- 26 -
preclusion. This Court may raise the doctrine of issue
preclusion sua sponte. Cf. Holloway Constr. Co. v. United States
Dept. of Labor, 891 F.2d 1211, 1212 (6th Cir. 1989) (a district
court may raise the doctrine of res judicata sua sponte); McClain
v. Apodaca, 793 F.2d 1031, 1033 (9th Cir. 1986) (a bankruptcy
court may raise the doctrine of res judicata sua sponte when it
allowed the parties to submit posttrial briefs on the
applicability of the doctrine); Alyeska Pipeline Serv. Co. v.
United States, 231 Ct. Cl. 540, 688 F.2d 765, 771 (1982) (“when
necessary, the court may raise the question of claim or issue
preclusion sua sponte”); Fazi v. Commissioner, 105 T.C. 436, 444-
445 (1995) (this Court may raise the doctrine of judicial
estoppel sua sponte). The purposes of the doctrine of issue
preclusion include the conservation of judicial resources and the
promotion of certainty in and reliance on judicial action. See
supra sec. II.C.3.b. Courts have an independent interest in
advancing those purposes, see United States v. Sioux Nation of
Indians, 448 U.S. 371, 433 (1980) (Rehnquist, J., dissenting),
and, therefore, respondent's, perhaps inadvertent, consent to
relitigation of the pre-1991 issues cannot divest this Court of
the authority to preclude petitioners from denying certain facts
established after full and fair litigation in Monahan I.
Page: Previous 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011