IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 07-30833

BLANCHARD 1986, LTD., TORTUGA OPERATING CO., TORTUGA

INTERESTS, INC., JOHN E. HINE, and PETER L. TURBETT

Plaintiffs - Appellants

TEXACO EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION CO., and LINDER OIL CO.

Intervenors - Plaintiffs - Appellants

v.

PARK PLANTATION, LLC, NANCY BLANCHARD, and NANCY

BLANCHARD AS INDEPENDENT EXECUTRIX ON BEHALF OF BETTY

D. BLANCHARD

Defendants - Appellees

PAUL MACLEAN

Third Party Defendant - Appellee

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Western District of Louisiana

Before HIGGINBOTHAM, STEWART, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.

PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judge:

We review in this case the district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit that

soughtto enjoin on-goingLouisiana state court proceedings. Appellants contend

the district court had ancillary subject matter jurisdiction to effectuate the

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

F I L E D

December 16, 2008

Charles R. Fulbruge III

Clerk
No. 07-30833

1 28 U.S.C. § 2283.

2 Park Plantation LLC v. Blanchard, et al., 71 Fed. App’x 441, 2003 WL 21418102 (5th

Cir. 2003).

2

decisions of an earlier federal court and should have enjoined the state court suit

under the “relitigation exception” of the Anti-Injunction Act.1 We affirm the

district court’s decision to deny an injunction because we find discretion counsels

against intermeddling in the state court proceedings.

I

This suit continues lengthy litigation over a mineral lease. Betty and

Nancy Blanchard own 547.59 acres in Louisiana which has been leased to

Appellants or their predecessors since 1942. In 1986, the Blanchards brought

a suit in Louisiana state court seeking cancellation of the lease due to the

lessees’ failure to perform (“Blanchard I”). The parties entered into a settlement

agreement in 1996, under which the lease was amended and Betty Blanchard

granted Appellants a purchase option on 150 acres of the leased tract,

exercisable upon the Blanchards’ assertion of any claim of environmental

damage to the property or upon the transfer of the property. 

Following settlement the lease continued, but differences remained. In

2001, Park Plantation LLC,the corporation that had meanwhile been formed by

Nancy Blanchard to hold the leased land, sued the Appellants again, this time

in federal district court (“Blanchard II”). The claims in the suit came in two

counts. First, the suit sought cancellation of the 1996 settlement agreement

alleging that Betty Blanchard had not knowingly agreed to the terms of an

agreement that was vague and ambiguous. Second, the suit claimed Appellants

breached the lease, as modified by the settlement agreement, by failing to drill

an 8,000 foot well within one year of the settlement. The district court, adopting

the report and recommendation of the magistrate judge, dismissed the suit with

prejudice. This court affirmed.2 The lease continued on.
No. 07-30833

3 See New York Life Ins. Co. v. Gillispie, 203 F.3d 384, 386-87 (5th Cir. 2000) (“The only

issue before the Court is the proper scope and application of the relitigation exception to the

Anti-Injunction Act. Our review is therefore de novo.”).

4 28 U.S.C. § 2283.

5 Chick Kam Choo v. Exxon Corp., 486 U.S. 140, 147 (1988).

3

Unsatisfied, Nancy Blanchard and Park Plantation sued again in 2004,

this time back in a Louisiana state court and claiming, among other claims,

environmental damages and waiver of the settlement agreement’s purchase

option (“Blanchard III”). Appellants responded with a plea of res judicata,

pointing to the Blanchard II federal district court suit. The state court rejected

the bar, reasoning both that Blanchard II was dismissed for lack of subject

matter jurisdiction and that the instant claims did not arise out of the same

transaction or occurrence at issue in the federal suit. In response, over 22 years

after the initiation of litigation between these parties, Appellants filed this

action in federal district court (“Blanchard IV”) seeking to enjoin the on-going

state court suit. A federal district court dismissed the lawsuit and refused to

issue the injunction. We now review de novo on appeal.3

II

The Anti-Injunction Act generally bars federal courts from granting

injunctions to stay proceedings in state courts. However, the Act includes three

exceptions under which a federal court may enjoin state court proceedings in

limited circumstances:

