Filed: July 30, 2002

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 01-1628

(CA-00-1913-A)

Sidney L. Jaffe, et al.,

Plaintiffs - Appellants,

versus

Accredited Surety and Casualty Co., Inc.,

Defendant - Appellee.

ORDER

The court amends its opinion filed June 25, 2002, and reported

at 294 F.3d 584, as follows:

On page 4, first full paragraph, lines 18-19 -- the clause

“Jaffe again immediately fled to Canada” is corrected to read

“Jaffe immediately fled to Canada.”

For the Court - By Direction

/s/ Patricia S. Connor

Clerk
PUBLISHED PUBLISHED 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT 

 

SIDNEY L. JAFFE; RUTH JAFFE,

 Plaintiffs-Appellants,

 v.

ACCREDITED SURETY AND CASUALTY No. 01-1628 

 

COMPANY, INCORPORATED,

 Defendant-Appellee.

CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS,

 Amicus Curiae.

 

Appeal from the United States District Court 

 

for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. 

 

Gerald Bruce Lee, District Judge. 

 

(CA-00-1913-A) 

Argued: February 26, 2002 

Decided: June 25, 2002 

Before MOTZ, KING, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges. 

 

____________________________________________________________

Affirmed in part and certified in part by published opinion. Judge

Motz wrote the opinion, in which Judge King and Judge Gregory

joined.

____________________________________________________________

COUNSEL 

ARGUED: Harold M. Jaffe, Oakland, California, for Appellants. ARGUED:

Michael Lee Sturm, WILEY, REIN & FIELDING, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for Appellee. ON BRIEF: ON BRIEF: ON BRIEF: David Barger, KILPATRICK
STOCKTON, Reston, Virginia, for Appellants. Fred F. Fielding, Leslie D. Fetter, WILEY, REIN & FIELDING, L.L.P., Washington,

D.C., for Appellee. Jennifer Green, CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, New York, New York; William J. Aceves, CALIFORNIA WESTERN SCHOOL OF LAW, San Diego, California, for

Amicus Curiae.

____________________________________________________________

OPINION 

DIANA GRIBBON MOTZ, Circuit Judge:

 In this diversity action, Sidney Jaffe and his wife, Ruth Jaffe, Canadian citizens now living in Mexico, seek recognition of two default

judgments — one in favor of Sidney Jaffe and one in favor of Ruth

Jaffe. A Canadian court entered the default judgments against Accredited Surety & Casualty Co., Inc. (Accredited), a Florida corporation

doing business in Virginia. The Canadian default judgments arise

from the Jaffes' contention that, after Sidney Jaffe jumped bail on

Florida criminal charges, bail bondsmen employed by Accredited

"kidnapped" him in Canada and illegally transported him to Florida

for trial.

 The district court refused to recognize the Canadian default judgments and granted summary judgment to Accredited. Because we

must give full faith and credit to a Florida court's previous judgment

refusing to recognize Ruth Jaffe's Canadian default judgment, we

affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment to Accredited

with respect to Ruth Jaffe's default judgment. However, because Virginia law is unclear as to whether the claim for relief on which Sidney

Jaffe's default judgment is based "is repugnant to the public policy"

of Virginia, or otherwise "need not be recognized" under Virginia's

Foreign Country Money-Judgments Recognition Act, Va. Code Ann.

§ 8.01-465.6 et seq. (Michie 2000), we respectfully certify that question to the Supreme Court of Virginia.

I. 

 On August 7, 1980, Sidney Jaffe was arrested in Florida and

charged with 28 counts of violating the Florida Uniform Land Sales

2 
Practices Law, as codified at Fla. Stat. ch. 498.001 et seq. (1979). See

Jaffe v. State, 438 So.2d 72, 74 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1983). These

charges stemmed from Jaffe's involvement in allegedly fraudulent

real estate transactions in which he delivered quit-claim (rather than

warranty) deeds to 28 purchasers of subdivision lots located in Putnam County, Florida. At the time Jaffe was charged with violating the

Land Sales Practices Law, a civil lawsuit filed by the purchasers of

the properties had been pending in Florida state court for more than

two years.

 Jaffe was released on $137,500 bond, which Accredited posted on

Jaffe's behalf. Jaffe signed a bond agreement with Accredited providing that Accredited had the right to "apprehend, arrest and surrender"

Jaffe in the event Jaffe left the Florida jurisdiction "without the written consent of the court and [Accredited]" or if Jaffe moved from his

then-current residence without notifying Accredited.

 Once free on bail, Jaffe fled with family members to Toronto, Canada, without notifying or obtaining the permission of the court or

Accredited. Jaffe subsequently failed to appear for trial in Florida,

scheduled for May 18, 1981. At that time, Jaffe's counsel presented

evidence to the Florida court that Jaffe's failure to appear was attributable to a basketball injury Jaffe had suffered in Canada. The Florida

court added a failure to appear charge to the original charges against

Jaffe and issued a warrant for Jaffe's arrest. The Florida court also

estreated, or took away, Jaffe's bond based on his failure to appear.

Accredited sought to have the estreature set aside, reiterating the representation by Jaffe's counsel that Jaffe's failure to appear was due

to a basketball injury. On September 18, 1981, the court agreed to set

aside the estreature on the condition that Accredited produce Jaffe

within ninety days.

