Bell v. Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor

• Decision Date: 10 June 1960
• Docket Number: No. 359-360,26247.,Dockets 26246,359-360
• Parties: Henry F. BELL, as President of Local 1804 International Longshoremen's Association (AFL-CIO) and in behalf of the members of Local 1804, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WATERFRONT COMMISSION OF NEW YORK HARBOR, Defendant-Appellee. Henry F. BELL, as President of Local 1804-1 International Longshoremen's Association (AFL-CIO) and in behalf of the members of Local 1804-1, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WATERFRONT COMMISSION OF NEW YORK HARBOR, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

279 F.2d 853 (1960)

Henry F. BELL, as President of Local 1804 International Longshoremen's Association (AFL-CIO) and in behalf of the members of Local 1804, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WATERFRONT COMMISSION OF NEW YORK HARBOR, Defendant-Appellee.

Henry F. BELL, as President of Local 1804-1 International Longshoremen's Association (AFL-CIO) and in behalf of the members of Local 1804-1, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WATERFRONT COMMISSION OF NEW YORK HARBOR, Defendant-Appellee.

Nos. 359-360, Dockets 26246, 26247.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued May 13, 1960.

Decided June 10, 1960.

Gilbert S. Rosenthal, New York City, for appellant.

Irving Malchman, New York City (Leon D. Schneider, Asst. Counsel, William P. Sirignano, Gen. Counsel, Waterfront Comm. of N. Y. Harbor, New York City, on the brief), for appellee.

Before CLARK, MOORE and FRIENDLY, Circuit Judges.

FRIENDLY, Circuit Judge.

These appeals are in two actions brought in the Southern District of New York against the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, by Henry F. Bell, one as President and in behalf of the members of Local 1804, International Longshoremen's Association, and the other as President and in behalf of the members of Local 1804-1, International Longshoremen's Association. The complaints sought injunctions against subpoenas duces tecum issued by the Commission requiring Bell to appear as a witness and testify in an investigation being conducted pursuant to Article IV of the Waterfront Commission Compact concerning waterfront practices and conditions generally within the Port of New York District, and to produce the basic financial records, social security reports and minutes of the respective locals from January 1, 1956 to date. The purpose and general nature of the Compact between New York and New Jersey creating the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, New York Laws 1953, Chap. 882, McKinney's Unconsol.Laws N.Y. § 6700-aa et seq., New Jersey Laws 1953, cc. 202 and 203, N.J.S.A. 32:23-1 et seq., approved by Congress in the Act of August 12, 1953, ch. 407, 67 Stat. 541, have been described in Linehan v. Waterfront Commission, D.C.S.D.N.Y.1953, 116 F.Supp. 683, and Staten Island Loaders, Inc. v. Waterfront Commission, D.C. S.D.N.Y.1953, 117 F.Supp. 308, both affirmed 1954, 347 U.S. 439, 74 S.Ct. 623, 98 L.Ed. 826, and in DeVeau v. Braisted, 1960, 80 S.Ct. 1146. Here we need refer only to the provisions of Article IV of § 1 of Part I which empower the Commission:

"8. By its members and its properly designated officers, agents and employees, to administer oaths and issue subpoenas throughout both states to compel the attendance of witnesses and the giving of testimony and the production of other evidence;"

"11. To make investigations, collect and compile information concerning waterfront practices generally within the port of New York district and upon all matters relating to the accomplishment of the objective of this compact;"

"13. To make annual and other reports to the governors and legislatures of both states containing recommendations for the improvement of the conditions of waterfront labor within the port of New York district for the alleviation of the evils described in article I and for the effectuation of the purposes of this compact. Such annual reports shall state the commission\'s finding and determination as to whether the public necessity still exists for (a) the continued registration of longshoremen, (b) the continued licensing of any occupation or employment required to be licensed hereunder and (c) the continued public operation of the employment information centers provided for in article XII;"

In answer to the requests for injunctions respondent submitted the affidavit of its general counsel. This set forth that a prime purpose of the investigation was to determine whether the two locals, one of which, Local 1804, operating in Manhattan and New Jersey, avowedly does not include persons required to be registered or licensed by the Commission and the other of which, Local 1804-1, admittedly does, and two similar locals in Brooklyn and Staten Island, Locals 1277 and 1277-1, are in reality the same, so that the alleged disqualification of Bell under § 8 of Part III of the Waterfront Commission Act, the constitutionality of which was then sub judice in DeVeau v. Braisted, supra, for having been convicted of impersonating a police officer, would affect both Local 1804 and Local 1804-1 and the alleged disqualification of a vice president of Local 1277 for negligent homicide and robbery would affect Local 1277-1. The affidavit asserted also that the Commission had been engaged in an investigation "to determine the extent of criminal influence in the affairs of the International Longshoremen's Association and its affiliated locals" and wished "to gather all the relevant facts concerning these locals so that the Waterfront Commission might properly determine from the facts obtained whether any legislative recommendations should be made by the Commission" as contemplated by paragraphs 11 and 13 of Article IV, Part I of the Compact.

