7th Circuit Decision on Comity Abstention: City of Fishers v. DIRECTV

Yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued its decision in City of Fishers, Indiana v. DIRECTV. Judge Scudder’s opinion for a unanimous panel begins:

In the lawsuit underlying this appeal, a group of Indiana cities seeks a declaration that Netflix and other video streaming platforms owe them past and future franchise fees under an Indiana statute. The cities filed the action in state court, but the defendant streaming platforms removed the case to federal court. Relying on the doctrine of comity abstention, the district court declined to exercise federal jurisdiction and remanded the case. At this early stage, the only question before us is whether the district court properly abstained under the teachings of Levin v. Commerce Energy, Inc., 560 U.S. 413 (2010), and like cases. We conclude that it did and therefore affirm.