Barker, the state of Vermont brought an enforcement action against landfill operators in Vermont state court. Id. at 1215. Subsequently, a state agency issued an administrative order to the operators. Id. After receiving the order, the operators requested an administrative hearing. Id. Later, when the operators filed suit in federal court, the district court abstained under Younger, noting that there were “two pending state proceedings, one in superior court, and one before an administrative agency.” Id. at 1218. Prior to Bettencourt, the Supreme Court held that Younger is appropriate when the state proceedings are initiated before any proceedings of substance on the merits have taken place in the federal court. Hicks v. Miranda, 422 U.S. 332, 349, 95 S.Ct. 2281, 45 L.Ed.2d 223 (1975) (<HOLDING>). In Hicks, the Supreme Court found that denial
holding that declaratory relief is improper when a prosecution involving the challenged state statute is pending in state court at the time the federal suit is initiated and the same principles that govern the propriety of federal injunctions of state criminal proceedings govern the issuance of federal declaratory judgments in connection with such proceedings holding that if the state court addresses both the procedural default and the merits of a federal claim in the alternative a federal court should apply the state procedural bar and decline to reach the merits of the claim holding that where state criminal proceedings are begun against the federal plaintiffs after the federal complaint is filed but before any proceedings of substance on the merits have taken place in the federal court the principles of younger v harris should apply in full force recognizing that the longstanding public policy against federal court interference with state court proceedings generally requires federal courts to abstain from involvement in state criminal proceedings holding that where state criminal proceedings are begun against the federal plaintiffsafter the federal complaint is filed but before any proceedings of substance on the merits have taken place  the principles of younger v harris 401 us 37 91 sct 746 27 led2d 669 1971  apply in full force