Opinion ID: 3051722
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Broughton and Stare Decisis

Text: [2] This court upheld the dismissal of a reverse condemnation action on Eleventh Amendment grounds in Broughton Lumber Co. v. Columbia River Gorge Comm’n, 975 F.2d 616, 620 (9th Cir. 1992). One might well assume that Broughton thus ends the matter and controls this case, but Broughton was directed at a different argument. In Broughton, the plaintiff pursued a reverse condemnation action in federal court alleging that Washington and Oregon effected an unconstitutional regulatory taking of its property by failing to issue a land use permit. Id. at 618. The plaintiff’s argument assumed that the Eleventh Amendment ordinarily applied in reverse condemnations actions, but asserted that Congress had abrogated the immunity of Washington and Oregon in the statute approving the Columbia River Gorge Compact. Id. at 619. The court found no such abrogation in the statute, and accordingly held the suit to be barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Id. at 61920. The argument presented in today’s case — that the selfexecuting nature of the Takings Clause itself defeats Eleventh Amendment immunity — was neither raised nor discussed. [3] Because Broughton did not directly address the latter issue, it does not control our decision. It is true that “where a panel confronts an issue germane to the eventual resolution of the case, and resolves it after reasoned consideration in a published opinion, that ruling becomes the law of the circuit, regardless of whether doing so is necessary in some strict logical sense.” United States v. Johnson, 256 F.3d 895, 914 (9th Cir. 2001) (en banc) (per curiam). But Broughton involved no such reasoned consideration of the issue before us. Reconsideration of an issue may be appropriate “where the later panel is convinced that the earlier panel did not make a deliberate decision to adopt the rule of law it announced.” Id. at 915. That is the situation here: we are convinced that Broughton made no deliberate decision rejecting the proposition that the self-executing nature of the Takings Clause overcame ElevSEVEN UP PETE VENTURE v. SCHWEITZER 4167 enth Amendment immunity. In deciding that question today, we are not constrained by Broughton.5