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02-1588 General Auto Service Station, LLC, et al., v. City of Chicago

By: dmc-admin//February 17, 2003//

02-1588 General Auto Service Station, LLC, et al., v. City of Chicago

By: dmc-admin//February 17, 2003//

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“In General Auto’s suit, the district court did not reach the merits, instead abstaining under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971), and its successors. Younger holds that, except in extraordinary situations, a federal court may not enjoin ongoing state proceedings that arise out of important state interests, if the litigant has an adequate opportunity to present its constitutional arguments in the state forum. One problem with abstention is that General Auto did not ask for an injunction or declaratory judgment, see Samuels v. Mackell, 401 U.S. 66 (1971) (equating the two remedies), that would halt the litigation between Whiteco and the Board; it sought only a declaration of its substantive rights vis à vis the City. A second problem is that no state forum was available to General Auto. The City has not fined it, so there is no pending (or impending) case in which it could mount a constitutional defense. Whether it sues in state or federal court, General Auto will be the plaintiff. What is more, General Auto tried to litigate in state court-and was rebuffed. It sought to intervene in Whiteco’s suit, a sensible step that would have enabled the state judiciary to resolve all theories affecting all parties at one go. Yet Chicago opposed its motion to intervene, and the state court denied the motion. Once the state court has announced that it will not entertain constitutional arguments, Younger is no longer applicable.”

Reversed and remanded.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Pallmeyer, J., Easterbrook, J.

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