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1st Amendment Violation and Jurisdiction

By: Derek Hawkins//December 10, 2018//

1st Amendment Violation and Jurisdiction

By: Derek Hawkins//December 10, 2018//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Courthouse News Service v. Dorothy Brown

Case No.: 18-1230

Officials: BAUER, HAMILTON, and SCUDDER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: 1st Amendment Violation and Jurisdiction

Plaintiff-appellee Courthouse News Service (“CNS”) seeks injunctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, arguing that the First Amendment requires Dorothy Brown, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, to release newly filed complaints to the press at the moment of receipt by her office—not after processing. Neither the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit nor the Supreme Court of the United States provides the press with this sort of instant access to court filings. Instead, in our court and apparently in the Supreme Court, as well, the clerks’ offices undertake certain administrative processing before a filing is made publicly available, giving our practices a similarity to the practices in state court challenged in this case. That fact would make it unusual, and perhaps even hypocritical, for us to order a state court clerk to provide such instant access on the basis of the same Constitution that applies to federal courts. Adhering to the principles of equity, comity, and federalism, we conclude that the district court should have abstained from exercising jurisdiction over this case. See O’Shea v. Littleton, 414 U.S. 488, 499 (1974); Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 379–80 (1976); SKS & Associates, Inc. v. Dart, 619 F.3d 674, 678–80 (7th Cir. 2010). We therefore reverse the district court’s order granting a preliminary injunction and order this action dismissed without prejudice.

Reversed 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.

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