We Are America v. Maricopa County Bd. Sup'Rs
| Decision Date | 13 January 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV-06-2816-PHX-RCB.,CIV-06-2816-PHX-RCB. |
| Citation | 594 F.Supp.2d 1104 |
| Parties | WE ARE AMERICA/SOMOS AMERICA, COALITION OF ARIZONA, et al., Plaintiffs, v. MARICOPA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Arizona |
Antonio D. Bustamante, Law Office of Antonio D. Bustamante PC, Danilo Ballecer, Ballecer & Segal LLP, H. Michael Clyde, Perkins Coie Brown & Bain PA, Phoenix, AZ, Carlos Holguin, Peter Anthony Schey, Los Angeles, CA, Ray Velarde, Law Office of Ray Velarde, El Paso, TX, for Plaintiffs.
Dennis Ira Wilenchik, Wilenchik & Bartness PC, Timothy James Casey, Schmitt Schneck Smyth & Herrod PC, Sally Wolfgang Wells, Maricopa County Attorneys Office, Phoenix, AZ, for Defendants.
The court assumes familiarity with the prior proceedings in this action, which is challenging defendants' policy of prosecuting individual undocumented immigrants for conspiring to smuggle themselves in violation of Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-2319.1 In We Are America/Somos America Coalition of Arizona v. Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, 2007 WL 2775134 (D.Ariz. Sept. 21, 2007), the court left open the possibility that it would decline to exercise its jurisdiction based upon Younger abstention. At that time, as the parties are well aware, the court's primary concern was the requirement under Younger that the state proceedings implicate important state interests. In We Are America the court could not definitively resolve that issue because the parties did not consider the possibility of field preemption. Therefore, the court allowed supplemental briefing on that issue.
After the filing of those briefs, defendants advised the court of State v. Barragan-Sierra, 219 Ariz. 276, 196 P.3d 879 (Ct.App.2008). In part because defendants deemed that decision "apropos" to the remaining field preemption issue, Not. (doc. 50) at 2, the court allowed plaintiffs to file a further supplemental brief limited to the "impact, if any," of Barragan-Sierra upon that issue. Doc. 51 at 4.
In the meantime, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint ("FAC") (doc. 45), which, as will be seen, necessitates revisiting the issue of whether this action will interfere with ongoing state judicial proceedings—another requirement for Younger abstention. See Chandler v. State Bar of California, 2008 WL 901865, at *3 (N.D.Cal. March 31, 2008) (quoting Canatella v. California, 304 F.3d 843, 850 (9th Cir.2002)) ("The Younger inquiry `is triggered only when the threshold for Younger abstention is present—that is, when the relief sought in federal court would in some manner directly interfere with ongoing state proceedings.'") Additionally, despite the fact that the parties did not address it, the court must also consider Younger's potential applicability to the taxpayer and community organization plaintiffs who are not parties to any state proceedings.
Focusing on the Mexican national plaintiffs who had been arrested, charged and detained for conspiracy to violate A.R.S. § 13-2319, and the putative class similarly defined, in We Are America this court expressly found that "[a]s currently pled, the relief sought by Plaintiffs will necessarily interfere with prosecutions already underway at the time this action was filed." We Are America, 2007 WL 2775134, at *3 (emphasis added). In so holding, the court pointed out that "[i]t [wa]s evident from the complaint that at least six of the individual plaintiffs had been charged with violation of Ariz.Rev. Stat. § 13-2319 prior to the initiation of this action." Id. . The court also stressed that "the prospective class that Plaintiffs seek to have certified includes `[a]ll individuals stopped, detained, arrested, incarcerated, prosecuted, or penalized for conspiring to transport themselves, and themselves only, in violation of Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-2319.'" Id. (emphasis added by court). The court gave no credence to plaintiffs' argument that it "could fashion ... relief in such a way that would not require enjoining any currently pending criminal cases," because "[p]laintiffs made no such distinction in their complaint." Id. (citations omitted). To reinforce that point, quoting directly from the complaint, the court noted the allegation that "`[i]f the relief prayed for is not granted, plaintiffs ... will continue to be ... prosecuted pursuant to an unconstitutional and unlawful policy.'" Id. .
