Does Pullman Abstention Apply to Federal Takings Claims Post-Knick?

Ben Rubin’s article, “Does Pullman Abstention Apply to Federal Takings Claims Post-Knick?,” appeared in the January 2023 edition of The Override, the newsletter of the Los Angeles Association of Professional Landmen. The article examines that the answer to the Pullman abstention is “according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit…a definitive yes.” Ben continues to note, “Generally speaking, [the] Pullman abstention permits a federal court to stay a federal claim to allow a state court to resolve a state issue that could either eliminate or narrow the scope of the federal claim. In order to invoke Pullman abstention, the federal claim must also touch on a sensitive area of social policy and involve an undecided question of state law.” The article originally appeared on our California Eminent Domain Report.

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