Rajiv Shashikant Shah v. Leon County Circuit Court

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida adopted the Magistrate Judge’s recommendation and remanded Rajiv Shashikant Shah’s attempted removal of a Florida state criminal proceeding. The court held that Shah failed to satisfy the two-part test for removal under Georgia v. Rachel because he did not identify a formal expression of state law denying equal civil rights in state court.

Holdings

1. Plaintiff did not satisfy the two-part test for removal of a state criminal proceeding because he failed to identify a formal expression of state law that would deny him equal civil rights in state court.
2. The fact that Plaintiff is being prosecuted, even if he intends to assert a selective-prosecution defense, is not a formal expression of state law prohibiting enforcement of equality-based civil rights in state court.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Plaintiff satisfied the two-part test for removal of a state criminal proceeding based on the denial of equal civil rights in state court.
2. Whether the existence of an allegedly selective prosecution constitutes a formal expression of state law denying Plaintiff equal civil rights for purposes of federal removal.

Disposition

remanded