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Eighth Circuit: Administrative Exhaustion First, Jury Later

By Eric L. Lipman

In an interesting published opinion issued on Monday, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit turned aside the challenge of a set of Arkansas landowners. The landowners challenged the requirement that they first present their takings claims for review by a state administrative tribunal - the Arkansas State Claims Commission - before being permitted to proceed in federal court.

The landowners argued that the exhaustion requirement violated constitutional guarantees because the state administrative process did not afford the landowners with access to a jury on their claims. Disagreeing, the appellate panel held that only the later federal suit, following exhaustion of administrative remedies, was an ?action at law? where the right to a jury trial was guaranteed.

The panel?s complete analysis is accessible here.

Full post as published by Within the Scope on December 02, 2008 (boomark / email).