Expungement

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Rakesh Wahi

Case No.: 15-2094

Officials: BAUER, FLAUM, and SYKES, Circuit Judges

Focus: Expungement

Circuit precedent holds that a district court has inherent authority to reopen a closed criminal case to consider a request to expunge the judicial record based on an equitable balancing test that weighs the public and private interests at stake. See United States v. Flowers, 389 F.3d 737, 739 (7th Cir. 2004); United States v. Janik, 10 F.3d 470, 472 (7th Cir. 1993). We’re asked to decide whether this precedent is sound in light of Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America, 511 U.S. 375 (1994). Kokkonen clarified that ancillary jurisdiction exists for two limited purposes: (1) to permit claims that are factually interdependent to be resolved in a single proceeding; and (2) to enable the court to “manage its proceedings, vindicate its authority, and effectuate its decrees.” Id. at 380. Ancillary jurisdiction is the formal name for the inherent power recognized in Flowers and Janik. But a petition for equitable expungement satisfies neither of Kokkonen’s criteria for the assertion of ancillary jurisdiction. Because Flowers and Janik cannot be reconciled with Kokkonen, they are overruled. This holding brings our circuit into conformity with a growing appellate consensus: Every circuit that has specifically addressed this question in light of Kokkonen has held that the district court lacks ancillary jurisdiction to hear requests for equitable expungement. Doe v. United States, 833 F.3d 192, 199 (2d Cir. 2016); United States v. Field, 756 F.3d 911, 916 (6th Cir. 2014); United States v. Coloian, 480 F.3d 47, 52 (1st Cir. 2007); United States v. Meyer, 439 F.3d 855, 859–60 (8th Cir. 2006); United States v. Dunegan, 251 F.3d 477, 479 (3d Cir. 2001); United States v. Sumner, 226 F.3d 1005, 1014 (9th Cir. 2000). These decisions recognize that expungement authority is not inherent but instead must be grounded in a jurisdictional source found in the Constitution or statutes. Here, however, the district judge was bound by existing circuit precedent. She acknowledged the force of Kokkonen but nonetheless took jurisdiction over Rakesh Wahi’s expungement petition, weighed the equities under the balancing test approved in Flowers and Janik, and concluded that his circumstances did not warrant expungement. We vacate that decision and remand with instructions to dismiss the petition for lack of jurisdiction.

Vacated and Remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.