Tony Cole v. Joseph Faulkner, et al.

Whether a federal court of appeals may affirm dismissal under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine where the district court’s final and operative order expressly held that the doctrine did not bar the plaintiff’s federal damages claims and dismissed those claims on the merits under Rule 12(b)(6).

Whether, under the Full Faith and Credit Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1738, a federal court may apply claim preclusion based on a state-court judgment that was non-final under state law at the time of the federal appellate decision because the state appellate mandate had been recalled.

Whether a court of appeals’ reliance on Rooker-Feldman to bar independent federal damages claims conflicts with this Court’s directive in Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., 544 U.S. 280 (2005), that the doctrine is narrow and confined to cases seeking review of state-court judgments themselves.