 Later that month, two Accredited bondsmen, posing as police officers, located and apprehended Jaffe at his condominium building in

Toronto, Canada, as he returned from jogging. The bondsmen then

took Jaffe by car across the international border to Niagara Falls, New

York, and returned with him by airplane to Florida. Jaffe stood trial

and, on October 23, 1981, was convicted on all 28 Land Sales Practices counts and one count of failing to appear. See Jaffe v. State, 438

So.2d at 74.

3 
 A number of legal developments occurred over the course of the

next two years, during which Jaffe served sentences on the above convictions. First, in April 1982, in the civil action related to the quitclaim deeds the Florida state court entered judgment against Jaffe's

corporations in the amount of $3 million, which was affirmed on

appeal. Then, in July 1983, Jaffe was charged with eight counts of

criminal "organized fraud," again related to the allegedly fraudulent

land deals. See Jaffe v. Sanders, 463 So.2d 318 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App.

1984) (holding that the prior convictions did not bar — by collateral

estoppel or double jeopardy — prosecution of criminal fraud charges

against Jaffe). Two months later, in September 1983, a state appellate

court set aside Jaffe's convictions on the Land Sales Act convictions

due to "defective" wording in the indictment; however, the court

upheld his failure to appear conviction. See Jaffe v. State, 438 So.2d

at 75-77. That same month, Jaffe became eligible for parole on the

failure to appear conviction and also filed a letter of credit in lieu of

bond in the amount of $150,000 with respect to the criminal fraud

charges. When released the next month on parole, Jaffe immediately fled to Canada.

 Florida authorities filed more criminal charges against Jaffe in

March 1984, while Jaffe continued to reside in Canada. This time,

Jaffe was charged with four counts of perjury stemming from answers

to interrogatories in both the state civil action and in a subsequent federal civil action brought by Jaffe relating to the allegedly fraudulent

land deals.1

 In the meantime, Canadian officials "took a very jaundiced view"

of the bondsmen's arrest of Jaffe, who had since become a Canadian

citizen, in Canada, without notice or surrender to Canadian officials.

See Kear v. Hilton, 699 F.2d 181, 182-83 & n.1 (4th Cir. 1983) (denying habeas relief to Accredited bondsman seeking to prevent his

extradition to Canada for kidnapping Jaffe). Contrary to the law in

each of the United States, in Canada a surety must either obtain an

order from a Canadian court permitting the arrest of the accused or

must surrender the accused to Canadian peace officers. Id. at 182 &

____________________________________________________________

 1

 An arrest warrant for Jaffe on these perjury charges remains outstanding, although the organized fraud charges brought in 1983 apparently

were dropped sometime in 1996 or 1997.

4 
n.3 (citing Criminal Code, R.S.C. ch. C-34, §§ 449, 700(1), 702

(1970) (Can.)). At the request of Canadian authorities, the two

Accredited bondsmen were extradited to Canada and were charged

and convicted there of criminal kidnapping.

 On September 20, 1985, after a Canadian court had convicted the

bondsmen, the Jaffes filed a civil suit in the Ontario Court of Justice

against Accredited and its president, Hank M. Snow.2

 The Jaffes

alleged that the bondsmen kidnapped Sidney Jaffe in violation of

Canadian law, "struck [Jaffe] on the head, threatened him with further

physical harm, handcuffed him, and threatened to kill members of his

family in order to prevent his escaping." In the same action, the Jaffes

also sued a host of other persons whom they alleged caused or conspired in the "wrongful abduction" or "wrongful imprisonment,"

including various Florida state attorneys, local government and

county officials in Putnam County, and the attorneys who litigated the

civil suit against Jaffe's corporations.

 Accredited and Snow entered special appearances and filed a

motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens; the Canadian court dismissed that motion. See Jaffe v. Miller, [1989] 76 O.A.C. 15. Accredited and Snow elected not to defend

further against the action. On November 22, 1990, the Canadian court

entered two default judgments against Accredited — one in favor of

Sidney Jaffe for $617,434.17 in Canadian dollars, plus $290,140.94

in U.S. dollars, plus interest, and a second and separate default judgment in favor of Ruth Jaffe for $115,293.56 in Canadian dollars, plus

$903,481.47 in U.S. dollars, plus interest.3

____________________________________________________________

 2

 In 1982 and 1984 the Jaffes had filed civil actions in the United States

based on allegations that the Accredited bondsmen had illegally kidnapped and mistreated Jaffe. The Jaffes voluntarily dismissed the first

action and did not prosecute the second.

 3

 These values are expressly set forth in the Canadian judgment. Nonetheless, the Jaffes claim that the Canadian court awarded Sidney Jaffe

"413,806.47 U.S. Dollars and $822,956.45 Canadian Dollars," plus postjudgment interest, and awarded Ruth Jaffe "$1,401,570.80 U.S. Dollars

and $177,752.30 Canadian Dollars," plus post-judgment interest.

