Lindsey v. Normet

In my view the District Court erred in declining to apply the doctrine of abstention with respect to the availability of defenses in FED actions.* The issue *91is whether Oregon would violate the Fourteenth Amendment if its substantive law in some circumstances recognized a tenant’s rights to withhold rent and retain possession based on the landlord’s breach of duty to maintain the premises, but its procedural law would not permit assertion of those rights in defense of an FED action. This constitutional issue is ripe for decision if, and only if, Oregon law (1) recognizes substantive rights of…