Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/287/156/
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 00:25:10+00:00

Document:
1. Where a claim of violation of federal right, based on the alleged action of the trial court in entering judgment without notice and an opportunity to be heard, was raised for the first time upon petition for rehearing (denied without opinion) in the state supreme court, although the same ground of objection had been raised throughout the proceedings, but solely as a question of state law, a writ of certiorari to review the judgment will be dismissed for failure to make seasonably the federal claim. P. 287 U. S. 162.
2. Where, upon the claim of a party that judgment was entered against him without jurisdiction in a state court, there is an adequate state remedy available, which he invokes and pursues to final judgment, the remedy by suit in the federal court is barred. P. 287 U. S. 164.
3. Where a judgment is attacked as having been entered without jurisdiction, an appeal from an order on motion to vacate, made on a general appearance, was effective to confer jurisdiction upon the state supreme court to determine whether the trial court had jurisdiction. P. 287 U. S. 165.
4. The full faith and credit clause applies to judicial proceedings of a state court drawn in question in an independent proceeding in the federal courts. P. 287 U. S. 166.
5. Principles of res judicata apply to questions of jurisdiction as well as to other issues. P. 287 U. S. 166.
6. Principles of res judicata may apply though proceeding was begun by motion. P. 287 U. S. 166.
7. Decision of state supreme court wherein question of jurisdiction of trial court to enter judgment was adjudicated on appeal in a proceeding begun by motion to set the judgment aside held bar to proceeding in federal court to enjoin enforcement of judgment for want of jurisdiction. Pp. 287 U. S. 166-167.
8. While due process requires that one against whom liability on a supersedeas bond is sought to be enforced shall have opportunity to present every available defense, this need not be before entry of judgment, and a state may constitutionally provide for such a hearing by an appeal after entry of judgment. P. 287 U. S. 168.
9. Where opportunity to raise issue of lack of notice in state courts was lost through failure seasonably to pursue appropriate state remedy, same issue cannot be utilized as basis for relief in federal court. P. 287 U. S. 169.
50 Idaho 606, certiorari dismissed.
Writs of certiorari, 286 U.S. 536537, to review judgments of the Supreme Court of Idaho and the Circuit Court of Appeals, involving the validity of a judgment against the surety company on a supersedeas bond. For opinion of federal district court, affirmed here, see 51 F.2d 596.
court for $22,357.21 and interest, on a supersedeas bond. No. 3, which is here on certiorari to the Supreme Court of Idaho, brings the record of the cause in which that judgment was entered. 286 U.S. 536. No. 21 is here on certiorari to the United states Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which reversed the decree of the Federal Court for Idaho denying the surety company's application to enjoin the enforcement of the judgment and dismissing the bill. 286 U.S. 537. In each case, it is claimed that the judgment is void under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
"if the said appellant does not make such payment within thirty days from the filing of the remittitur from the Supreme Court in the court from which the appeal is taken, judgment may be entered on motion of the respondents in their favor against the undersigned surety. "
The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment as to Anderson, and reversed it as to the Singer Company. Baldwin v. Singer Sewing Machine Co. and Anderson, 49 Idaho 231. Upon the filing of the remittitur, the appropriate new judgment against Anderson was entered in the trial court. That judgment having remained unpaid more than thirty days, the Baldwins, without giving notice to either of the original defendants or to the surety company, moved the trial court to enter judgment against the latter. On June 23, 1930, judgment was so entered against the surety company in the sum of $22,357.21 and interest, with a provision "that the plaintiffs have execution therefor."
did not stay the judgment as against Anderson, but solely as against the Singer Company; that, hence, the surety company had not consented to the entry of a judgment against it upon Anderson's failure to pay, and that, since the judgment against it was entered without giving it notice and the opportunity of a hearing on the construction and effect of the bond, the judgment is void under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
"Did the surety company, in its undertaking, become a party liable for every part of the judgment appealed from which might be affirmed by the Supreme Court, or did it stipulate only as to such judgment or part thereof as might be affirmed against the Singer Sewing Machine Company?"
that the trial court thus had the power and duty to construe the bond; that, "whether it decided right or wrong, its decision was a judgment which could be reviewed for error, if there was error, only by" the Supreme Court on appeal, and that the alleged error could not be raised on motion to vacate. 50 Idaho 609, 614-616.
without giving notice and an opportunity to be heard. The same ground of objection had been raised throughout the proceedings, but solely as a matter of state law. There had been ample opportunity earlier to present the objection as one arising under the Fourteenth Amendment. Compare Corkran Oil Co. v. Arnaudet, 199 U. S. 182, 199 U. S. 193; Godchaux Co. v. Estopinal, 251 U. S. 179, 251 U. S. 181; Live Oak Water Users' Assn. v. Railroad Comm'n, 269 U. S. 354, 269 U. S. 357. This is not a case where, as in Saunders v. Shaw, 244 U. S. 317, 244 U. S. 320, the federal claim arose from the unanticipated disposition of the case at the close of the proceedings in the state supreme court. Compare Ohio ex rel. Bryant v. Akron Metropolitan Park Dist., 281 U. S. 74, 281 U. S. 79. Nor is the federal claim based, as in Brinkerhoff-Faris Trust & Savings Co. v. Hill, 281 U. S. 673, 281 U. S. 678, upon the unanticipated act of the state supreme court in giving to a statute a new construction which threatened rights under the Constitution. Compare Missouri ex rel. Missouri Insurance Co. v. Gehner, 281 U. S. 313, 281 U. S. 320.