Although the complaints attacked the subpoenas on a multitude of grounds, these can be divided into two general categories. The first category attacked the Waterfront Commission Compact and the action of Congress in approving it as violating the commerce clause of the Constitution, Article I, § 8, by unconstitutional delegation to New York and New Jersey of powers reserved to the Congress, and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; we shall sometimes refer to this category as the constitutional claims. The second category challenged the Waterfront Commission Act, or certain portions of it, and the subpoenas, as invading a field occupied by the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 141-167 and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, 73 Stat. 519, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 401-531; we shall sometimes call this category the preemption claims.

Judge Dimock held that the first category raised questions which, if substantial, could be determined only by a district court of three judges as provided in 28 U.S.C. § 2281 and that he was without jurisdiction in the absence of an application by the plaintiff for such a court; he added, however, that if plaintiff had so applied, he would have denied the application on the ground that the constitutional questions were not substantial. He held that the preemption claims did not require adjudication by a three-judge court and ruled adversely to plaintiff on the merits. Accordingly he denied the applications for injunctions and granted judgment dismissing the complaints, save for permitting these to stand undetermined insofar as they related to the production of social security reports; since the Waterfront Commission has withdrawn its request for these, this aspect of the case has become moot. This Court granted a stay pending an expedited appeal.

When the case was argued before us, it appeared to present at least two serious questions on the merits, namely, whether § 8 of Part III of the Waterfront Commission Act could stand consistently with § 504(a) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, 73 Stat. 519, and, if not, whether the subpoenas were sustainable nevertheless, as well as a number of questions as to the three-judge court requirement of 28 U.S.C. §§ 2281 and 2284, both as this relates to the jurisdiction of a single district judge to enter the judgments under appeal and as it concerns our jurisdiction to review them, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291, 1292(a)(1) and 1253. The questions on the merits have now been almost wholly removed by the Supreme Court's decision in DeVeau v. Braisted, sustaining § 8 of Part III on all the grounds on which it is here attacked. However, we believe it will be useful to discuss the jurisdictional questions since attacks on the Waterfront Commission Act continue, e. g. Applegate v. Waterfront Commission, D.C., 184 F.Supp. 33, stay denied June 8, 1960, and similar questions arise in other cases in this Circuit.

I. The Constitutional Claims.

28 U.S.C. § 2281 provides that an injunction "restraining the enforcement, operation or execution of any State statute by restraining the action of any officer of such State in the enforcement or execution of such statute or of an order made by an administrative board or commission acting under State statutes, shall not be granted by any district court or judge thereof upon the ground of the unconstitutionality of such statute unless the application therefor is heard and determined by a district court of three judges under section 2284 of this title." The Linehan and Staten Island Loaders cases, supra, as well as O'Rourke v. Waterfront Commission, D.C.S.D.N.Y. 1954, 118 F.Supp. 236, Bradley v. Waterfront Commission, D.C.S.D.N.Y.1955, 130 F.Supp. 303, and Wreiole v. Waterfront Commission, D.C.S.D.N.Y.1955, 132 F.Supp. 166, have assumed that an action to enjoin the Waterfront Commission Acts of New York and New Jersey as conflicting with the Federal Constitution is within § 2281. We follow this although we should not have thought it clear beyond argument, as an original question, either that a member or employee of the Waterfront Commission is "any officer of such State"¹ or that the Commission is engaged in enforcing "a statute of general application," Ex parte Collins, 1928, 277 U.S. 565, 568, 48 S.Ct. 585, 586, 72 L.Ed. 990, or "of statewide concern," Rorick v. Board of Commissioners, 1939, 307 U.S. 208, 212, 59 S.Ct. 808, 811, 83 L.Ed. 1242, to which alone § 2281 applies.

If, in fact, the complaints had set forth a substantial claim of "unconstitutionality" as used in § 2281, requiring adjudication by a court of three judges, the district judge would not have been warranted in dismissing simply because plaintiff had not applied for such a court. Section 2284 directs that in any action "required by Act of Congress"...