Sprint Communications Co. v. Jacobs (2013)
- Docket
- 12-815
- Decided
- 2013-01-01
Summary
Question: Should a federal court abstain under the Younger doctrine when there is no related coercive or enforcement action by the State interfering with the federal proceeding? Conclusion: No. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. The Court held that a federal court is not required to abstain from deciding a case simply because there is a case in state court that deals with the same subject matter. Because the Younger doctrine only required a court to abstain when there are parallel criminal cases in federal and state courts or when there are certain civil proceedings that are very similar to criminal ones, it is meant only for exceptional cases. The proceeding in question is civil, not criminal, and does not affect a state court's ability to perform its judicial function, so none of the Younger exceptions are triggered in this case.