Opinion ID: 484315
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: raising an issue for the first time in a petition for rehearing

Text: 5 The government raises the adversary adjudication argument for the first time in its petition for rehearing. It did not contend that the deportation proceeding was not an adversary proceeding when we confronted this case initially. Nor did it cite the statutory provisions it now says are controlling. 6 Courts of Appeals will ordinarily not consider for the first time on rehearing issues not presented by the parties in their briefs on appeal. Partenweederei, MS Belgrano v. Weigel, 313 F.2d 423, 425 (9th Cir.1962). A case must involve extraordinary circumstances [to] justify our considering on petition for rehearing, issues which were not previously presented. United States v. Sutherland, 428 F.2d 1152, 1158 (5th Cir.1970) (citation omitted). See also Moore v. United States, 598 F.2d 439, 441-42 (5th Cir.1979). 3 The case before us meets that exception to the general rule. 7 Our initial decision that Escobar Ruiz may be entitled to attorney's fees is the first by any court to consider the question whether the EAJA applies to immigration proceedings, and it is likely that numerous claims will be made in reliance on the opinion we issued. The new legal issue raised by the government goes to the heart of our decision. If the government's argument regarding the term adversary adjudication in section 504 is correct, then the EAJA does not apply to immigration proceedings and all attorney's fees claims arising out of such proceedings should be dismissed. Under these circumstances, permitting an improper interpretation of the EAJA to stand as the controlling precedent in our circuit would constitute a disservice to all parties concerned. 8 In addition, the government set forth its initial position in a response to a motion by petitioner for attorney's fees and not in a full brief on the merits. We therefore treat the government's failure to raise a central argument with more leniency than we ordinarily might. Finally, we are convinced that the government's failure to present the issue at the proper time was inadvertent or negligent rather than willful. Unlike the court in Partenweederei, we have no reason to believe that the litigant deliberately chose, for reasons of strategy, not to assert the claim at the appropriate time. 313 F.2d at 425. All in all, therefore, we have before us one of those special situations [in which] a belatedly raised issue may be considered. Moore v. United States, 598 F.2d at 441. 9