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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 20-12000
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 4:19-cv-00271-RH-MJF
CHRISTOPHER CHESTNUT,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
CHARLES CANADY,
Justice,
RICKY POLSTON,
Justice,
JORGE LABARGA,
Justice,
C. ALAN LAWSON,
Justice,
BARBARA LAGOA,
Justice, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.
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________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Florida
________________________
(April 28, 2021)
Before JILL PRYOR, GRANT and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Christopher Chestnut, proceeding pro se, appeals the dismissal of his
42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against several current and former Florida Supreme Court
Justices and the Clerk of the Florida Supreme Court. On appeal, Chestnut argues
that the district court erred in dismissing his complaint under the Rooker-Feldman1
doctrine and that it abused its discretion in alternatively dismissing his complaint
under the Younger2 abstention doctrine. We agree that Rooker-Feldman does not
apply to this case. But we conclude that the district court did not abuse its
discretion when it dismissed the complaint under the Younger abstention doctrine;
thus, we affirm.3
I. BACKGROUND
1
Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co.,
263 U.S. 413 (1923); D.C. Court of Appeals v. Feldman,
460 U.S. 462 (1983).
2
Younger v. Harris,
401 U.S. 37 (1971).
3
Appellees also argue that Chestnut’s suit is barred by Eleventh Amendment and judicial
immunity. Because we decide the case on Younger abstention grounds, we do not address this
argument.
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This case arises out Chestnut’s permanent disbarment from the Florida Bar.
Following three findings of probable cause by grievance committees, the Florida
Bar filed three complaints against Chestnut in the Florida Supreme Court (“FSC”).
The FSC appointed referees to conduct evidentiary hearings in the cases. Those
referees found Chestnut guilty of violating the disciplinary rules of the Florida Bar
in nine of the 11 matters. The FSC approved the referees’ findings of fact and
recommendations as to guilt and ordered that Chestnut be disbarred on May 3,
2019. Chestnut filed a motion for rehearing on May 20, 2019, which was denied
on August 2, 2019.
While these three original disciplinary complaints were pending before the
FSC, the Florida Bar filed a fourth complaint against Chestnut, based on new
probable cause findings from grievance committees. As with the other complaints,
the FSC appointed a referee who found Chestnut violated Florida Bar rules in three
of four cases. In response to this finding, the FSC entered an order permanently
disbarring Chestnut on August 22, 2019. Chestnut filed a motion for rehearing,
which was denied on November 18, 2019.
Before he was disbarred but while disciplinary complaints against him were
pending, on June 4, 2019, Chestnut filed in the United States District Court for
Northern District of Florida the instant § 1983 action against the Justices and Clerk
of the FSC. Following two amendments, the operative complaint was filed on
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January 31, 2020. In that complaint, Chestnut alleged the Justices and the Clerk
violated his due process rights in disbarring him. He requested that the court void
the orders to disbar him and enjoin “the Justices on the Supreme Court of Florida
from enforcing the sanction of disbarment and permanent disbarment.” Doc. 13 at
46.4
The Justices filed a motion to dismiss Chestnut’s second amended complaint
for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. They argued,
among other things, that they were protected by Eleventh Amendment and judicial
immunity. They also argued that the district court should decline to consider the
claim under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, which prevents district courts from
hearing “cases brought by state-court losers complaining of injuries caused by
state-court judgments rendered before the district court proceedings commenced.”
Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp.,
544 U.S. 280, 284 (2005).
Ultimately, the district court granted the motion to dismiss on the ground that the
suit was barred by Rooker-Feldman. The district court held in the alterative that,
to the extent that Rooker-Feldman was inapplicable, the suit would be barred by
the Younger abstention doctrine.
This is Chestnut’s appeal.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
4
“Doc.” numbers refer to the district court’s docket entries.
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We review de novo dismissals for lack of subject matter jurisdiction
pursuant to Rooker-Feldman. Nicholson v. Shafe,
558 F.3d 1266, 1270 (11th Cir.
2009). We review the district court’s decision to apply Younger abstention for an
abuse of discretion. 31 Foster Children v. Bush,
329 F.3d 1255, 1274 (11th Cir.
2003). A district court abuses its discretion when it makes an error of law.
United States v. Pruitt,
174 F.3d 1215, 1219 (11th Cir. 1999).
III. DISCUSSION
On appeal, Chestnut argues that the district court erred in ruling that this
case was barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine because the disbarment matter
was ongoing when he filed this § 1983 suit. He also argues that the district court
abused its discretion when it ruled in the alternative that the case should be
dismissed under the Younger abstention doctrine. We address each of these
questions in turn.
