Ford v. Georgetown Cnty

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: June 17, 2003
• Docket: 02-1570
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

JOSEPH R. FORD; SIGMUNT KREMZNER;  BRUCE HENDERSON; HELEN CASSELMAN; ARAM EHRAMJIAN; JAMES NEIL LEWIS; GEORGE D. ONUFER; CARMINE RUSSO, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. GEORGETOWN COUNTY WATER AND SEWER DISTRICT, and its Director; ROBERT BARKER, in his individual and official capacities; ROBERT B. PLOWDEN; FELIX H. RHUE; JAMES B. WILKIE; LOUIS R. MORANT; JAMES H. DUNN; MOCK; WILLIAM J.  No. 02-1570 SCHWARTZKOPF, the Commissioners of Georgetown County Water and Sewer District, each in his individual and official capacities; GEORGETOWN LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION, an association known as and its purported members; VIDA MILLER; ARTHUR RAVENEL; JOHN SNOW; YANCY MCGILL, each in his or her individual and official capacities; JAMES HODGES, Governor of South Carolina in his individual capacity, Defendants-Appellees.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Charleston. Patrick Michael Duffy, District Judge. (CA-01-4226-2-23) 2 FORD v. GEORGETOWN COUNTY WATER Submitted: May 20, 2003

Decided: June 17, 2003

Before NIEMEYER and LUTTIG, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed as modified by unpublished per curiam opinion.

COUNSEL

Gilbert Scott Bagnell, BAGNELL & EASON, L.L.C., Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellants. William W. Doar, Jr., MCNAIR LAW FIRM, P.A., Georgetown, South Carolina; James J. Hinchey, Jr., Mary J. Murray, HINCHEY, MURRAY & PAGLIARINI, L.L.C., Charleston, South Carolina; M. Dawes Cooke, Jr., BARNWELL, WHALEY, PATTERSON & HELMS, L.L.C., Charleston, South Car- olina, for Appellees.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c).

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Appellants, residents of the Hagley subdivision of Georgetown County, South Carolina, appeal the order of the district court denying relief on their claims of constitutional infringements by the George- town Water and Sewer District (the "District"). For the reasons stated below, we affirm the district court’s denial of relief on the ground that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction. FORD v. GEORGETOWN COUNTY WATER 3 The Rooker-Feldman abstention doctrine establishes that lower federal courts lack jurisdiction over a litigant’s challenge to a state court decision, including challenges alleging the state court’s action was unconstitutional. See District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462 (1983); Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413 (1923) (noting exclusive jurisdiction over review of state court action is in the Supreme Court of the United States). A federal district court lacks jurisdiction over state court adjudications and "claims that are ‘inextricably intertwined’ with a state court judgment." Jordahl v. Democratic Party of Va., 122 F.3d 192, 199 (4th Cir. 1997). This doc- trine precludes a district court not only from reviewing a decision from a state’s highest court, but also the decisions of lower state courts. Id.

By prohibiting review of such state court claims, the Rooker- Feldman doctrine prohibits a lower federal court from reviewing claims actually presented to a state court, including constitutional claims that derive from the state court judgment. Allstate Ins. Co. v. West Virginia State Bar, 233 F.3d 813, 816 (4th Cir. 2000) (citing Plyler, 129 F.3d at 731). Thus, "‘[a] party losing in state court is barred from seeking what in substance would be appellate review of the state judgment in a United States district court, based on the los- ing party’s claim that the state judgment itself violates the loser’s fed- eral rights.’" Brown & Root, Inc. v. Breckenridge, 211 F.3d 194, 198 (4th Cir. 2000) (quoting Johnson v. De Grandy, 512 U.S. 997, 1005- 06 (1994)).

Appellants’ action before the district court clearly sought review of a state court’s proceedings. The South Carolina courts have twice reviewed and rejected Appellants’ claims of constitutional depriva- tions by the District. See Ford v. Georgetown County Water & Sewer Dist., 532 S.E.2d 873 (S.C. 2000); Hagley Homeowners Ass’n, Inc. v. Hagley Water, Sewer, & Fire Auth., 485 S.E.2d 92 (S.C. 1997). Appellants’ federal complaint advanced essentially identical claims under federal law and the federal constitution. These claims are so intertwined with the prior state litigation as to warrant application of the Rooker-Feldman doctrine leaving the district court without jurisdic- tion.1 1 To the extent that the federal litigation differs from the state litigation, Appellants’ claims are barred by the doctrine of res judicata because 4 FORD v. GEORGETOWN COUNTY WATER Accordingly, we modify the judgment below to reflect that the case is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction,2 and we affirm the judgment as so modified. See 28 U.S.C. § 2106 (2000); MM ex rel. DM v. School Dist. of Greenville County, 303 F.3d 523, 536 (4th Cir. 2002) ("[W]e are entitled to affirm the court’s judgment on alternate grounds, if such grounds are apparent from the record."). We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately pre- sented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED

Appellants could have raised the federal claims before the state courts but did not. See Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 94 (1980) (holding that res judicata precludes litigants from retrying issues that were previously raised in a prior action decided on its merits or that could have been raised in the previous action). 2 A lack of subject matter jurisdiction may be raised at any time by either of the parties or by the court, sua sponte. See Plyler v. Moore, 129 F.3d 728, 731 n.6 (4th Cir. 1997).