United States Second Circuit

Where the New York State Department of Labor initiated a wage investigation of a contractor pursuant to its statutory duties under New York's prevailing wage law, and there was available a state process that could timely remedy the constitutional violation alleged by the contractor, the "bad faith" and "exceptional circumstances" exceptions to the Younger doctrine of mandatory abstention were not satisfied, and the federal court was not empowered to enjoin ongoing state administrative proceedings against the contractor.

Appellate Information

• Argued 10/30/2001
• Decided 03/05/2002
• Published 03/05/2002

Judges

• McLAUGHLIN, Circuit Judge., Before:  McLAUGHLIN, POOLER, Circuit Judges, and Sand, District Judge.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Nancie G. Marzulla, Defenders of Property Rights, Washington, DC, for Amicus Curiae Defenders of Property Rights.


• For Appellees:
  
• Seth Kupferberg, Assistant Attorney General for Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of the State of New York (Daniel Smirlock, Deputy Solicitor General, M. Patricia Smith, Assistant Attorney General in Charge of Labor Bureau, and Pico Paul Ben-Amotz, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel) for Defendants-Appellants and Counter-Defendants-Appellants., Henry W. Killeen, III, Killeen & Killeen, Orchard Park, NY (Anna Marie Richmond and Timothy J. Greenan, of counsel) (Brian P. Fitzgerald, Napier, Fitzgerald & Kirby, Buffalo, NY, on the brief) for Plaintiff-Appellee.