Read this: "The Accidental Abstention Doctrine: After Thirty Years, the Case for Diverting Federal Takings Claims to State Court Under Williamson County Has Yet to Be Made," by R.S. Radford and Jennifer Fry Thompson, published in the most recent edition of the Baylor Law Review.
If the title weren't enough to tell you what this article is about, here's a summary:
The Supreme Court has never directly reviewed the question of whether, as a general matter, abstention is required or even appropriate in Fifth Amendment takings cases. Yet in a seemingly unrelated decision handed down more than a decade after Williamson County, the Court held that dismissing such cases would be improper under its express abstention doctrines. The Court has thus created a doctrinal paradox: couched in terms of “ripeness,” Williamson County in fact created a de facto abstention doctrine that applies under circumstances in which the Court has held abstention to be improper! This article traces the origin and development of this paradox and concludes that the most straightforward method of resolving it would be for the Court to summon the courage to admit its mistake and overrule Williamson County.
Read the article here.