Palmer v. Riverside County

MEMORANDUM **

James and Susan Palmer, husband and wife, appeal pro se from the district court’s judgment of dismissal based on Rooker-Feldman and the domestic relations exception of their 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging defendants violated their constitutional rights during dependency proceedings involving the Palmers’ minor children. We review de novo dismissals for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Kougasian v. TMSL, Inc., 359 F.3d 1136, 1139 (9th Cir. 2004) (Rooker-Feldman); McIntyre v. McIntyre, 771 F.2d 1316, 1317 (9th Cir. 1985) (domestic relations exception). We reverse and remand.

The district court incorrectly concluded that it lacked jurisdiction under Rooker-Feldman, because the Palmers’ complaint “asserts as a legal wrong ... allegedly illegal act[s] [and] omission[s] by [defendants].” See Noel v. Hall, 341 F.3d 1148, 1164 (9th Cir.2003); see also Kougasian, 359 F.3d at 1140 (“Rooker-Feldman ... applies only when the federal plaintiff both asserts as her injury legal error or errors by the state court and seeks as her remedy relief from the state court judgment.”). However, to the extent that the Palmers were attempting to raise an as-applied challenge to the…