BEWARE of the pitfalls of STATE COURT!!! We warned you!!!

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You get a city ticket. We call them tickets because that is what they are! You 'appeal' to a hearing officer. The hearing officer rules against you (you can bet on that one). Your next step is to file for a de novo trial in superior court... or is it??? BEWARE!!! BEWARE!!! BEWARE!!! BEWARE!!!

If you have a constitutional injury, and SERIOUS issue that you intend to fight, you must think strategy.

All it takes is one constitutional claim to get your case into federal court. And you ask for damages, injunction, attorney fees etc. Rather than being the defendant, you go on attack!

IF you have suffered 'constitutional issues" such as warrantless search and seizure, due process, free speech, excessive fines, equal protection (each of these categories may offer 100s of scenarios), and you have just ONE constitutional claim you might want to go to federal court.

FEDERAL COURT FORMS

https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/fo ... o-se-forms

OUR EXPERIENCE

Here is a favorite one by code enforcement. They give you a ticket (administrative citation is just a ticket), they 'cite' city law and they give you a few photos or no photos.* They NEVER describe the FACTS they allege against you. They just cite the law and give you photos. MANY TIMES there is not even a violation obvious in the photographs! Then when you get to court the code officer testifies to things that never happened and were never in the photographs ~ AMBUSH. That is a PROBLEM you are entitled to know what you are charged with 'reasonable specificity' when they hand you the ticket. One of their code officer tricks nationwide is they cite the code, give no facts, no description, and include some generic photos of your property. That is a due process issue. California is a fact pleading state.

*This is like a side photo of your car, no street, no time, no date, no location, no facts, no photo of you driving, and claiming you were speeding.

STATE COURT PITFALLS

If you file that de novo appeal to state court you jump into the snake pit of conflicting decisions between state court and federal court. State court at your level will be like eating at McDonalds, but federal court is like eating a Ruth's Chris steak house. its a whole different level of service and judges in federal court. However if you file in state court FIRST and lose, you will be subject to so many pitfalls you will most likely never succeed in federal court. Once you have a state court judgment against you, you will have severe difficulty to try and get justice. The Appellate Division will protect their judge or commissioner and you will lose. Mark our words!

FILING IN STATE COURT FIRST OPENS A DEEP BARREL OF WORMS

This recent federal case, which is kind of funny because he named his race horse after a person his disliked, went to an administrative hearing then immediately filed in federal court. The case makes clear you may take that path.

Jamgotchian v. Ferraro, 93 F. 4th 1150 - Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit 2024

https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case ... s_sdt=2003

Almost certainly, if you go to state court first (your 53069.4 de novo appeal request), you will be eliminated in federal court because of the following legal issues:

ABSTENTION DOCTRINES

Rooker-Feldman abstention doctrine
Pullman abstention doctrine
Younger abstention doctrine
Burford abstention doctrine
Thibodaux abstention doctrine

Dismissal Based on res judicata
Dismissal Based on claim preclusion
Dismissal Based on issue preclusion
Dismissal Based on California primary rights doctrine
Dismissal Based on subject matter / Article III Jurisdiction