Babinski v. Voss
Babinski v. Voss
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM
Petitioner Brian Babinski is facing a civil commitment trial pursuant to California’s Sexually Violent Predator Act. He appeals from an order of the district court dismissing his habeas petition on abstention grounds under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971). We affirm.
A federal court may intrude into a pending state proceeding “when absolutely necessary for protection of constitutional rights,” but only under “extraordinary circumstances, where the danger of irreparable loss is both great and immediate.” Id. at 45, 91 S.Ct. 746.
Babinski has not established that his case fits within that narrow exception. Although there has been a substantial passage of time, he disclaims reliance upon an argument that the state process has been too slow. His analogy to a double jeopardy claim is unpersuasive. There is nothing inherently improper about a civil com-mittment proceeding following a criminal conviction. SVP proceedings are civil in nature and do not implicate double jeopardy concerns. See Kansas v. Hendricks, 521 U.S. 346, 361, 369-70, 117 S.Ct. 2072, 138 L.Ed.2d 501 (1997). Any discomfort the SVP trial may cause Babinski is not irreparable injury for this purpose. See, e.g., Younger, 401 U.S. at 46, 91 S.Ct. 746 (“[T]he cost, anxiety, and inconvenience of having to defend against a ... criminal prosecution, could not by themselves be considered ‘irreparable’ in the special legal sense.... ”).
AFFIRMED.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9 th Cir. R. 36-3.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.