Matanuska Valley Lines, Inc. v. Molitor

• Decision Date: 25 August 1966
• Docket Number: No. 20509.,20509.
• Citation: 365 F.2d 358
• Parties: MATANUSKA VALLEY LINES, INC., a Corporation of the Territory of Alaska, Appellant, v. Frank H. MOLITOR, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

365 F.2d 358 (1966)

MATANUSKA VALLEY LINES, INC., a Corporation of the Territory of Alaska, Appellant, v. Frank H. MOLITOR, Appellee.

No. 20509.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

August 25, 1966.

Donald J. Horowitz, of Schroeter, Farris, Bangs & Horowitz, Seattle, Wash., Edgar Paul Boyko, Los Angeles, Cal., for appellant.

George S. Lundin, of Geraghty, Lundin & Geraghty, Seattle, Wash., for appellee.

Before CHAMBERS, HAMLEY and DUNIWAY, Circuit Judges.

HAMLEY, Circuit Judge:

On July 26, 1956, Matanuska Valley Lines, Inc. (Matanuska) obtained a default judgment in the sum of $21,418.95 against Frank H. Molitor in the United States District Court for the District of Alaska. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1963 (1964), Matanuska registered the judgment on September 10, 1964 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. On June 11, 1965, the judgment creditor commenced supplemental proceedings on the registered judgment in the latter court. On motion of Molitor, that court entered an order abating the proceedings on the ground that enforcement of the registered judgment is barred by the Washington statute of limitations. Matanuska appeals. We affirm.

Under the laws of Alaska, the effective life and lien of a judgment obtained in Alaska is ten years. Title 9, Chap. 30, Alaska Statutes Annotated (1962). The judgment obtained in Alaska by Matanuska was registered in the Washington district court, and the supplemental proceedings thereon were commenced, within this ten-year period. However, under Wash.Rev.Code 4.16.140 and 6.36.020, a foreign judgment is not enforceable in Washington, or registrable "in any court" of that state, after the expiration of six years following entry of the foreign judgment.

Title 28, § 1963, providing for the registration of district court judgments in other district courts contains no provision limiting the time within which such judgments may be registered. However, that section does provide that a judgment so registered shall have the same effect as a judgment of the district court of the district where registered and may be enforced in like manner.¹

It has long been established that the enforcement of a judgment of a sister state may be barred by application of the statute of limitations of the forum state. McElmoyle for Use of Bailey v. Cohen, 13 Pet. 312, 38 U.S. 312, 327, 10 L.Ed. 177. Application of the forum's statute of limitations entails no violation of the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution since such statutes are deemed to affect procedure only and not the substance of the action. Any attempt by Matanuska to enforce its judgment in the Washington state courts after the lapse of six years would have been fruitless despite the "liveness" of the judgment according to the Alaska statutes. Should a different result obtain because enforcement of a judgment registered under section 1963 is sought in the district court sitting in Washington? We think not.

In those cases where jurisdiction is founded upon diversity of citizenship, the district courts are to apply the substantive law of the forum state (Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188), including the forum state's conflict of laws rules (Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Co., 313 U.S. 487, 61 S.Ct. 1020, 85 L.Ed. 1477). Application of the Klaxon doctrine in this case results in the use of the Washington statutes which expressly limit actions on foreign judgments or registration of foreign judgments to six years.

It could be argued that Klaxon is inapplicable in the present case because jurisdiction is based on 28 U.S.C. § 1963 rather than diversity of citizenship. However, we are of the view that a departure from the Klaxon principles would be justified only if Congress, in enacting the registration statute, had expressed its will with regard to the applicable law. See Richards v. United States, 369 U.S. 1, 7, 82 S.Ct. 585, 7 L.Ed.2d 492. Section 1963 gives no indication that Congress intended that the statute of limitations of the state of registration should be ignored; nor is there any such indication in the act's legislative history. 1954 U.S. Code Cong. and Adm.News, p. 3142.

The Supreme Court in Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Co. was guided by a desire to preserve equal administration of justice in "coordinate state and federal courts sitting side by side." We think that this principle is equally applicable in registration proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 1963 and hold that the district court correctly applied the statute of limitations of the forum state to determine the validity of the proceedings on the Alaska judgment.

Mention should be made of Stanford v. Utley, 8 Cir., 341 F.2d 265, a recent appellate decision construing the federal registration of judgments statute. The plaintiff in Stanford obtained a judgment in...