- II. Certification
We are permitted to certify a question to the Supreme Court of Connecticut “if the answer may be determinative of an issue in pending litigation in the certifying court and if there is no controlling appellate decision, constitutional provision or statute of this state.” Conn. Gen.Stat. § 51-199b(d); see also 2d Cir. Local R. 27.2(a). “We have long recognized that state courts should be accorded the first opportunity to decide significant issues of state law through the certification process, and that, especially where the issues implicate the weighing of policy coneerns, principles of comity and federalism strongly support certification.” Munn v. Hotchkiss Sch., 795 F.8d 324, 334 (2d Cir. 2015) (brackets and internal quotation marks omitted).
Certification is appropriate here for three reasons. First, this question is determinative of the pending appeal, and no prior case is controlling. Second, the divergence between federal and state interpretation counsels in favor of certification. Third, postjudgment execution is a deeply sensitive policy matter for Connecticut, whose legislature recently revised § 52-367b. We believe it is more appropriate for the Connecticut Supreme Court to address this matter in the first instance because it is in a better position than this Court to determine how to interpret these sections in light of Connecticut’s overall statutory scheme.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons and pursuant to Conn. Gen.Stat. § 51-199b and Local Rule 27.2 of this Court, we respectfully CERTIFY to the Connecticut Supreme Court the following question:
“Do Conn. Gen.Stat. §§ 52-361a and 52-367b, read together, exempt post-garnishment residual wages held in a third party’s bank account from further execution, so that they become freely transferable under the Connecticut Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, Conn. Gen.Stat. § 52-552a et seq.?”
“The Connecticut Supreme Court may modify [this] question[ ] as it sees fit and, should it choose, may direct the parties to address other questions it deems relevant.” Munn, 795 F.3d at 337.
It is hereby ORDERED that the Clerk of this Court transmit to the Clerk of the Connecticut Supreme Court a copy of this opinion as our certificate, together with a complete set of the briefs, the appendix, and the record filed in this Court by the parties. The parties shall bear equally all fees and costs that may be imposed by the Connecticut Supreme Court in connection with this certification. This panel retains jurisdiction over this case and will resume its consideration of this appeal after the disposition of this certification by the Connecticut Supreme Court.
(1998), although Cadle has sharply criticized the process by which this particular form was issued, see Appellee’s Br. 46–49.
