sec. Litig., 
    618 F.3d 988
    , 992 (9th Cir. 2010).
    4
    In light of our disposition in this case affirming on abstention
    grounds the district court’s decision as to nearly all the Herreras’ claims,
    we need not reach the City’s alternative argument that we should affirm
    the district court’s dismissal of the claims based on the Herreras’ alleged
    failure to state a claim of municipal liability under Monell v. Department
    of Social Services of City of New York, 
    436 U.S. 658
     (1978). On remand,
    the district court may consider such argument with respect to the
    Herreras’ claim for damages under § 1983 for alleged violations of the
    Fourth Amendment.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 17-55761

Citation Numbers: 918 F.3d 1037

Filed Date: 3/20/2019

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 3/25/2019

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joseph-a-by-next-friend-corrine-wolfe-josephine-a-by-next-friend , 275 F.3d 1253 ( 2002 )

thomas-j-spargo-jane-mcnally-and-peter-kermani , 351 F.3d 65 ( 2003 )

paul-douglas-gilbertson-v-stuart-h-albright-keith-r-battleson-jack-w , 381 F.3d 965 ( 2004 )

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AmerisourceBergen Corp. v. Roden , 495 F.3d 1143 ( 2007 )

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aida-madeleine-lebbos-garth-rease-c-jonlyn-karr-betsey-warren-lebbos , 883 F.2d 810 ( 1989 )

richard-a-canatella-and-randy-e-bendel-intervenor-appellant-v-state-of , 404 F.3d 1106 ( 2005 )

sebastian-benavidez-enrique-reyes-jr-shirley-castillo-dolores-marques , 34 F.3d 825 ( 1994 )

Pennzoil Co. v. Texaco Inc. , 107 S. Ct. 1519 ( 1987 )

Railroad Comm'n of Tex. v. Pullman Co. , 61 S. Ct. 643 ( 1941 )

Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. , 98 S. Ct. 2018 ( 1978 )

Moore v. Sims , 99 S. Ct. 2371 ( 1979 )

Allee v. Medrano , 94 S. Ct. 2191 ( 1974 )

Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd. , 95 S. Ct. 1200 ( 1975 )

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