Page:Reed v. Goertz.pdf/17

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Cite as: 598 U. S. ____ (2023)
9

Thomas, J., dissenting

in this Court. Johnson v. De Grandy, 512 U. S. 997, 1006 (1994). He may not “see[k] what in substance would be appellate review of the state judgment” under the guise of an original action in federal district court. Id., at 1005–1006; see also Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., 544 U. S. 280, 284–285 (2005); District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U. S. 462, 482–488, and nn. 15, 16 (1983).

Yet, that is precisely what Reed has done here. While his complaint purports to bring an original action against the district attorney, in reality, it seeks appellate review to redress an alleged injury inflicted by the CCA’s adverse decision “in [his] particular cas[e].” Id., at 487, n. 18. The gravamen of Reed’s claim—made clear again and again throughout his complaint—is that the CCA violated his due process rights through its reasoning in his case. See, e.g., App. 14, ¶2; 31–33, ¶¶53–57; 38, ¶69; 39–40, ¶¶71, 74; 41, ¶79; 42–43, ¶¶83–84; 44–45, ¶¶86–87. All of those alleged injuries are traceable to the CCA, not the district attorney. And, redressing them would require an exercise of appellate jurisdiction over the CCA—jurisdiction that the District Court does not have. Confirming the point, Reed’s complaint does not ask the District Court to control the district attorney’s actions at all. Instead, the only relief it requests is “[a] declaration that the CCA’s interpretation and application of [Chapter] 64 … is unconstitutional.” Id., at 49. The complaint transparently seeks nothing more than the District Court’s “review and rejection” of the CCA’s judgment. Exxon Mobil, 544 U. S., at 284. As such, it founders upon the RookerFeldman doctrine as well as the Article III traceability and redressability requirements with which that doctrine is intertwined.

Any doubt that Reed seeks de facto appellate review should be dispelled by one undisputed fact: Every due process violation that Reed alleges could have been considered on direct review of the CCA’s judgment in this Court. After