Opinion ID: 69357
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Alleged Judicial Bias

Text: 2 “Four elements must be met for a claim to be barred by res judicata: ‘(1) the parties must be identical in the two actions; (2) the prior judgment must have been rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction; (3) there must be a final judgment on the merits; and (4) the same claim or cause of action must be involved in both cases.’” Oreck Direct, LLC v. Dyson, Inc., 560 F.3d 398, 401 (5th Cir. 2009) (quoting Peoples State Bank v. Gen. Elec. Capital Corp. (In re Ark-La-Tex Timber Co.), 482 F.3d 319, 330 (5th Cir. 2007). The Ingram Barge case supplies all four elements. 5 No. 08-30963 Plaintiffs also contend that the district court’s dismissal should be reversed because the dismissal was “motivated, at least in part, by actual bias and prejudice and other judicial misconduct” by the district court. The source of the alleged bias is the district court’s alleged “close personal friend[ship]” with one of the attorneys that represented the state of Louisiana as a defendant in this case. Plaintiffs unsuccessfully moved the district court for disqualification under 28 U.S.C. §§ 144 and 455. For the reasons discussed in O’Dwyer v. United States, No. 08-30962, slip op. at 10–11 (5th Cir. Nov. 3, 2009) (in which the plaintiffs, who were represented by the same counsel as plaintiffs in the present case, raised identical claims regarding the same district judge’s failure to recuse), we conclude that plaintiffs have failed to show that the district court abused its discretion in denying their motion to disqualify.