Felix Frankfurter

“ If a litigant chooses not to continue to assert his rights after an intermediate tribunal has decided against him, he has concluded his litigation as effectively as though he had proceeded through the highest tribunal available to him. An adjudication of an issue implies that a man had a chance to win his case. ”

“ Art. 1, § 10, the Full Faith and Credit Clause, U.S.Const. art. 4, § 1, the Privileges or Immunities Clause, U.S.Const. art. 4, § 2, all fetter the freedom of a State to deny access to its courts howsoever much it may regard such withdrawal of jurisdiction 'the adjective law of the State', or the exercise of its right to regulate 'the practice and procedure' of its courts. ”

“ And so the question is whether federal rights were necessarily involved and adjudicated in the litigation in the State courts.
3. For purposes of res judicata, the significance of what a court says it decides is controlled by the issues that were open for decision. What were the issues in the North Carolina litigation? Bullington sought a deficiency judgment. Angel, by demurrer, resisted on the ground that a North Carolina statute precluded a deficiency judgment. The North Carolina Supreme Court, reversing the trial court, found the North Carolina statute a bar to such a suit. ”