Claim Preclusion Bars New Constitutional Theories Arising from the Same Child-Support ...

Theory Briefing

• Paul Walde's new constitutional challenges to child-support enforcement were blocked because the same facts had already been litigated in prior court actions.
• Claim preclusion (res judicata) bars not just repeated claims but any theory that could have been raised the first time — punishing legal piecemealing.
• The ruling illustrates how finality doctrine sacrifices individual constitutional arguments to protect courts from endless re-litigation of the same dispute.