The Supreme Court reinforced the doctrine of abstention, prohibiting federal judges from intervening in most state court proceedings before they have been finalized.
During the controversial Vietnam War, John Harris, Jr., was indicted in a California court for violating a criminal syndicalism statute that was virtually identical to the law that had been ruled unconstitutional in Brandenburg v. Ohio
Justice William O. Douglas wrote a dissent in Younger, arguing that federal courts should use special vigilance during periods of repression to protect those asserting their First Amendment rights in unpopular causes.
By an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court lifted the injunction. Justice Hugo L. Black’s
Dissenting, Justice William O. Douglas argued that the logic of Dombrowski required the federal courts to use special vigilance in periods of repression when enormous sanctions were imposed on those “who assert their First Amendment Rights in unpopular causes.”
Brandenburg v. Ohio
Dombrowski v. Pfister
Federalism
Judicial review
State courts