Frederick v. Schwartz

• Decision Date: 21 March 1969
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 12759.
• Citation: 296 F. Supp. 1321
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: Joyce FREDERICK, Burnice Booker, Mary Coe, Mary Hotchkiss and Ollie Pickett, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. Irving SCHWARTZ, Clerk of the Sixth Circuit Court, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated and Joseph J. Chernauskas, Judge of the Circuit Court, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, Defendants.

296 F. Supp. 1321

Joyce FREDERICK, Burnice Booker, Mary Coe, Mary Hotchkiss and Ollie Pickett, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. Irving SCHWARTZ, Clerk of the Sixth Circuit Court, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated and Joseph J. Chernauskas, Judge of the Circuit Court, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, Defendants.

Civ. No. 12759.

United States District Court D. Connecticut.

March 21, 1969.

William H. Clendenen, Jr., Joseph M. Shortall, New Haven, Conn., for plaintiffs.

Robert K. Killian, Atty. Gen., Raymond J. Cannon, Richard E. Rapuano, Asst. Attys. Gen., Hartford, Conn., for defendants.

Before SMITH, Circuit Judge, and BLUMENFELD and CLARIE, District Judges.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND ON MOTION TO DISMISS

J. JOSEPH SMITH, Circuit Judge.

This is an action by five plaintiffs, Joyce Frederick, Burnice Booker, Mary Coe, Mary Hotchkiss and Ollie Pickett, recipients of assistance from the Connecticut State Welfare Department, dissatisfied with rulings of the welfare commissioner after fair hearings in review of unfavorable local district rulings on applications for additional assistance. In each case an attempted appeal, timely made, to the Sixth Circuit Court of Connecticut was not entertained for failure to pay a $7.00 filing fee, and a motion to waive the filing fee was denied as not authorized by statute or not acted upon. The action, against Irving Schwartz, Clerk of the Sixth Circuit Court and Joseph J. Chernauskas, Judge of the Circuit Court, purportedly on behalf of the five plaintiffs and all those similarly situated,¹ seeks to invalidate the requirement of a $7.00 entry fee in appeals to the Circuit Court of Connecticut from the welfare commissioner's rulings after the fair hearings. Plaintiffs contend that their federal constitutional rights to due process of law and equal protection of the laws have been denied by the entry fee requirement.

In the case of Mrs. Frederick, the subject matter of the attempted appeal was an application that the welfare department pay the penalty for late payment of rent assessed by Mrs. Frederick's landlord, the New Haven Housing Authority, in the amount of $33.00.

In the cases of plaintiffs Burnice Booker, Mary Coe and Ollie Pickett, the subject matter was in each case a request that telephone service be provided.

In the case of plaintiff Mary Hotchkiss, the subject matter was a request that the welfare department furnish tuition and books for parochial school for one of her children. Thirteen days before signing her affidavit seeking in forma pauperis appeal, Mrs. Frederick received $30.00 from her husband. She was receiving monthly support and maintenance of $101.68, rent of $92.01 at the time.

Mrs. Booker was receiving $228.21 and rent $91.00.

Mrs. Coe was receiving when last reported in Ex. 5, $167.50 plus rent.

Mrs. Hotchkiss was receiving $376.25 plus rent of $125.00.

Mrs. Pickett was receiving $128.80 plus rent of $73.00.

We are informed that plaintiff Booker's request has now been granted.

In the New Haven area, where plaintiffs reside, there is available at least to a limited degree, aid to indigent litigants through the New Haven Legal Assistance Association, Inc. Funds for the support of the Association are obtained from the United States Office of Economic Opportunity, the Ford Foundation, the Meyer Foundation and the State of Connecticut. The money available from this source for court costs, transcripts, sheriff's fees and similar purposes is limited, amounting in the period March 1, 1968 to December 31, 1968 to some $3,100.00. The executive director of the association allocates the funds available for such purposes on an evaluation of the relative importance of the individual case. Money for payment of the entry fees on appeal from the fair hearings was denied the instant plaintiffs essentially for lack of sufficient funds to cover all requests.

We deny the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and dismiss the action for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

Essentially, the legal question here is whether the state may limit access to its civil courts by the requirement of a filing fee. In Boddie v. State of Connecticut, 286 F.Supp....