Moe v. Dinkins

IRVING R. KAUFMAN, Circuit Judge:

Federal adjudication of constitutional challenges to state statutes is an arduous task, for the delicate balance between federal and state power must be crafted with a sensitivity responsive to their respective authorities. The Constitution and Congress equip federal courts with authority to void state laws that transgress federal civil rights, but comity toward state sovereignty counsels the power be sparingly used. Accordingly, the doctrine of abstention authorizes our federal courts to refrain from interpreting state law where ambiguities in that law might…