Court Opinion

ID: 9864249
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-25 12:26:23.836461+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:05:32.541593
License: Public Domain

*428ROGERS, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
Except in unusual circumstances not present here, we should not reverse a district court judgment based on arguments not raised in the district court. Considering such an argument not raised below can be justified today only because we are not reversing the district court, but rather rejecting the appellant’s alternative argument. Doing so precludes the possibility of a second interlocutory appeal from a district court denial of a second motion for summary judgment. But this rationale does not extend to situations where we accept the appellant’s new argument. Litigants should understand that our willingness to consider an argument not presented below in this case depends on our contemporaneous determination to reject the argument.