Middlesex County Ethics Committee v. Garden State Bar Association et al. (457 U.S. 423)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 21, 1982 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 457 U.S. 423 · 102 S. Ct. 2515
- Decided
- June 21, 1982
- Term
- October Term 1981
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Burger
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Burger delivered the opinion of the Court. We granted certiorari to determine whether a federal court should abstain from considering a challenge to the constitutionality of disciplinary rules that are the subject of pending state disciplinary proceedings within the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Supreme Court. 454 U. S. 962 (1981). The Court of Appeals held that it need not abstain under Younger v. Harris, 401 U. S. 37 (1971). We reverse. I A The Constitution of New Jersey charges the State Supreme Court with the responsibility for licensing and disciplining attorneys admitted to practice in the State. Art. 6, § 2, ¶ 3. Under the rules established by the New Jersey Supreme Court, promulgated pursuant to its constitutional authority, a complaint moves through a three-tier procedure. First, local District Ethics Committees appointed by the State Supreme Court are authorized to receive complaints relating to claimed unethical conduct by an attorney. New Jersey Court Rule l:20-2(d). At least two of the minimum of eight members of the District Ethics Committee must be nonattorneys. Complaints are assigned to an attorney member of the Committee to report and make a recommendation. Rule l:20-2(h). The decision whether to proceed with the complaint is made by the person who chairs the Ethics Committee. If a complaint is issued by the Ethics Committee it must state the…
Excerpt of a 30,274-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.