Supreme Court Docket Report - April 15 2013

Keywords: Younger, abstention, court interference, ERISA, limitations period, adverse benefits determinations

On April 15, 2013, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in two cases of interest to the business community:

Federal Courts - Younger Abstention

Under the judicially created doctrine of abstention, federal courts are required to abstain from deciding certain cases over which they otherwise have jurisdiction, in order to prevent "interference" with related state-court proceedings. In Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 43 (1971), the Supreme Court held that, based on a "longstanding public policy against federal court interference with state court proceedings," federal courts should not enjoin a state criminal prosecution begun before institution of the federal suit. Younger has since been extended beyond state criminal proceedings; and in Middlesex County Ethics Committee v. Garden State Bar Association, 457 U.S. 423 (1982), the Court held that Younger