Kurek v. Pleasure Driveway and Park Dist. of Peoria, Ill.

• Decision Date: 17 March 1978
• Docket Number: No. 76-1791,76-1791
• Parties: 1978-1 Trade Cases 61,924 William KUREK et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. PLEASURE DRIVEWAY AND PARK DISTRICT OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 892

574 F.2d 892

1978-1 Trade Cases 61,924

William KUREK et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. PLEASURE DRIVEWAY AND PARK DISTRICT OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS, et

al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 76-1791.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Submitted Dec. 30, 1977.

Decided March 17, 1978.

John E. Cassidy, Jr., Peoria, Ill., for plaintiffs-appellants.

Daniel Hardy, Gary S. Clem, William V. Altenberger, Wm. McD. Frederick, Peoria, Ill., for defendants-appellees.

Before FAIRCHILD, Chief Judge, and PELL, and SPRECHER, Circuit Judges.

PELL, Circuit Judge.

This litigation has been brought before this court again by virtue of the plaintiffs-appellants' (hereinafter "golf pros") motion for injunctive relief, the defendants-appellees' (hereinafter collectively "park district") response thereto and the golf pros' opposition to the response. The relief sought at this time from this court is the enjoining of the park district from enforcing and collecting a state court judgment in the amount of $127,605.

We are confronted with difficult problems, including our jurisdiction to act in the premises; the applicability of Rule 8, Fed.R.App.P., and the injunctive relief provision of Section 16 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. § 26), upon which the golf pros rely; the applicability of the anti-injunction act (28 U.S.C. § 2283), and policies of federalism and comity, upon which park district relies; and a potpourri of miscellaneous issues such as res judicata, full faith and credit, suretyship, and general principles of equity.

To put these matters in perspective we must briefly set forth a summary of prior litigation. The state litigation, being basically in the nature of forcible entry and detainer proceedings which resulted in the monetary judgment, is reported as follows: Pleasure Driveway and Park District of Peoria v. Kurek, 27 Ill.App.3d 60, 325 N.E.2d 650 (1975); Pleasure Driveway and Park District of Peoria v. Jones, 51 Ill.App.3d 182, 9 Ill.Dec. 677, 367 N.E.2d 111 (1977). The Illinois Supreme Court summarily denied golf pros' petition for leave to appeal the damage judgment on November 23, 1977, and the mandate was returned to the state appellate court and eventually, on December 20, 1977, to the state trial court.

The federal antitrust litigation is reported: Kurek v. Pleasure Driveway and Park District of Peoria, Illinois, 557 F.2d 580 (7th Cir. 1977). Subsequent to the denial of rehearing in that case on August 11, 1977, park district moved this court to stay its mandate, which motion was granted on August 22, 1977. Two days later golf pros filed their response to the motion to stay mandate, objecting to the granting thereof and asking as an alternative matter in the event the motion were to be granted that park district be enjoined from enforcing the state court judgment. Treating the response as a motion to reconsider, this court denied the motion, but with regard to the alternative relief stated the following:

Plaintiffs-appellants' request for alternative relief is premature since it does not appear that the enforcement and collection of the state court judgment is imminent. The parties are directed, however, to notify the court of any collection efforts made while the mandate resides in the Seventh Circuit. Accordingly, the request for alternative relief is denied at this time.

Petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States was timely filed by park district, No. 77-440, 46 U.S.L.W. 3221 (Sept. 19, 1977), which pursuant to Rule 41(b), Fed.R.App.P., had the effect of continuing the stay of the mandate of this court. Subsequently, on December 21, 1977, park district advised a judge of this court by letter as follows:

The Illinois Supreme Court issued its mandate in that action and subsequently the Appellate Court issued its mandate to the Trial Court. There had been no other proceedings in this matter, and no supersedeas or stay of proceedings has been requested or entered as of this date.

