Mitchum v. Foster

The federal anti-injunction statute provides that a federal .court “may not grant an injunction to stay proceedings in a State court except as expressly authorized by Act of Congress, or where necessary in aid of. its jurisdiction,, or to protect or effectuate its judgments.” 1 An Act of Congress, 42 U. S. C. § 1983, expressly authorizes a “suit in equity” to redress “the deprivation,” under color of state law, “of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution . ...”2 The question before us is whether this “Act of Congress” comes within the “expressly authorized” exception…