5 
 On January 15, 1991, Ruth Jaffe filed an action in Florida state

court seeking recognition of her Canadian default judgment. The Florida court refused recognition, reasoning that to do so would contravene Florida public policy because Florida law "favors and sanctions

the apprehension of a bond jumper" by a surety, like Accredited, and

because Jaffe's criminal act in failing to appear constituted the direct

cause of the bondsmen's actions. Jaffe v. Snow, No. CI 91-1593, at

8-9 (Fla. Cir. Ct. July 26, 1991) (order granting summary judgment).

The court concluded that Ruth Jaffe was not entitled to recognition of

her Canadian default judgment because "the claim upon which it was

based was intertwined with, solely derivative of and utterly dependent

upon that of her husband." Id. For these reasons, the Florida trial court

granted summary judgment to Accredited; the Florida appellate court

affirmed. Jaffe v. Snow, 610 So.2d 482 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1992).

 In 1994, a Canadian court, after a full trial, issued a comprehensive, 93-page decision resolving the Jaffes' claims as to the remaining

defendants in the Jaffes' Canadian action. The same court that previously had entered the default judgments in favor of the Jaffes (speaking through a different judge) dismissed each of the Jaffes' claims and

entered judgment in favor of one defendant on his counterclaim

against the Jaffes. The Canadian court spared little scorn in detailing

the Jaffes' lack of credibility and the minimal foundation supporting

their claims.4

 As to the earlier default judgments entered against

Accredited and Snow, the court declared that "[i]t strikes me as being

wrong that Jaffe now has or should obtain a judgment against Accredited" based on his allegations of "kidnapping." The court further

stated:

I have no doubt that [the other judge of this court] granted

judgment in favor of both Jaffe and Mrs. Jaffe on the basis

of misstatements or misrepresentations knowingly made to

him . . . and allow[ed] a recovery of money to which neither

of them are entitled. I have a serious concern about this mat-

____________________________________________________________

 4

 For example, the court stated that "I can say without any hesitation

that in all my years on the Bench, I have not seen or experienced a more

untrustworthy witness or litigant [than Jaffe]. . . . There is absolutely no

justification whatsoever for this action, let alone this [ten-week] trial,

having taken place."

6 
ter and question whether the judgments [in favor of the Jaffes] should now be enforced. I think the matter of their

validity should be the subject of further consideration on

another occasion.

 On November 16, 2000, the Jaffes nonetheless filed this enforcement action against Accredited in the United States District Court for

the Eastern District of Virginia, after having withdrawn a similar

action from a Virginia state court in 1996. The Jaffes sought enforcement of both Canadian default judgments pursuant to the Foreign

Country Money-Judgments Recognition Act, Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-

465.6 et seq.

 The district court granted summary judgment to Accredited. The

district court reasoned that the Florida court's refusal to recognize the

Canadian default judgment barred Ruth Jaffe's claim for recognition

of the same default judgment. The court held that Sidney Jaffe could

not succeed on his claim for recognition of his Canadian default judgment because to permit this would be repugnant to Virginia public

policy and therefore was barred by Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-465.10. The

district court explained that "[s]uch recovery would be against public

policy because it would permit Sidney Jaffe to benefit from his wrong

doing," i.e., his bail-jumping, and allow a "fugitive" to "utiliz[e] the

American justice system to his benefit."

 Both Jaffes appeal. We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. Guinness PLC v. Ward, 955 F.2d 875, 882

(4th Cir. 1992). We consider first Ruth Jaffe's claim and then Sidney

Jaffe's claim.

II. 

 The full faith and credit statute, 28 U.S.C.A. § 1738 (West 1994),

governs our disposition of Ruth Jaffe's claim. That statute requires

that federal courts afford state court judgments "full faith and credit."

Id. (providing that state judicial proceedings "shall have the same full

faith and credit in every court within the United States . . . as they

have by law or usage in the courts of such State . . . from which they

are taken").

7 
 To determine whether the full faith and credit statute applies in a

particular case, a court engages in a two-step inquiry. Meindl v.

Genesys Pac. Techs., Inc. (In re Genesys Data Techs., Inc.), 204 F.3d

124, 128 (4th Cir. 2000) (citing Marrese v. Am. Acad. of Orthopaedic

Surgeons, 470 U.S. 373, 381 (1985)). First, we "must refer to the preclusion law of the State in which the judgment was rendered" to

ascertain the preclusive effect of the state-court judgment in that state.

Heckert v. Dotson (In re Heckert), 272 F.3d 253, 257 (4th Cir. 2001)

(internal quotation marks and citation omitted); Meindl, 204 F.3d at

128. If the law of that state "would not bar relitigation of an issue or

claim decided in the earlier proceeding, then the inquiry ends — a

federal court will not give it preclusive effect either." Meindl, 204

F.3d at 128. However, "[i]f state law would afford the judgment preclusive effect . . . then a federal court must engage in a second step

— it must determine if Congress created an exception to § 1738." Id.

(citation omitted). Only if federal law provides an exception to § 1738

can a federal court refuse to give a state court judgment the same preclusive effect given it under the law of that state. Id.

A. 

