Johns v. Rampe
Johns v. Rampe
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Plaintiff-Appellant Jeffrey Johns appeals from the district court’s dismissal of this case for lack of jurisdiction under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. Johns v. Rampe, 524 F.Supp.2d 177 (E.D.N.Y. 2007). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts, the procedural history of the case, and the issues on appeal.
Insofar as the plaintiff asserts that the decision by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, on his appeal from the trial court’s dismissal of his claim on statute of limitations grounds, deprived him of the opportunity to litigate the merits of his claims, Johns v. Rampe, 28 A.D.3d 288, 284-85, 808 N.Y.S.2d 18, 19 (1st Dep’t 2005), and asks the district court to “allow the merits of Plaintiffs Article 78 petition to be heard in the Supreme Court of New York State,” his claim is barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. See D.C. Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983); Rooker v. Fid. Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923). Applying the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, the district court correctly ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to consider this lawsuit because the plaintiff lost in state court; the injuries the plaintiff complains of were allegedly caused by the state-court judgment; the plaintiff invited district court review and rejection of that judgment; and the state-court judgment was rendered before the district court proceedings commenced. See Hoblock v. Albany Cty. Bd. of Elections, 422 F.3d 77, 85 (2d Cir. 2005).
The plaintiff appears at times to seek to reframe his argument to assert that his injury was caused not by the state court’s ruling on the statute of limitations question, but by the inadequate notice given to him by the defendants. This approach is also unavailing. The “established rule” is that “federal courts ... give preclusive effect to state court judgments whenever the courts of that state would do so.” Bray v. New York Life Ins., 851 F.2d 60, 62 (2d Cir. 1988). “Under New York law, a prior decision dismissed ‘on the merits’ is binding in all subsequent litigation between the same parties on claims arising out of the same facts, even if based upon different legal theories or seeking different relief on issues which were or might have been litigated in the prior action but were not.” EFCO Corp. v. U.W. Marx, Inc., 124 F.3d 394, 397 (2d Cir. 1997). Under New York’s “transactional analysis” approach, “once a claim is brought to a final conclusion, all other claims arising out of the same transaction or series of transactions are barred, even if based upon different theories or if seeking a different remedy.” Id. at 399 (internal quotation marks omitted).
To the extent that Johns’s present claims assert that the notice provided by the Lower Manhattan Development Cor
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is hereby AFFIRMED.
. Johns's state court complaint lists as respondents the "LMDC Board of Directors and Staff ... including but not limited to Kevin Rampe, Irene Chang, et al.”
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jeffrey M. JOHNS v. Kevin M. RAMPE, Anita Contini, Irene Chang, John Doe, Jane Doe
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published