James Clark McReynolds

“ It was wrongly held that the state court had no jurisdiction to entertain the claim of the shipowner for limitation of liability where there is only one claimant and only one owner, and where the owner's right to limit liability was not disputed. Also, that in such cases, the shipowner was under no obligation to submit his claim to limited liability to the state court, and the judgment of the state court was not res judicata as to all issues which might have been submitted for its decision. ”

“ United Shoe Machinery Corp. v. United States, 258 U.S. 451, 458, 42 S.Ct. 363, 66 L.Ed. 708. 'While a defendant must bring forward all purely defensive matter, he is not barred by a former judgment against him as to any matter which he was not bound to present and which was not in fact litigated. A judgment is not conclusive of those matters as to which a party had the option to but did not in fact put in litigation in the action.' Freeman on Judgments (5th Ed.) § 786.
The judgment of the Circuit Court of Appeals is affirmed. ”

“ Green and Ex parte Green the commonly approved doctrine permitted a shipowner, even when there was only one claimant, to seek limitation of liability in a federal court after judgment against him for damages by a state court. ”