Almodovar v. Reiner

NELSON, Circuit Judge:

Appellants contend that using California’s pandering and prostitution statutes to prevent them from making sexually explicit films violates their federal and state constitutional rights. Because the California Supreme Court had not construed the two statutes as applying to filmmakers, and because a similar challenge is currently before the California Supreme Court, the district court abstained following the doc*1140trine of Railroad Commissioner v. Pullman, 312 U.S. 496, 61 S.Ct. 643, 85 L.Ed. 971 (1941). The district court then dismissed the case “because the plaintiffs…