Second. In No. 21, the Circuit Court of Appeals should have affirmed the decree of the Federal Court for Idaho which denied the surety company's application for an interlocutory injunction and dismissed the bill. For the federal remedy was barred by the proceedings taken in the state court which ripened into a final judgment constituting res judicata.
Fe Ry. Co. v. Wells, 265 U. S. 101; Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Marlboro Cotton Mills, 282 F. 811, 814. But an adequate state remedy was available, and, having invoked that and pursued it to final judgment, the surety company cannot escape the effect of the adjudication there. Compare Mitchell v. First National Bank, 180 U. S. 471, 180 U. S. 480-481; Lion Bonding Co. v. Karatz, 262 U. S. 77, 262 U. S. 90.
"construe the legal effect of the undertaking in question further than to examine it in aid of determining the sole question of the court's jurisdiction to hear and determine the motion for judgment thereon."
asserts, reach its decision by merely assuming the point in issue, or by deeming itself concluded by the fact that the trial court took jurisdiction. That it did not so reach its decision is made clear by the opinion itself. We are thus brought to a consideration of the effect on the present suit of the judgment of the Supreme Court of Idaho.
would formally constitute res judicata in the courts of the state, since it in fact satisfies the requirements of prior adjudication, and since the constitutional issue as to jurisdiction might have been presented to the state supreme court and reviewed here, the decision is a bar to the present suit insofar as it seeks to enjoin the enforcement of the judgment for want of jurisdiction. Compare Fidelity Natl. Bank & Trust Co. v. Swope, 274 U. S. 123, 274 U. S. 130-131.
Third. The surety company contends in No. 21 that, even if the trial court of the state had jurisdiction, the federal District Court may enjoin the enforcement of the judgment on the ground that, having been entered without notice and an opportunity for a hearing on the construction of the bond, it lacked due process of law. It is true that entry of judgment without notice may be a denial of due process even where there is jurisdiction over the person and subject matter. But that rule is not applicable here, for, if the bond, properly construed, stayed the judgment as against Anderson, the surety company consented to the entry of judgment against it without notice for his failure to pay. If the bond did not stay the judgment as against Anderson, the trial court confessedly erred in entering the judgment on the bond. In order to contest its liability, the surety company had the constitutional right to be heard at some time on the construction of the bond. The state practice provided the opportunity for such a hearing by an appeal after the entry of judgment.
In No. 3, writ of certiorari dismissed.
In No. 21, decree reversed.
* Together with No. 21, Baldwin et al. v. American Surety Co., certiorari to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
"VIVIAN F. BALDWIN and E. R. BALDWIN, Plaintiffs v. SINGER SHOWING MACHINE COMPANY, a Corporation, and ED. ANDERSON, Defendants."
"Whereas, the defendant, Singer Sewing Machine Company, a corporation, in the above entitled action, has appealed to the Supreme Court of the State of Idaho from the judgment made and entered against it in the above entitled action and in the above entitled court in favor of the plaintiffs in said action on the 31st day of May, 1928, for the sum of Nineteen Thousand Five Hundred ($19,500.00) Dollars and for Seventy-three and 70/100 ($73.70) Dollars costs in said suit, making a total of Nineteen Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy-three and 70/100 ($19,573.70) Dollars, and from the whole of said judgment;"
"And whereas, the said appellant, Singer Sewing Machine Company, a corporation, is desirous of staying the execution of said judgment so appealed from;"
"Now therefore the undersigned American Surety Company, a corporation authorized to, and doing business in the Idaho, in consideration of the premises and of such appeal on the part of said appellant, Singer Sewing Machine Company, a corporation, does hereby acknowledge itself firmly bound in the sum of Twenty-five Thousand ($25,000.00) Dollars, gold coin of the United states, that, if the said judgment appealed from, or any part thereof, be affirmed, or the appeal dismissed, the appellant will pay in gold coin of the United states of America the amount directed to be paid as to which said judgment shall be affirmed, if affirmed only in part, and all damages and costs which may be awarded against the appellant upon the appeal, and that, if the said appellant does not make such payment within thirty days from the filing of the remittitur from the Supreme Court in the court from which the appeal is taken, judgment may be entered on motion of the respondents in their favor and against the undersigned surety for the said sum of Nineteen Thousand Five Hundred Seventy-three and 70/100 ($19,573.70) Dollars, together with the interest that may be due thereon and the damages and costs which may be awarded against the said appellant, Singer Sewing Machine Company, upon the appeal."
"In Witness Whereof the said American Surety Company, has caused its name and seal to be attached hereto by its proper officers and agents at Boise, Idaho, this 28th day of August, 1928."