An appeal bond, with personal sureties, was provided by the golf pros. In order to avoid the charge that the sureties were released from their surety obligation because the Park District did not take prompt action, collection and enforcement proceedings must begin promptly. These sureties are not parties before this Court and are not bound by the disposition of the federal litigation, and they might claim release in the event enforcement efforts are not timely made. It is, therefore, our intent to proceed in a prompt manner to enforce the final judgment of the Illinois Court against the golf pros.

The motion presently before this court followed park district's letter.

The Supreme Court has taken no action on the pending petition for certiorari. Park district has not challenged in this posture the jurisdiction of this court to rule upon the motion for injunctive relief. We are of the opinion that upon a proper showing, at least in the absence of the granting of certiorari in the Supreme Court, this court could grant the injunctive relief request. See Louisville, N. A. & C. Ry. Co. v. Louisville Trust Co., 78 F. 659 (D.Ky.1897); cf. Waskey v. Hammer, 179 F. 273 (9th Cir. 1910).

Golf pros, from the point of view of policy desirability of all facets of a common controversy between parties being fully concluded before one of those parties is required to pay the other a substantial sum of money, make an appealing case. They also point out that in the event of their ultimately prevailing in the federal anti-trust litigation, the amount of the state court judgment, if it is enforced and collected, could very possibly be the basis of a triple damage judgment against the park district defendants. Golf pros express no lack of confidence in their ability ultimately to prevail. We express no opinion except that they probably have a long and tortuous roadway ahead of them. Also, golf pros point out the lack of harm to park district in that the injunction, if granted by this court, could be conditioned upon the supersedeas bond which is presently in full force and effect as security for the state court judgment. It is to be noted at this point that golf pros provide us no authority to the effect that the sureties would not be released from their surety obligation of the supersedeas bond by virtue of the park district not taking prompt collection action and enforcement proceedings. We have done no independent research on this matter.

Golf pros in the present proceeding primarily rely upon claimed irreparable harm if the monetary state court judgment is collected and assert that under Rule 8, Fed.R.App.P., and Section 16 of the Clayton Act this court should grant the injunctive relief. The park district in addition to relying upon the anti-injunction act, 28 U.S.C. § 2283, argues that this court is required to give full faith and credit to the judgment entered by the Illinois courts which the golf pros have not attempted to have reviewed by the United States Supreme Court. Golf pros counter that it would have been futile to have attempted to take the Illinois action to the United States Supreme Court inasmuch as the Illinois Supreme Court's action was discretionary and there was no federal question involved. Again, complicating the issues is the fact that at one time in the litigation in the state courts golf pros attempted to assert the antitrust defense which was severed for trial and eventually golf pros were judicially prohibited from proceeding in the Illinois courts on this. It is uncertain whether this phase of the matter could have been a more promising basis for an attempt to secure certiorari. In any event, no attempt was made to review the Illinois state court proceedings beyond the state court system. Both parties have briefed extensively as to whether there are antitrust violations involved in the actions of park district. However, as the matter presently stands, unless this court's decision is reversed in the Supreme Court, the golf pros will have an opportunity to attempt to demonstrate in the district court such violations. We express no opinion further than that, however, as to the success of that effort.

Because of the result we reach in the present matter we do not deem it necessary to consider the full faith and credit argument. Neither of the parties have furnished us any authority on the subject. We instead turn to the anti-injunction statute which in its plain language, unless one of the two statutory exceptions is present, would require us to refrain from granting an injunction in the present case. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co. v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, 398 U.S. 281, 90 S.Ct. 1739, 26 L.Ed.2d 234 (1970), leaves no doubt that the plain language, barring the existence of one of the statutory exceptions, means exactly what it says.

One essential issue for disposition here shapes up then under the anti-injunction act being whether the present case would come under either of the exceptions of the act: first, whether the injunction provisions of the Clayton Act are to be construed as an express authorization by Congress permitting a stay of proceedings in a state court or, second, whether an injunction here would be necessary in aid of federal jurisdiction or to protect or to effectuate the judgment of this court.

We note initially that other courts when presented analogous situations have denied injunctions without finding it necessary to determine whether the...