 We therefore must first determine whether, under Florida preclusion law, the Florida court's judgment refusing to recognize Ruth

Jaffe's Canadian default judgment bars her claim for recognition of

that judgment in the present suit. Florida law provides that "several

conditions must occur simultaneously if a matter is to be made res

judicata: [1] identity of the thing sued for; [2] identity of the cause of

action; [3] identity of parties; [4] identity of the quality in the person

for or against whom the claim is made." Albrecht v. State, 444 So.2d

8, 12 (Fla. 1984), superseded by statute on other grounds, as stated

in Bowen v. Florida Dep't of Envtl. Reg., 448 So.2d 566 (Fla. Dist.

Ct. App. 1984). Finally, under Florida law, the prior cause of action

must have been resolved by a final "adjudication on the merits."

Ludovici v. McKiness, 545 So.2d 335, 337 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1989)

(citations omitted).

 Ruth Jaffe does not (and indeed cannot) maintain that the first four

prongs of Florida's res judicata test have not been met. What Ruth

Jaffe claims is that the Florida judgment would not be entitled to res

judicata under Florida law because it is not "an adjudication on the

8 
merits." Id. She asserts that the Florida public policy which provided

the rationale for the Florida judgment — refusal to enforce a judgment based on Sidney Jaffe's criminal failure to appear in court —

is inconsistent with Virginia public policy. For this reason, she

argues, a federal court in Virginia, sitting in diversity, should hold

that the Florida court's grant of summary judgment to Accredited was

not "on the merits." Even assuming that Virginia public policy does

not accord with Florida public policy (which is not at all clear, see

infra part III), this contention is meritless.

 Ruth Jaffe's reliance on this argument seems to arise from her confusion as to what is at issue in her case. With respect to her claim, we

must determine the enforceability of the prior Florida judgment refusing to enforce her Canadian default judgment, not the enforceability

of the Canadian default judgment itself. Neither the full faith and

credit statute, nor the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution,

applies to judgments issued from foreign countries. See Miller v. Miller, 240 F.3d 392, 400 (4th Cir. 2001) (citations omitted); Guinness,

955 F.2d at 883. Accordingly, while both federal and state courts in

the United States must give "full faith and credit" to any judgment of

a state court empowered to enter the judgment, see Baker v. Gen.

Motors Corp., 522 U.S. 222, 233 (1998), they need only recognize the

judgment of a foreign court to the extent that this recognition comports with principles of judicial comity. See Hilton v. Guyot, 159 U.S.

113, 203 (1895).

 For this reason, a state can refuse, as Florida did, to recognize a

foreign judgment on the ground that it conflicts with the public policy

of that state. Id. at 163; Herron v. Passailaigue, 110 So. 539, 542

(Fla. 1926) (stating that a state court could refuse to enforce judgment

from foreign country if contrary to "some paramount rule of public

policy"); see also Uniform Foreign Money-Judgments Recognition

Act of 1962 § 1 et seq., 13 U.L.A. 268 (1986) (providing that a foreign country money judgment "need not be recognized" if, among

other reasons, the claim for relief "on which the judgment is based is

repugnant to the public policy of this state").

 But neither a state nor a federal court can refuse to give full faith

and credit to the judgment of a state court because of disagreement

with the public policy basis for that decision. Indeed, the Supreme

9 
Court recently addressed this precise question and reiterated that its

"decisions support no roving `public policy exception' to the full faith

and credit due [state court] judgments." Baker, 522 U.S. at 233 (original emphasis omitted); see also Estin v. Estin, 334 U.S. 541 (1948);

Magnolia Petroleum Co. v. Hunt, 320 U.S. 430 (1943); Fauntleroy v.

Lum, 210 U.S. 230 (1908). Thus, even if Florida public policy on this

issue is contrary to Virginia public policy, this provides no basis for

a state or federal court in Virginia to refuse to give a Florida judgment

based on its public policy full faith and credit.

 Ruth Jaffe simply ignores this precedent and argues that because

the Florida judgment is based on Florida public policy, it, like some

Rule 41(b) dismissals on limitations grounds, see Semtek Int'l Inc. v.

Lockheed Martin Corp., 531 U.S. 497, 501-506 (2001), is not a judgment "on the merits" for res judicata purposes. Even if the line of

Supreme Court cases from Fauntleroy to Baker did not apparently

foreclose this argument, we would have to reject it. This is so because

under Florida law, even an involuntary dismissal on limitations or

other grounds, except for "a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction or for

improper venue or for lack of an indispensable party," Fla. R. Civ. P.

1.420(b), does constitute an adjudication "on the merits" for res judicata purposes. See 33 Fla. Jur. 2d Judgments and Decrees § 190

(1994) ("Under the civil procedure rule governing involuntary dismissals . . . a final judgment of dismissal . . . is a final adjudication

on the merits, and will bar a subsequent suit on the same cause of

action between the same parties unless it affirmatively appears from

the order of dismissal that it was made without prejudice." (citations

omitted)); see also, e.g., Allie v. Ionata, 503 So.2d 1237, 1242 (Fla.

1987) (holding that dismissal on limitations grounds is a "dismissal

. . . on the merits" under Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.420(b) and constitutes an

"adjudication[ ] on the merits for res judicata purposes").

 Accordingly, we must conclude that Florida law would afford the

Florida court's grant of summary judgment to Accredited preclusive

effect in any subsequent identical action, like the one at hand, brought

by Ruth Jaffe.

B. 

