No. 25-683

Peyman Roshan v. Douglas R. McCauley, Individually, and as former Commissioner, California Department of Real Estate

Lower Court: Ninth Circuit
Docketed: 2025-12-11
Status: Pending
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: administrative-procedure circuit-conflict civil-rights judicial-exhaustion supremacy-clause younger-abstention
Key Terms:
SocialSecurity
Latest Conference: 2026-02-20
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Does California's doctrine of judicial exhaustion violate the Supremacy Clause under Williams v. Reed?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

All proceedings conducted pursuant to the California Administrative Procedures Act are subject to a doctrine of “judicial exhaustion ”; a party may not file in state court a lawsuit attacking the unconstitutionality of state administrative proceedings until after the completion of the administrative proceedings and exhaustion of the exclusive judicial remedy, an administrative petition for writ of mandamus proceeding. Prior to 2024 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals applied this same doctrine to 42 U.S.C. §1983 lawsuits in federal court, but in Jamgotchian v. Ferraro, 93 F.4th 1150 (9th Cir. 2024) it acknowledged this was mistaken and overruled the prior authority. However, in this case, involving an attack on then on-going administrative proceedings before the California Department of Real Estate (“DRE ”) that were dismissed on Younger abstention grounds, oral argument occurred prior to publication by this Court of Williams v. Reed, 145 S.Ct. 465 (2025). Petitioner notified the panel of this decision by Fed. R. Civ. P. 28(j) letter and thereafter requested supplemental briefing on its effects which was denied, and the panel refused to engage with relevant Seventh Circuit authority. Petitioner therefore presents the following: 1. Does California ’s doctrine of judicial exhaustion violate the Supremacy Clause under Williams v. Reed, 145 S.Ct. 465 (2025)? 2. If so, does this Supremacy Clause violation invalidate the California DRE reciprocal disciplinary ii proceeding based on the Supremacy Clause violating California State Bar proceedings? 3. Does a Supremacy Clause violating proceeding fail to meet the requirements for the application of Younger abstention, as the Seventh Circuit held in SKS & Associates, Inc. v. Dart, 619 F.3d 674 (7th Cir. 2010)? 4. Should this Court resolve the circuit conflict between the Ninth Circuit ’s opinion in this action and SKS, supra? 5. Were the DRE proceedings invalid because there was no right to a jury even though such proceedings would be deemed legal in the courts of England in 1791 and financial penalties and restitution can be ordered thereunder?

Docket Entries

2026-01-14
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/20/2026.
2026-01-13
Supplemental brief of petitioner Peyman Roshan filed. (Distributed)
2026-01-12
Waiver of right of respondent Douglas R. McCauley, Individually and as Former Commissioner, California Department of Real Estate to respond filed.
2025-10-17
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 12, 2026)
2025-08-19
Application (25A199) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until October 17, 2025.
2025-06-23
Application (25A199) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from August 18, 2025 to October 17, 2025, submitted to Justice Kagan.

Attorneys

Douglas R. McCauley, Individually and as Former Commissioner, California Department of Real Estate
Michael David GoweCalifornia Department of Justice, Respondent
Michael David GoweCalifornia Department of Justice, Respondent
Peyman Roshan
Peyman Roshan — Petitioner
Peyman Roshan — Petitioner