Opinion ID: 773394
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Propriety of District Court's Sua Sponte Dismissal

Text: 12 Whether a federal court has subject matter jurisdiction is a question that may be raised at any time... by the court sua sponte. Lyndonville Sav. Bank & Trust Co. v. Lussier, 211 F.3d 697, 700 (2d Cir. 2000). Thus, the district court properly considered whether in light of Kimel defendants had sovereign immunity that deprived it of subject matter jurisdiction. Having found this immunity could be and was raised, the district court had reason to dismiss plaintiffs' complaint. See id. at 700-01 (If subject matter jurisdiction is lacking, the action must be dismissed.). 13 Yet, the district court inappropriately dismissed the case without informing plaintiffs it was contemplating such action. A district court should not dismiss an action pending before it without first providing the adversely affected party with notice and an opportunity to be heard. Acosta v. Artuz, 221 F.3d 117, 124 (2d Cir. 2000). Notice serves several important purposes. It gives the adversely affected party a chance to develop the record to show why dismissal is improper; it facilitates de novo review of legal conclusions by ensuring the presence of a fully-developed record before an appellate court, see B.F. Goodrich v. Betkoski, 99 F.3d 505, 522 (2d Cir. 1996); and, it helps the trial court avoid the risk that it may have overlooked valid answers to what it perceives as defects in plaintiff's case, Snider v. Melindez, 199 F.3d 108, 113 (2d Cir. 1999). For example, while the district court ruled the ADEA did not abrogate defendants' right to assert sovereign immunity, it failed to address whether immunity might have been waived or whether the Retirement System was entitled to assert immunity as an arm of the state. Either a yes answer to the first question, or a no answer to the second, would have required a different result. 14 Recognizing that a sua sponte dismissal absent notice and an opportunity to be heard can itself be grounds for reversal, Lewis v. New York, 547 F.2d 4, 5-6 & n.4 (2d Cir. 1976), we nevertheless undertake to address the issues raised on this appeal ourselves. Unlike Lewis, where defendants refused to defend the merits of the district court's sua sponte dismissal because they had never been served, plaintiffs and defendants here have fully briefed all the questions raised on this appeal. Since those issues are predominantly of a legal nature, we believe we are adequately informed to decide them. Cf. Stone v. Williams, 970 F.2d 1043, 1061 (2d Cir. 1992) (question not passed on by district court was addressed because the facts were undisputed and the legal question fully briefed).