Roshan
Roshan v. McCauley
Opinion
Opinion
I. BACKGROUND
After extensive California State Bar litigation, the California Supreme Court in 2021 suspended Roshan’s law license for misconduct. Shortly thereafter, the DRE—an administrative agency charged with the “protection” of “buyers of real property and those persons dealing with real estate licensees”—initiated a reciprocal disciplinary proceeding against Roshan’s real estate license. Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 10050(b); see also id. § 10177(f) (disciplinary actions by another agency may be grounds for license suspension or revocation). Roshan’s fight against the DRE proceeding—which included attempts to subpoena and depose the California Supreme Court and California State Bar—led him to sue the DRE in federal court for alleged constitutional violations. Citing Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971), the district court dismissed the lawsuit and held that it must abstain from hearing the matter in favor of the pending state DRE disciplinary proceeding. It concluded that the DRE action was “quasi-criminal,” as, among other things, it could result in the suspension or revocation of Roshan’s real estate license. Roshan timely appealed.