 We now proceed to the second step of our inquiry in resolving

whether the full faith and credit statute, 28 U.S.C.A. § 1738, applies

10 
here — examination of whether Congress has created a statutory

exception to § 1738 that permits relitigation of Ruth Jaffe's claim. A

court will recognize an exception to § 1738 only if "a later [federal]

statute contains an express or implied partial repeal" of § 1738; an

implied repeal requires an "irreconcilable conflict" between the two

federal statutes. Kremer v. Chem. Constr. Corp., 456 U.S. 461, 468

(1982). The Supreme Court has noted that it has "seldom, if ever, held

that a federal statute impliedly repealed § 1738 . . . due to the relatively stringent standard" for such findings. Matsushita Elec. Indus.

Co. v. Epstein, 516 U.S. 367, 380-81 (1996).

 Ruth Jaffe has identified no statute that explicitly or implicitly

repeals § 1738 and so "the second step of our analysis can be easily

resolved." See Meindl v. Genesys Pac. Techs., Inc. (In re Genesys),

245 F.3d 312, 314 (4th Cir. 2001) (citations omitted). We can only

conclude that Congress has not repealed § 1738 to create some exception in this case; rather, the full faith and credit statute must be honored here. Hence, the district court properly held that the prior Florida

judgment, refusing to recognize Ruth Jaffe's Canadian default judgment, must be given full faith and credit.

III. 

 Sidney Jaffe's claim seeking enforcement of his Canadian default

judgment presents a more difficult question. Sidney Jaffe too seeks

recognition and enforcement of his Canadian default judgment pursuant to Virginia's Foreign Country Money-Judgments Recognition Act

(the "Act"), Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-465.6 et seq. (Michie 2000). The

Act, which parallels in relevant part the Uniform Foreign MoneyJudgments Recognition Act, provides that a "foreign country money

judgment is enforceable in the same manner as the judgment of a sister state which is entitled to full faith and credit." Id. § 8.01-465.9.5

____________________________________________________________

 5

 Jaffe's Canadian default judgment against Accredited seems at present to be enforceable in Canada notwithstanding the doubts expressed by

the Canadian court in resolving the Jaffes' claims against the other

defendants. See supra at 6-7. We note that the Act requires that a judgment be "final and conclusive and enforceable where rendered," even

though "an appeal therefrom is pending or [the judgment] is subject to

appeal." Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-465.8.

11 
As a condition to enforcement, however, a court must first establish

that the foreign country money judgment should be recognized. See

Guinness PLC v. Ward, 955 F.2d at 891 (interpreting Maryland's version of the Uniform Recognition of Foreign Money-Judgments Act);

Matusevitch v. Telnikoff, 877 F. Supp. 1, 2-3 (D.D.C. 1995), aff'd,

159 F.3d 636 (D.C. Cir. 1998) (stating that pursuant to the Uniform

Foreign-Money Judgments Recognition Act, "[b]efore a party can

enforce a judgment from a foreign country in the United States, the

moving party must have the foreign judgment recognized by the state

in which he is seeking to enforce the judgment"). A judgment that

need not be recognized is not entitled to enforcement.

 In relevant part, the Act provides that a "foreign country money

judgment need not be recognized if . . . [t]he claim for relief on which

the judgment is based is repugnant to the public policy of this Commonwealth." Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-465.10(B)(3). We have found no

cases from Virginia courts applying the Act's public policy exception.

We nonetheless look to Virginia case law to determine if we can discern whether a Virginia court would hold that the basis for Jaffe's

Canadian judgment is repugnant to an important public policy manifested in Virginia law.

 Accredited principally contends6

 that, as the district court held, recognition of Sidney Jaffe's Canadian default judgment "would be

repugnant to Virginia public policy" for two interrelated reasons. To

recognize Sidney Jaffe's default judgment would, Accredited main-

____________________________________________________________

 6

 Accredited also briefly argues that the Florida judgment denying Ruth

Jaffe's claim for recognition of her Canadian default judgment constitutes "res judicata" barring Sidney Jaffe's claim for recognition of his

default judgment. This argument fails. Although under Florida law a

judgment against an injured party bars any future derivative claims by a

spouse, see, e.g., Gates v. Foley, 247 So.2d 40, 45 (Fla. 1971), no Florida

case supports the application of res judicata when the parties bring their

claims in reverse order, as they did here. We cannot extend Florida law

to preclude claims by an assertedly injured party (Sidney) after his

spouse (Ruth) has lost on her derivative claim because a claim by an

injured party and a derivative claim are not identical claims. Rather, a

derivative claim may fail while the principal claim succeeds. See, e.g.,

Resmondo v. Int'l Builders of Fla., Inc., 265 So.2d 72, 73-74 (Fla. Dist.

Ct. App. 1972).

12 
tains, be contrary to Virginia public policy because it would (1) permit a wrongdoer to benefit from his own wrongs and (2) allow a

fugitive from justice to call upon the resources of the courts while

simultaneously evading their process.

A. 

 The Supreme Court of Virginia has consistently refused to allow

a party "to profit from its own wrongdoing." Chosar Corp. v. Owens,

370 S.E.2d 305, 308 (Va. 1988); see Edwards v. Lowry, 348 S.E.2d

259, 261 (Va. 1986) (refusing to reduce a father's child support obligation where his changed circumstance — termination from his job

— was "the consequenc[e] of his own wrongdoing"); McNeir v.