A. Chestnut’s Suit Is Not Barred by the Rooker-Feldman Doctrine.
The Rooker-Feldman doctrine precludes a federal court, other than the
Supreme Court, from exercising jurisdiction over a claim brought by an
unsuccessful party in a state court case. See Alvarez v. Attorney Gen. for Fla.,
679 F.3d 1257, 1262–63 (11th Cir. 2012). The Rooker-Feldman doctrine only
applies when the state court proceedings have ended prior to the district court
proceeding. Nicholson,
558 F.3d at 1278. In determining whether the Rooker-
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Feldman doctrine applies, we look to when the initial complaint is filed in federal
court, rather than the date of any amended complaints. Lozman v. City of Riviera
Beach, Fla.,
713 F.3d 1066, 1072 n.3 (11th Cir. 2013). State proceedings have not
ended if an appeal from the state court judgment is pending at the time that the
plaintiff commences the federal court action. Nicholson, at 1278–79.
Chestnut originally filed this case on June 4, 2019. At that time, his motion
for rehearing on his initial disbarment and the complaints against him that led to
his permanent disbarment were pending before the FSC. Although Chestnut filed
an amended complaint after his motions for rehearing were denied, his state court
proceedings had not ended when he filed his initial complaint. Thus, the Rooker-
Feldman doctrine does not apply here; Chestnut was not a “state-court loser[]”
when his case was still pending in state court. Exxon Mobil,
544 U.S. at 284.
B. The District Court Did Not Abuse Its Discretion in Dismissing
Chestnut’s Complaint Under the Younger Abstention Doctrine.
After determining that Chestnut’s case was barred by the Rooker-Feldman
doctrine, the district court alternatively held that “if Rooker-Feldman is deemed
inapplicable here on the ground that the Florida Supreme Court proceeding was
still pending when this federal action was filed,” the case would still be barred by
the Younger abstention doctrine. Doc. 21 at 3. On appeal, Chestnut argues that the
district court abused its discretion by determining that Younger abstention applies
here because (1) Younger abstention is inappropriate when the district court has
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jurisdiction under
28 U.S.C. § 1343, which gives district courts original
jurisdiction over certain civil rights actions, and (2) the bad faith exception to
Younger abstention applies in this case. We disagree.
Younger abstention applies where (1) the state judicial proceedings are
ongoing, (2) those proceedings implicate important state interests, and (3) the state
proceedings provide an adequate opportunity to litigate the plaintiff’s federal
constitutional claims. 31 Foster Children,
329 F.3d at 1274. As with the Rooker-
Feldman doctrine, we look to the date the initial complaint was filed to determine
if a case is ongoing. Liedel v. Juvenile Court of Madison Cty., Ala.,
891 F.2d 1542, 1546 n.6 (11th Cir. 1990). The plaintiff has the burden to show
that the state proceeding will not provide him an adequate remedy for his federal
claim. 31 Foster Children,
329 F.3d at 1279. Generally, in the absence of
authority to the contrary, a federal court should assume that a state’s procedures
will afford the plaintiff an adequate remedy.
Id.
The district court made no error of law in ruling that Younger abstention
applied to Chestnut’s § 1983 action. State judicial proceedings against Chestnut
were ongoing when he filed his initial complaint in June 2019. Supreme Court
precedent instructs that state disciplinary proceedings against attorneys implicate
important state interests for the purposes of Younger abstention. Middlesex Cnty.
Ethics Comm. v. Garden State Bar Assn.,
457 U.S. 423, 434–35 (1982). And
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although Chestnut provides a history of racial discrimination in southern state
courts in his appellate brief, he does not point to any state procedures or other
authorities that indicate he did not have an opportunity to raise these claims in his
state proceeding. Indeed, he made some of the same due process arguments before
the FSC.
Chestnut nonetheless argues that Younger abstention should not apply here
because the district court had original jurisdiction over the matter under
28 U.S.C.
§ 1343. This is incorrect. Younger and its progeny are only implicated after the
district court has concluded it has jurisdiction. It is the nature of the state
proceedings, not the district court’s jurisdiction, that a court analyzes when
determining if it should abstain under Younger. See
id. at 431–32. As such, the
statute that granted the district court jurisdiction of this case does not alter our
Younger analysis.
Chestnut also argues that this case falls under the bad faith exception to
Younger. Here, too, we disagree. A proceeding is initiated in bad faith if it is
brought without a reasonable expectation of obtaining a valid conviction. Redner
v. Citrus County, Fla.,
919 F.2d 646, 650 (11th Cir. 1990). The bad faith
exception requires a substantial allegation that shows actual bad faith. See
Younger,
401 U.S. at 48. Chestnut has provided us with no evidence that the
disciplinary proceedings against him were brought without a reasonable
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expectation of obtaining a finding of guilt. Based on the record before us, the
Florida Bar appeared to have ample evidence that Chestnut had engaged in alleged
misconduct before filing the complaint with the FSC. Therefore, the bad faith
exception does not apply.
Chestnut’s action meets the three requirements for Younger abstention: At
the time of filing, (1) there was an ongoing state proceeding that (2) implicated an
important state interest and (3) those proceedings provided adequate opportunity
for Chestnut to be heard. Chestnut’s arguments about jurisdiction and bad faith are
unavailing. As such, we cannot say that the district court abused its discretion in
abstaining from the case.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the district court’s order of dismissal based on
Younger abstention is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
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