Krock v. Electric Motor & Repair Co.

taking the position that abstention is proper due solely to the difficulty of the state law question | 'Glidden, whose effective life was short, has proven to be, under sound law, an unsafe guide and a dim beacon' | "[W]here litigants have once battled for the court's decision, they should neither be required, nor without good reason permitted, to battle for it again." | "the `law of the case' does not rigidly bind a court to its former decisions, but is only addressed to its good sense" | “Glidden, whose effective life was short, has proven to be, under sound law, an unsafe guide and a dim beacon” | government had right to appeal trial court's suppression order in earlier, aborted prosecution | “ ‘Finality’ ... may mean little more than that the litigation of a particular issue has reached such a stage that a court sees no really good reason for permitting it to be litigated again.” | decision stayed until state court ruled on area of unclear state law | an appeal is to be determined upon the record below | an appeal is to be determined upon the record below | Court approved the offensive use of collateral estoppel, absent mutuality | "[I]f, before a case in a district court has proceeded to final judgment, a decision of the Supreme Court demonstrates that a ruling on which the judgment would depend was in error, no principles of ‘the law of the case' would warrant a failure on our part to correct the ruling" | discussing finality element of collateral estoppel