A Court of the United States may not grant an injunction to stay

proceedings in a State Court except as expressly authorized by

Congress, or where necessary in aid of its jurisdiction, or to protect

or effectuate its judgments.4

The last of the three exceptions listed in the statute, termed the “relitigation

exception,” permits an injunction where necessary to “prevent state litigation of

an issue that previously was presented to and decided by the federal court.”5 The
No. 07-30833

6 Chick Kam Choo, 486 U.S. at 147. 

7

Id. at 151. 

8 The Supreme Court’s opinion in Parsons Steel, Inc. v. First Ala. Bank, 474 U.S. 518

(1986) does not preclude an injunction in this case. There, the Court construed the Full Faith

and Credit Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1738, to limit the relitigation exception "to those situations in

which the state court has not yet ruled on the merits of the res judicata issue." Parsons Steel,

474 U.S. at 524. No federal injunction of a state proceeding may issue "once the state court

has finally rejected a claim of res judicata." Id. We apply state law to determine when a ruling

is "final." See Duffy & McGovern Accommodation Servs. v. QCI Marine Offshore, Inc., 448 F.3d

825, 828 (5th Cir. 2006).

Here, the Louisiana state court held in a pretrial order that res judicata did not apply,

in part because it found that the Blanchard II federal court dismissed the claims for lack of

jurisdictional standing. The Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in turn refused a writ

to review the interlocutory order. Both a denial of a peremptory exception of res judicata by

a Louisiana trial court and a denial of writs of review by a Louisiana appellate court are

interlocutory as opposed to final judgments under Louisiana law. Both judgments are also

subject to further review at later stages of the proceedings. Thus, the Full Faith and Credit

Act does not foreclose a federal injunction, if appropriate under the relitigation exception,

because the Louisiana state courts have not "finally rejected a claim of res judicata." 

9 Southern Cal. Petroleum Corp. v. Harper, 273 F.2d 715, 718 (5th Cir. 1960).

10 298 U.S. 281 (1970).

4

exception is “founded in the well-recognized concepts of res judicata and collateral

estoppel,” but is “strict and narrow,” requiring that “the claims or issues which

the federal injunction insulates from litigation in state proceedings actually have

been decided by the federal court.”6 The exception permits, but does not

mandate, that federal courts enjoin duplicative state court proceedings.7

A

The nature of this case causes us to pause and consider that an injunction,

even where allowed by the letter ofthe relitigation exception,8remains permissive

at the discretion of the federal court, which discretion should be “exercised in the

light of the historical reluctance of federal courts to interfere with state judicial

proceedings.”9 As Justice Black remarked in Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v.

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers,

10 the Anti-Injunction Act’s “prohibition” of

injunctions against state court proceedings is grounded in federalism and “rests
No. 07-30833

11 Harper, 273 F.2d at 719.

12 In Parsons Steel, the Supreme Court declined to consider whether the relitigation

exception allows injunctions based on res judicata “where the later state action involves claims

that could have been litigated, but were not actually litigated, in the prior federal action.” 474

U.S. at 526 n.4. Currently, there is disagreement amongst the circuits regarding the scope of

the relitigation exception; and this circuit has given conflicting signals as to its position on the

issue. Most circuits that have considered the issue strictly interpret Chick Kam Choo’s

“actually decided” language as “mak[ing] clear that the part ofthe relitigation exception to the

Anti-Injunction Actthatis based on concerns of res judicata is more narrowly tailored than the

doctrine of res judicata.” Staffer v. Bouchard Transp. Co., 878 F.2d 638, 643-44 (2d Cir. 1989);

see, e.g., Jones v. St. Paul Cos., 495 F.3d 888, 892-93 (8th Cir. 2007); Am. Town Ctr. v. Hall 83