McNeir, 16 S.E.2d 632, 633 (Va. 1941) (refusing to award ex-wife

support payments when she admitted to fraudulently obtaining a

divorce because it would "offend[ ] a principle of law, that one cannot

profit by one's own wrong"); Eagle, Star & British Dominions Ins.

Co. v. Heller, 140 S.E. 314, 321 (Va. 1927) (refusing to allow arsonist

to recover under fire insurance policy for goods he intentionally

burned).

 "When [this principle is] applied to actions in tort . . . consent or

participation in an immoral or unlawful act by plaintiff precludes

recovery for injuries sustained as a result of that act." Miller v. Bennett, 56 S.E.2d 217, 219 (Va. 1949); see also Zysk v. Zysk, 404 S.E.2d

721, 722 (Va. 1990) (stating that in a tort action, "consent, freely

given without fraud or duress, bars recovery, even though the conduct

constitutes a crime" because "courts will not assist the participant in

an illegal act who seeks to profit from the act's commission"); Trace

Mountain Prods., Inc. v. Special Data, Inc., 1994 WL 1031414 at *3

(Va. Cir. Ct. Nov. 3, 1994) (ruling that corporate directors who fail

to keep "accurate records" cannot "profit from uncertainty created by

their own wrongdoing").

 Applying this rule, the Supreme Court of Virginia has denied relief

when "[t]he very illegal act to which the plaintiff consented and in

which she participated produced the injuries and damages of which

she complains." Zysk, 404 S.E.2d at 722 (holding that a wife could

not recover against her husband for disease contracted from him prior

to marriage because she participated in and consented to unlawful

13 
premarital intercourse); see also Miller, 56 S.E.2d at 219 (ruling that

a husband, as administrator of deceased wife's estate, could not maintain a wrongful death action based on an attempted abortion because

his wife had participated in and consented to the unlawful abortion).

 On the other hand, Virginia's highest court has held that this principle does not bar recovery if the plaintiff's unlawful act is not the

direct cause of his injuries. Godbolt v. Brawley, 463 S.E.2d 657, 659-

60 (Va. 1995); cf. Matthews v. Warner, 70 Va. 570 (Va. 1877) (stating that trial court was not required to instruct jury that if it found

"that the death of the deceased . . . was the result of his own misconduct or neglect, then the jury must find for the defendant"). For example, Godbolt held that the plaintiff could maintain a civil action for

assault against a security guard who shot him during a bar brawl,

despite the plaintiff's participation in the brawl, because although the

plaintiff "may have intentionally engaged in assaultive behavior, he

did not engage in the use of deadly force and did not consent to its

use." Godbolt, 463 S.E.2d at 660.

 We cannot determine from these precedents whether the Virginia

courts would permit Jaffe to recover against Accredited for "wrongful

abduction" when Jaffe's own illegal act — jumping bail — led to

Accredited's actions in apprehending him. Under Virginia law, Jaffe's

instigating act of jumping bail constitutes a felony, see Va. Code Ann.

§ 19.2-128 (Michie 2000), and, therefore, an illegal and wrongful act.7

Furthermore, like the plaintiffs in Zysk and Miller, Jaffe expressly

manifested his consent to the very conduct undertaken by the defen-

____________________________________________________________

 7

 Jaffe contends that the district court should have applied judicial

estoppel to bar Accredited from asserting that he jumped bail because

Accredited, relying on a statement by Jaffe's own counsel, had represented to the Florida court that Jaffe's failure to appear in court was due

to a basketball injury. The hypocrisy of this argument is breathtaking. In

essence, Jaffe seeks to punish Accredited for innocently repeating Jaffe's

own lie. Judicial estoppel does not apply when a party's assertedly inconsistent positions stem from reliance on statements made to the court by

an opponent, which later prove untrue. See, e.g., Lowery v. Stovall, 92

F.3d 219, 224 (4th Cir. 1996) (stating that party taking an inconsistent

position must have "intentionally misled" the court (citation omitted)).

Thus, the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to invoke

the doctrine of judicial estoppel against Accredited.

14 
dants that caused injury. Jaffe did this by consenting, in the bond

agreement, to Accredited's right to "apprehend, arrest and surrender"

him if he left Florida without Accredited's permission or moved from

his residence without notifying Accredited.8

 Nonetheless, a Virginia

court might conclude that Jaffe's act of jumping bail and fleeing to

Canada was not a sufficiently direct cause of his alleged injuries, as

required by the Godbolt rule, to apply the principle that a party cannot

profit from his own wrongdoing.

B. 

 Similarly, we cannot determine whether Virginia courts would preclude Jaffe's underlying claim as contrary to public policy based on

the fugitive from justice doctrine. Pursuant to that doctrine, also

known as the fugitive disentitlement doctrine, a court may "dismiss

an appeal or writ of certiorari if the party seeking relief is a fugitive

while the matter is pending." Degen v. United States, 517 U.S. 820,

824 (1996); see also Ortega-Rodriguez v. United States, 507 U.S.

