No. 20-1555

Ruth McLean v. 800 DC, LLC, et al.

Lower Court: Third Circuit
Docketed: 2021-05-07
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Tags: due-process fraud fraudulent-measures jurisdiction personal-jurisdiction rooker-feldman-doctrine state-court-judgment void void-ab-initio
Latest Conference: 2021-09-27
Question Presented (from Petition)

Under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, federal district courts lack jurisdiction to hear cases seeking review of judgments issued by state courts. In this case, the purported foreign state-court judgment was rendered without service and without given the Petitioner the opportunity to defend her interest in the suit, in a jurisdiction that originally lacked personal jurisdiction. The underlying judgment was obtained by fraudulent measures. The question presented, on which the circuits are split, is: Whether the Rooker-Feldman doctrine applies when the underlying state-court judgment is void ab initio.

I. WHETHER THE DISTRICT COURT CASE AND APPEAL WERE WRONGFULLY DISMISSED UNDER ROOKER-FELDMAN DOCTRINE WHEN THE ORIGINAL FOREIGN JUDGMENT WAS VOID AND FRAUDULENTLY RENDERED IN VIOLATION OF PETITIONER'S DUE PROCESS THEREBY CREATING A CONFLICT AMONG THE CIRCUIT COURTS AS TO THE APPLICATION OF THE DOCTRINE AND CONTRARY TO THE SPIRIT OF THE DOCTRINE?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the Rooker-Feldman doctrine applies when the underlying state-court judgment is void ab initio

Docket Entries

2021-10-04
Petition DENIED.
2021-06-23
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/27/2021.
2021-04-29
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 7, 2021)

Attorneys

Ruth McLean
Ruth McLean — Petitioner