Assocs., 912 F.2d 104, 112 n.2 (6th Cir. 1990); Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. McCoy Rests., Inc., 708

F.2d 582, 585-87 (11th Cir. 1983). Under this interpretation, the exception only protects from

relitigation matters actually decided, not matters that could have been brought and decided

in previous federal litigation. See Staffer, 878 F.2d at 643-44. The Fifth Circuit has endorsed

this position, stating that an injunction that rests on true res judicata, a doctrine broadly

barring any claims that are part of the same transaction or series of transactions raised in a

previous action, “appears to be inconsistent with Chick Kam Choo’s admonishment that the

relitigation exception ‘is strict and narrow’ so that only ‘claims or issues which . . . actually

5

on the fundamental constitutional independence of the States and their courts.”

This Circuit, recognizing that these issues of federal and state comity remain

equally at play in the relitigation exception as in the rule itself, has stated:

We take the view that a complainant must make a strong and

unequivocal showing of relitigation of the same issue in order to

overcome the federal courts' proper disinclination to intermeddle

in state court proceedings. If we err, all is not lost. A state court

is as well qualified as a federal court to protect a litigant by the

doctrines of res adjudicata and collateral estoppel.11

The power to curtail duplicative litigation in this case exists directly in the

Louisiana state courts through the well-developed doctrines of res judicata and

collateral estoppel. In light of the state’s power, we should not wield the

extraordinary equitable remedy of a federal injunction without a “strong and

unequivocal” showing of relitigation. That inquiry, however, is complicated by the

fact that there is disagreement over the precise reach of the relitigation

exception’s protections; whether it resembles issue preclusion, claim preclusion,

or a hybrid of the two.12 In light of the nebulous standard, on our reading of the
No. 07-30833

have been decided’ in the prior proceeding . . . are protectable thereunder.” Tex. Employers’

Ins. Assoc. v. Jackson, 862 F.2d 491, 501 (5th Cir. 1988) (en banc). Accordingly, the Jackson

court would limitthe reach ofthe relitigation exception to situations where a state suit’s claims

are precluded under a collateral estoppel theory, which bars relitigation of issues actually

determined and litigated in a prior suit. Id. at 500-01.

The Ninth Circuit, however, expressly disagrees, holding thatthe relitigation exception

applies “whenever res judicata would bar relitigation of a claim.” Western Sys., Inc. v. Ulloa,

958 F.2d 864, 868 (9th Cir. 1992). The Ulloa court rejected limiting the relitigation exception

to issues “actually litigated” because to do so “would in essence be to read res judicata entirely

out of [the relitigation exception,]” as any issues “actually litigated” would fall under the bar

of collateral estoppel. The Fifth Circuit, despite its earlier endorsement in Jackson of the

“actually litigated” standard, hasmore recently gravitated towards the Ninth Circuit’s position

by employing a transactional test in relitigation exception cases, asking whether the two

claims are based on the same nucleus of operative fact. See New York Life Ins. Co. v. Gillispie,

203 F.3d 384, 387 (5th Cir. 2000); Assurance Co. of Am. v. Kirkland, 312 F.3d 186, 189 n.8 (5th

Cir. 2002). Such a test is traditionally associated with the doctrine of res judicata, and its

preclusive effect potentially extends beyond claims actually litigated to claims that could have

been litigated. See Nevada v. US, 463 U.S. 110, 131 n.12 (1983); Agrilectric Power Partners,

Ltd. v. General Electric Co., 20 F.3d 663, 665 (5th Cir. 1994); Restatement(Second) Judgments

§ 24(2).

13 LA. CIV. CODE ANN. Art. 2031. 

6

Blanchard II judgment and the Blanchard III pleadings, it is not unequivocally

clear that Blanchard III raises issues already decided by the Blanchard II court.