234, 242 (1993) (stating that the Supreme Court has upheld the doctrine "consistently and unequivocally"). A court has discretion in

determining whether to apply the doctrine, which is equitable rather

than jurisdictional in nature. See Molinaro v. New Jersey, 396 U.S.

365, 366 (1970).

 Federal courts have adopted the doctrine, see, e.g., Goya Foods,

Inc. v. Unanue-Casal, 275 F.3d 124, 129 (1st Cir. 2001); Prevot v.

Prevot (In re Prevot), 59 F.3d 556, 562 (6th Cir. 1995), as have some

state courts. See, e.g., In re J.J., 656 A.2d 1355, 1356 (Pa. 1995).

____________________________________________________________

 8 That a Canadian court convicted the Accredited bondsmen of criminal

kidnapping leads to no contrary conclusion. A wrongdoer who participates or consents to the wrongdoing is not entitled to recover against an

alleged tortfeasor even if the alleged tortfeasor could be subject to criminal prosecution for the same act. As the Supreme Court of Virginia has

explained, "when the consenting participant seeks monetary reward for

harm resulting from the unlawful conduct, the public interest [invaded by

the crime] is protected sufficiently by criminal sanctions and does not

require that the participant receive compensation." Zysk, 404 S.E.2d at

722 (citing Miller, 56 S.E.2d at 219-21; Restatement (Second) of Torts

§ 892C(1) cmt. b (1979)).

15 
Other states have established the doctrine "by statute or rule." See

State v. Bell, 608 N.W.2d 232, 234 (N.D. 2000) (citing authorities);

see also, e.g., Estelle v. Dorrough, 420 U.S. 534 (1975).

 No Virginia statute or rule codifies the doctrine, and we have found

no decisions in which a Virginia court has adopted it. Nevertheless,

the considerations justifying the doctrine reflect substantial public

policy interests Virginia likely shares with other jurisdictions that

have applied the doctrine. These include (1) a party's fugitive status

can render a judgment "impossible to enforce"; (2) the inequity of

allowing a fugitive to "call upon the resources of the Court for determination of his claims," and (3) the need to "discourage[ ] the felony

of escape and encourage[ ] voluntary surrenders." Degen, 517 U.S. at

824 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).

 Relying on these justifications, both federal and state courts have

applied the fugitive from justice doctrine not only in criminal cases

but in "a variety of civil cases and proceedings." Empire Blue Cross

& Blue Shield v. Finkelstein, 111 F.3d 278, 280-82 (2d Cir. 1997).9

Indeed, the Florida appellate court cited the doctrine as one of the

grounds for affirming the dismissal of Ruth Jaffe's claim, explaining

that "[t]he fugitive from justice doctrine bars any claim or defense

that is solely derivative of the fugitive's claim." Jaffe v. Snow, 610

So.2d at 486, 488 (stating also that Florida courts had adopted the

doctrine because a fugitive's "duplicitous approach" in "wield[ing] a

sword against our judicial system by escaping criminal prosecution"

while "shield[ing] himself with the protection of his rights in the civil

____________________________________________________________

 9

 In fact, some courts have stated that the doctrine should apply "with

greater force in civil cases where an individual's liberty is not at stake."

Conforte v. C.I.R., 692 F.2d 587, 589 (9th Cir. 1982) (citations omitted).

At least one court also has expanded the notion of "fugitive status" to one

"who becomes a fugitive to escape the effect of [a] civil judgment." Finkelstein, 111 F.3d at 282. We are dealing here with a mixed criminalcivil case in which a fugitive from criminal charges is seeking a civil

remedy. See also Sarlund v. Anderson, 205 F.3d 973, 974-76 (7th Cir.

2000) (dismissing civil rights suit "on the basis of the fugitivedisentitlement doctrine" because the plaintiff was "a fugitive from justice

with two arrest warrants outstanding against him, one for disorderly conduct and the other for violating the terms of his probation").

16 
courts" was "repugnant to our inherent sense of equity" (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)).

 Although the fugitive from justice doctrine dates back more than

one hundred years, the Supreme Court recently limited its application

in the federal courts. In 1993, the Ortega-Rodriguez Court rejected

the Eleventh Circuit's automatic rule mandating dismissal of fugitives' appeals and held that "some connection between a defendant's

fugitive status and his appeal" must exist for the doctrine to apply.

Ortega-Rodriguez, 507 U.S. at 249. Then, in 1996, Degen expanded

on the nexus requirement and held that a federal court could not rely

on the fugitive from justice doctrine to dismiss a civil forfeiture action

merely "because [the party] is a fugitive from, or otherwise is resisting, a related criminal prosecution." Degen, 517 U.S. at 823. In reaching this conclusion, the Court held that fugitive status alone does not

suffice to invoke the doctrine because disentitlement "is too blunt an

instrument" for advancing the need to deter flight from prosecution by

criminal defendants. Degen, 517 U.S. at 828.