The Idaho Statute was so construed by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in United States Fidel. & Guar. Co. v. Fort Misery Highway Dist., 22 F.2d 369, 373, and in Empire State-Idaho Mining & Developing Co. v. Hanley, 136 F. 99. See also Calif.Code Civ.Proc. § 942; Meredith v. Santa Clara Mining Assn. of Baltimore, 60 Cal. 617, 619; Hitchcock v. Caruthers, 100 Cal. 100, 103; Hawley v. Gray Bros. Artificial Stone Paving Co., 127 Cal. 560, 561. The California provision was the prototype for the Idaho statute in question. See Naylor & Norlin v. Lewiston & S.E. Elec. Ry. Co., 14 Idaho 722, 725. Compare Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. v. Bunn, 285 U. S. 169; Capital National Bank v. Board of Supervisors, 286 U.S. 550; Fidelity Union Casualty Co. v. Hanson, 287 U.S. 599; Louisville & Nashville R. Co. v. Parker, 287 U.S. 569; Toledo Scale Co. v. Computing Scale Co., 281 F. 488, aff'd, 261 U. S. 261 U.S. 399.
The petition to this Court for a writ of certiorari, although filed October 30, 1931, was not granted until April 25, 1932, 286 U.S. 536, action thereon being withheld "awaiting the action of the Supreme Court of Idaho in the matters pending before it." The actions referred to were two further steps taken by the surety company in the Idaho courts to be relieved of the original judgment against it. The first was a motion to correct, amend, and vacate the original judgment. This motion the trial court overruled, and its order was upheld on appeal to the Supreme Court of Idaho. 13 P.2d 650, decided July 12, 1932, rehearing denied, September 10, 1932. The second was a direct appeal to the Supreme Court of Idaho from the original judgment; this appeal was dismissed because taken more than 90 days after the entry of the judgment appealed from. 51 Idaho 614, decided February 21, 1932.
In Wells Fargo & Co. v. Taylor, 254 U. S. 175, the petitioner had not been allowed to become a party to the prior litigation in the state court.
"In this state, the appellant had a choice between two remedies, and he chose to file his motion to vacate the judgment in the case in which the judgment was rendered upon the same facts as pleaded in the complaint in the action involved, and the court, after hearing the motion, decided the facts against the appellant, holding that the judgment was not void, and the order so holding was appealable. But appellant refused to exercise his right of appeal, and brought this suit in equity to enjoin the collection of said judgment. He had his day in court in that action, and the decision of that motion upon the question of jurisdiction was res adjudicata. The appellant had the right either to attack said judgment by motion in the original case, or, by bringing this action, to enjoin or to have it set aside. If he proceeded by motion and the court decided against him, the decision of that question, until reversed upon appeal, is final and binding on the parties."
Compare the effect, under Idaho law, of a decision on a motion to set aside a judgment because of the mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect of the defendant, or to allow an answer to the merits to be interposed after judgment where summons was not served personally on the defendant. Motions of this kind are allowed by express statute. Idaho Comp.Stat. § 6726. They present a matter for judicial discretion, Mortgage Co. Holland America v. Yost, 39 Idaho 489, and their determination does not bar a renewal motion. See Dellwo v. Petersen, 34 Idaho 697. But motions of this kind are to be distinguished from those attacking the judgment as void for want of jurisdiction. Armitage v. Horseshoe Bend Co., Ltd., 35 Idaho 179; Shumake v. Shumake, 17 Idaho 649.
The cases are many in which failure to comply with state rules of practice has prevented this Court from considering a federal claim on direct review. See, e.g., cases where the claim was not considered by the highest court of the state because it was not raised by the proper procedure, Brown v. Massachusetts, 144 U. S. 573, 144 U. S. 580; Hulbert v. Chicago, 202 U. S. 275, 202 U. S. 281; or by the proper pleadings, Atlantic Coast Line R. v. Mims, 242 U. S. 532, 242 U. S. 535-537; Nevada-California-Oregon Ry. v. Burrus, 244 U. S. 103, 244 U. S. 104-105; or was not raised at the proper stage of the proceedings, Spies v. Illinois, 123 U. S. 131, 123 U. S. 181; Baldwin v. Kansas, 129 U. S. 52, 129 U. S. 56-57; Jacobi v. Alabama, 187 U. S. 133; Layton v. Missouri, 187 U. S. 356; Louisville & Nashville R. Co. v. Woodford, 234 U. S. 46, 234 U. S. 51; Missouri Pacific Ry. Co. v. Taber, 244 U. S. 200, 244 U. S. 201-202; Missouri, Kansas & Texas Ry. Co. v. Sealy, 248 U. S. 363, 248 U. S. 365; Barbour v. Georgia, 249 U. S. 454, 249 U. S. 460; Hartford Life Ins. Co. v. Johnson, 249 U. S. 490, 249 U. S. 493-494. Compare Michigan Central R. Co. v. Mix, 278 U. S. 492, 278 U. S. 496.

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