Whether the Ninth Circuit's application of Younger abstention doctrine improperly defers judicial review of a state medical board's COVID-19 misinformation policy that potentially violates First Amendment free speech protections

1. On September 16, 2025, the Washington Court of Appeals held that the State Medical Commission’s COVID-19 misinformation enforcement policy targeting physicians for their public viewpoint speech did not serve a compelling state interest and violated the First Amendment. Wilkinson v. Washington Medical Commission , 576 P.3d 1191 (Wash. Ct. App. 2025). The next day, the Ninth Circuit refused to reach the merits of Petitioners’ challenge to that same policy and affirmed dismissal under Younger v. Harris , 401 U.S. 37 (1971), finding that the policy served an “important state interest” justifying abstention.