William Holdner v. John Kroger

MEMORANDUM

William F. Holdner, dba Holdner Farms, appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his declaratory judgment action arising from the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s reg ulation of Holdner’s cattle ranch and Holdner’s subsequent criminal prosecution for violation of state water pollution statutes. We review de novo. Gilbertson v. Albright, 381 F.3d 965 , 982 n. 19 (9th Cir.2004). We affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Holdner’s action as barred by the Younger abstention doctrine because federal courts are required to abstain from interfering with pending state court proceedings. See Gilbertson, 381 F.3d at 975 (listing the requirements for Younger abstention and explaining that the doctrine applies to actions for declaratory relief); see also Wiener v. County of San Diego, 23 F.3d 263, 266 (9th Cir.1994) (“To decide whether there was a pending state judicial proceeding within Younger, we focus on the status of the state court proceeding at the time of the district court’s decision rather than on its current status on appeal.”).

We do not consider Holdner’s arguments regarding the federal land patent and exceptions to Younger abstention,…