United States ex rel. Woodward v. Tynan

Opinion on Rehearing En Banc

LOGAN, Circuit Judge.

We granted rehearing en banc because this case appeared to raise important questions under the Supremacy and Full Faith and Credit Clauses of the United States Constitution. It is established doctrine, however, that federal courts should avoid “unseemly conflict between two sovereign-ties, the unnecessary impairment of state functions, and the premature determination of constitutional questions.” Martin v. Creasy, 360 U.S. 219, 224, 79 S.Ct. 1034, 1037, 3 L.Ed.2d 1186 (1959). Upon reflection, we believe the problems inherent in the instant case…