No. 24-7452

Robert Hart v. Beth Mae Hart

Lower Court: California
Docketed: 2025-06-17
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: collateral-estoppel constitutional-principles due-process fourteenth-amendment issue-preclusion judicial-reformation
Key Terms:
DueProcess
Latest Conference: 2025-09-29
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment permits application of the doctrine of issue preclusion to a party who did not participate in the underlying litigation

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

1. Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment permits application of the doctrine of issue preclusion to a party who did not participate in the underlying litigation. 2. Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment permits application of the doctrine of issue preclusion to a party who was explicitly prohibited from participating in the underlying litigation. 3. Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is violated when a state court amends a civil judgment post-trial to add a non-party trustee as a judgment debtor based solely on findings from a family law proceeding where the trustee was not joined, not heard, and no alter ego theory was litigated. 4. Whether it is unconstitutional under the Takings Clause or Due Process Clause for a 1 court to impose liability upon trust assets held for the benefit of a third party (an adult son) based on collateral estoppel from a separate proceeding to which the trust was not a party and where no adjudication of ownership occurred. 5. Whether the application of issue preclusion (collateral estoppel) offends federal constitutional principles where the underlying "issue" was neither identical nor actually litigated, and the target of the estoppel had no opportunity to contest the prior ruling. 6. Whether judicial reformation of a contract ’s clear attorney fee terms violates federal due process rights where the court rewrote the fee clause contrary to its plain language. 1

Docket Entries

2025-10-06
Petition DENIED.
2025-07-31
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2025.
2025-06-26
Waiver of right of respondent Beth Mae Hart to respond filed.
2025-05-09
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due July 17, 2025)
2025-02-11
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due July 17, 2025)

Attorneys

Beth Mae Hart
Steven WilliamsWilliam Brodersen, Pritchett Ruiz, LLP, Respondent
Robert Hart
Robert Hart — Petitioner