We note, however,thatthis is not because the Blanchard II court dismissed

the suit for lack of constitutional standing, as the district court and the Louisiana

state courts have found, and with which we disagree. Based on our reading of the

magistrate’s report, the Blanchard II court reached the merits in dismissing both

the breach of contract claim and the rescission claim. Although the report stated

as to the rescission claim that “Park lacks standing to void the settlement

agreement,” that statement pertained to “statutory standing,” not Article III

standing. The magistrate’s report reasoned that Park lacked standing because

under the elements of Louisiana’s relative nullity jurisprudence, it was not

authorized to sue; relative nullity “may be invoked only by those persons for whose

interest the ground for nullity was established.”13 Because Park was not in

existence when Betty Blanchard entered into the settlement agreement, it could
No. 07-30833

14 Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 523 U.S. 83, 89 (1998) (quoting Bell v. Hood,

327 U.S. 678, 682 (1946)). 

15 Dismissals for lack of jurisdiction "are not considered adjudications on the merits and

ordinarily do not, and should not, preclude a party from later litigating the same claim,

provided that the specific defect has been corrected." Baris v. Sulpicio Lines, Inc., 74 F.3d 567,

571 (5th Cir. 1996) (citing WRIGHT,MILLER &COOPER FED.PRAC.&PROC. § 4436). Dismissals

with prejudice for failure to state a claim, on the other hand, are "decision[s] on the merits and

essentially end[] the plaintiff's lawsuit." Hitt v. City of Pasadena, 561 F.2d 606, 608 (5th Cir.

1977).

7

not bring a relative nullity claim. This question of whether or not a particular

cause of action authorizes an injured plaintiffto sue is a merits question, affecting

statutory standing, not a jurisdictional question, affecting constitutional standing.

In the words of the Supreme Court, once a plaintiff has suffered sufficient injury

to satisfy the “case and controversy” requirement of Article III, “jurisdiction is not

defeated by the possibility that the averments might fail to state a cause of action

on which petitioners could actually recover.”14 Thus, the district court dismissed

the rescission claim under Fed. R. Civ P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon

which relief can be granted, and not Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) for lack of subjectmatter jurisdiction. The Blanchard II judgments, therefore, have preclusive

effect.15

Even considering this preclusive effect, it is not clear at this stage of the

Blanchard III proceedings that the case involves issues already decided in

Blanchard II. For instance, while both Count Two in Blanchard III and the

rescission claim in Blanchard II question the validity of the Appellants’ purchase

option, the claims measure the option’s validity at different times and against

different standards. In Blanchard II, the district court dismissed the Appellees’

rescission claims by focusing on the time of formation and found that there was

no error in the settlement’s formation, that the settlement was not in

contravention of public policy, that a rescission claim was prescribed, and that

Park lacked statutory standing. Count Two, in contrast, challenges the purchase
No. 07-30833

16 Compare Western Systems, Inc. v. Ulloa, 958 F.2d 864, 871 (9th Cir. 1992) (affirming

an injunction of state proceedings in a case that had been litigated in federal court for

seventeen years).

8

option from the angle of whether it was waived through inaction following events

that gave Appellants the right to exercise the option. They are different claims

focusing, at least based on the initial state court pleadings, on different issues.

As the claims unfold, the state court will be in a better position to consider

collateral estoppel and res judicata.

Declining an injunction as a matter of discretion is also appropriate here

because of the nature of this case. Over the past twenty years, these parties have

engaged in protracted litigation which started in Louisiana state courts, which

turns on Louisiana causes of action, and which involves Louisiana land. This is

a long-running state dispute, with only a single appearance in federal court, and

the Louisiana courts are more familiar with the issues the case presents.16

Preventing duplicative litigation could potentially shorten this carousel ride of

litigation; but, the power to effectuate federal judgments is not uniquely federal

and is best left to the state courts in this state dispute. 

Accordingly, the mere possibility that previously-decided issues may

resurface in Blanchard III does not justify reversing the district court’s refusal to

enjoin the state court. It is possible that none of the judgments of Blanchard II

will be raised in the adjudication ofthe claims brought in Blanchard III. We leave

it to the state court to recognize and decide, as the claims in Blanchard III unfold,

whether that remains the case. AFFIRMED.