Shortly after the issuance of We Are America, plaintiffs filed their FAC. The purpose of that complaint, in plaintiffs' words, is to "make clear that they seek no relief that would interfere with state proceedings filed before this action." Pl. Supp. (doc. 52) at 5 n. 5 (citation omitted). To that end, in pleading "irreparable injury" in their FAC plaintiffs added the following language: "Plaintiffs do not, ..., seek to enjoin or interfere with state proceedings that were underway before initiation of this case or otherwise would require abstention under Younger [.]" FAC (doc. 45) at 25, ¶ 51. Plaintiffs similarly amended their prayer for relief. In particular, they now claim to be seeking declaratory relief "[o]nly to the extent [such] relief does not interfere with state proceedings that were underway before initiation of this case or otherwise require abstention under Younger [.]" Id. at 28, ¶ 3. Further, in seeking injunctive relief "restraining defendants ... from further implementing the [policy]," again, plaintiffs explicitly allege that they are seeking such relief, "but only to the extent [it] does not interfere with state proceedings that were underway before initiation of this case or otherwise require abstention under Younger [.]" Id. at 29, ¶ 4 (emphasis added).
In their supplemental memorandum directed to field preemption, almost as an afterthought, plaintiffs took the position that because their FAC does not seek "relief that would interfere with state proceedings filed before this action[,]" the "threshold condition for Younger abstention no longer exists, and this action should go forward regardless of whether preemption is readily apparent[.]" Pl. Supp. (doc. 52) at 5, n. 5. In other words, plaintiffs reason that given the FAC, the interference aspect of Younger abstention is no longer present here. Accordingly, there is no need for the court to even reach the issue of field preemption. Given this recently espoused position by plaintiffs, the court ordered defendants to file a response "limited to the issues of (1) whether there is an ongoing state-initiated proceeding; and (2) whether this federal court action would enjoin the proceeding or have the practical effect of doing so, i.e., would interfere with the proceeding in a way that Younger disapproves[,] so as to mandate abstention under Younger." Doc. 53 at 2:10-14 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
On November 20, 2008, defendants timely filed their response. As to the first inquiry, defendants simply responded: "Yes." Def. Supp. (doc. 54) at 2:7. Defendants also responded affirmatively to the second inquiry. Offering no details, defendants contend that allowing this federal action to proceed "would at worst enjoin, and at best interfere with, on-going state initiated proceedings in a way that Younger disapproves." Id. at 2. Defendants further baldly assert that "the relief sought ... will necessarily interfere with the continuous stream of on-going state law enforcement and state proceedings for the putative class members." Id. at 2(citation omitted). Moreover, plaintiffs' request, as defendants put it, that the court "creatively fashion[ ]" relief in such a way that "`otherwise [would not] require abstention under Younger [,]'" is "simply not tenable[,]" from defendants' standpoint. Id. (quoting FAC at 28, ¶ 3). Finally, defendants accurately note that there are no procedural barriers in the pending state court proceedings to raising any constitutional challenges the "putative class members" may have to defendants' policy. Id. Hence, defendants adhere to the view that Younger abstention is proper in this case.
I. Younger Abstention
The Ninth Circuit has recognized the mandatory nature of Younger abstention such that "[d]istrict courts applying Younger must exercise jurisdiction except when specific legal standards are met, and may not exercise jurisdiction when those standards are met; there is no discretion vested in the district courts to do otherwise." Canatella v. California, 404 F.3d 1106, 1113 (9th Cir.2005) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted) (emphasis added). As to the latter situation, the Ninth Circuit has repeatedly held that a "court must abstain under Younger if four requirements are met: (1) a state initiated proceeding is ongoing; (2) the proceeding implicates important state interests; (3) the federal plaintiff is not barred from litigating federal constitutional issue in the state proceeding; and (4) the federal court action would enjoin the proceeding or have the practical effect of doing so, i.e., would interfere with the state proceeding in a way that Younger disapproves." San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee v. City of San Jose, 546 F.3d 1087, 1092 (9th Cir.2008) (citations omitted) (emphasis added). The court will address these facts in light of the parties supplemental briefs and the filing of the FAC.
As this court stated in We Are America, "[t]he critical question for purposes of Younger abstention is `whether the state proceedings were underway before initiation of the federal proceedings.'" We Are America, 2007 WL 2775134, at *3 (quoting Kitchens v. Bowen, 825 F.2d 1337, 1341 (9th Cir.1987)). "[A] `charge' is generally a formal allegation of wrongdoing that initiates legal proceedings against an alleged wrongdoer." Federal...
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We Are America v. Maricopa Cnty. Bd. of Supervisors
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