John Smentek v. Thomas Dart
82 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1393, 2012 WL 2305229, 683 F.3d 373 (2012)
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Rule of Law:
The principle of comity requires a district court to give respectful consideration to a prior class certification denial by another district court in a materially identical case, but it does not preclude the court from reaching a different conclusion and certifying the class.
Facts:
- John Smentek and other individuals were former inmates of Cook County Jail.
- The jail, which housed approximately 10,000 inmates, had only one dentist on staff to provide care.
- Smentek and other members of the proposed class alleged they suffered from a lack of timely treatment for dental pain while incarcerated.
- Prior to Smentek's lawsuit, another former inmate, Vincent Smith, had brought a nearly identical claim regarding dental care at the same jail.
- Subsequently, a third former inmate, Lance Wrightsell, also brought a materially identical claim regarding dental care at Cook County Jail.
Procedural Posture:
- Vincent Smith filed a class action suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Cook County regarding inmate dental care.
- The district judge in Smith's case denied class certification in May 2008.
- Lance Wrightsell filed a second, materially identical class action suit in the same federal district court.
- A different district judge denied class certification in the Wrightsell case nine months later.
- John Smentek filed a third, materially identical class action suit in the same court, which was assigned to a third district judge.
- The judge in Smentek's case initially denied class certification based on collateral estoppel from the prior two denials.
- Following a relevant Supreme Court decision, the judge reversed her own ruling and granted class certification.
- The defendants, Cook County and its sheriff, petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit for leave to appeal the grant of class certification, which the appellate court granted.
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Issue:
Does the principle of comity preclude a federal district judge from certifying a class action when other judges in the same district court have previously denied class certification in materially identical lawsuits?
Opinions:
Majority - Posner, Circuit Judge
No. The principle of comity does not preclude a district judge from certifying a class action even if other judges previously denied certification in materially identical cases. The Supreme Court's decision in Smith v. Bayer Corp. held that a rejected class action does not bind nonparties, and to treat comity as a preclusive doctrine would contradict this holding. Comity, in this context, is a 'weak notion' that requires a court to pay 'respectful attention' to the decision of another judge in a materially identical case, but it does not require adherence. A district court's decision does not have binding precedential effect on another district court judge, and treating a prior denial as binding would improperly create a 'super-precedent.' While judge-shopping is a serious problem, the solution cannot be to invent a preclusive rule that flouts established Supreme Court precedent.
Analysis:
This decision clarifies the limited scope of the 'comity' principle mentioned in the Supreme Court's dictum in Smith v. Bayer Corp. It firmly rejects attempts to use comity as a functional equivalent of collateral estoppel to bar successive class action filings after an initial denial of certification. The ruling reinforces the established principle that district court decisions are not binding precedent on other district courts, even within the same judicial district. By refusing to create a preclusive rule, the court preserves the ability of unnamed class members to seek certification, while acknowledging but not solving the persistent problem of 'judge-shopping' in class action litigation.
