In Hicks v. Miranda, 422 U.S. 332, 334-35, 95 S.Ct. 2281, 45 L.Ed.2d 223 (1975), a state prosecuted theater employees for showing an obscene film, and seized several copies of the film. When the theater owners brought a federal-court challenge, the Court applied Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 54, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971). The Court wrote, "Absent a clear showing that the owners ... could not seek the return of their property in the state proceedings and see to it that their federal claims were presented there," Younger abstention could not be avoided. Id. at 349, 95 S.Ct. 2281. The owners, it said, "had a substantial stake in the state proceedings, so much so that they sought federal relief.... Obviously, their interests and those of their employees were intertwined; and, as we have pointed out, the federal action sought to interfere with the pending state prosecution." Id. at 348-49, 95 S.Ct. 2281.