 Since Degen, both federal and state courts have continued to apply

the doctrine in a civil setting. See, e.g., Goya Foods, 275 F.3d at 128-

29; Pesin v. Rodriguez, 244 F.3d 1250, 1252-53 (11th Cir. 2001);

Matsumoto v. Matsumoto, 792 A.2d 1222, 1232-33 (N.J. 2002); Guerin v. Guerin, 993 P.2d 1256, 1258 (Nev. 2000). Federal courts after

Degen, however, have required a substantial nexus between a litigant's fugitive status and the issue before the court. See, e.g., Barnett

v. YMCA, 268 F.3d 614 (8th Cir. 2001) (holding insufficient nexus

between a claim that a work release program violated federal minimum wage laws and the prisoner's departure from a half-way house

where he was paroled); Daccarett-Ghia v. C.I.R., 70 F.3d 621, 629

(D.C. Cir. 1995) (holding that "mere commonality of subject matter"

did not establish a sufficient nexus between a Tax Court proceeding

and a party's fugitive status based on "his failure to appear in a criminal case pending in another jurisdiction"). Although some state courts

have also followed Degen and Ortega-Rodriquez to require a close

nexus, see, e.g., Matsumoto, 792 A.2d at 1233; State v. Lundahl, 882

P.2d 644, 646-47 (Ore. Ct. App. 1994), not all state courts have

regarded the Supreme Court cases as affecting the relevant state law.

See, e.g., Scelba v. Scelba, 535 S.E.2d 668, 672 (S.C. Ct. App. 2000)

17 
(relying on pre-Degen and Ortega-Rodriquez state cases to determine

the contours of the fugitive disentitlement doctrine).

 Jaffe maintains that even if Virginia follows the fugitive from justice doctrine, Virginia courts could not apply the doctrine in this case

because, inter alia, an insufficient nexus exists to invoke the doctrine.

Jaffe's status as a fugitive stems from charges that he committed

criminal fraud through answers to interrogatories in two civil lawsuits, while his current enforcement action relates to the allegedly illegal acts of the bondsmen who kidnapped him in Canada after he

jumped bond in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution on charges

that were related to, but preceded, the criminal fraud charges. In the

absence of any Virginia statute, rule, or case stating or discussing the

fugitive from justice doctrine, we cannot determine if a Virginia court

would adopt the doctrine and, if so, whether a Virginia court would

hold that under Virginia law the doctrine would apply to bar a claim

like that which forms the basis of Jaffe's default judgment.

C. 

 Finally, even if we could conclude that Virginia law would not permit the claim for relief on which Jaffe's Canadian default judgment

was based, under either the principle that a party cannot profit from

his own wrongdoing or the fugitive from justice doctrine, we cannot

determine whether a Virginia court would conclude that the conflict

between Virginia public policy and the Canadian default judgment

rises to a level that warrants non-recognition of the default judgment.

See, e.g., Ackermann v. Levine, 788 F.2d 830, 842-43 (2d Cir. 1986)

(explaining that under the common law "it is not enough merely that

a foreign judgment fails to fulfill domestic practice or policy" and

agreeing that it must "offend [a] sense of justice and menace the public welfare" (citation omitted)); McCord v. Jet Spray Int'l Corp., 874

F. Supp. 436, 439 (D. Mass. 1994) (applying a similar standard in

interpreting the Massachusetts version of the Uniform Foreign-Money

Judgments Recognition Act).

D. 

 Given these several uncertainties, we will not substitute our judgment for the judgment of the Supreme Court of Virginia and, there18 
fore, respectfully certify to that court, pursuant to its discretionary

authority under Rule 5:42 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia, the following question:

Is the claim for relief that forms the basis for the Canadian

default judgment in favor of Sidney Jaffe and against

Accredited repugnant to the public policy of Virginia, such

that the judgment need not be recognized pursuant to the

Foreign Country Money-Judgments Recognition Act, Va.

Code Ann. § 8.01-465.6 et seq.?

See Va. S. Ct. R. 5:42(a).

 In certifying this question, we note that although our discussion of

the possible grounds for non-recognition of Jaffe's Canadian default

judgment has focused on the principle that one cannot profit from his

own wrongdoing and on the fugitive from justice doctrine, we do not

intend to foreclose the Supreme Court of Virginia from considering

any other grounds for non-recognition that it believes the facts of this

case present.

 Should the Supreme Court of Virginia accept certification on the

above question and answer in the affirmative, Jaffe's Canadian

default judgment need not be recognized and, consequently, Jaffe is

not entitled to enforce it. In the event the Supreme Court of Virginia

court answers in the negative, we cannot refuse recognition of Jaffe's

judgment based on the public policy exception of Va. Code Ann.

§ 8.01-465.10(B)(3).

IV. 

 For the above reasons, we hold that the full faith and credit statute

bars Ruth Jaffe's claim for recognition of her Canadian default judgment. We therefore affirm summary judgment in favor of Accredited

on Ruth Jaffe's claim. However, we certify to the Supreme Court of

Virginia the question of whether the basis for Sidney Jaffe's Canadian

default judgment is repugnant to Virginia public policy, rendering it

unenforceable under § 8.01-465.10(B)(3). The accompanying certification order shall first be released to counsel, who shall have 15 days

19 
to submit suggested changes to the Statement of Facts. We reserve the

right to modify this opinion in light of the comments received. The

judgment of the district court granting summary judgment to Accredited therefore is

AFFIRMED IN PART AND CERTIFIED IN

PART TO THE SUPREME COURT OF VIRGINIA.

20