Anderson v. Richardson

• Decision Date: 31 January 1972
• Docket Number: No. 71-1317.,71-1317.
• Citation: 454 F.2d 596
• Parties: Beatrice M. ANDERSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Elliott L. RICHARDSON, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

454 F.2d 596 (1972)

Beatrice M. ANDERSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Elliott L. RICHARDSON, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 71-1317.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

January 31, 1972.

Edward R. Stege, Jr., Cleveland, Ohio, for plaintiff-appellant.

Thomas J. Press, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for defendant-appellee; L. Patrick, Gray, III, Asst. Atty. Gen., Kathryn H. Baldwin, Atty., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., Frederick M. Coleman, U. S. Atty., Cleveland, Ohio, on brief.

Before WEICK, PECK and MILLER, Circuit Judges.

WILLIAM E. MILLER, Circuit Judge.

This appeal arises out of a decision of the district court declining to request the convening of a three-judge district court and granting summary judgment for the defendant resulting in a dismissal of the action.

In 1968, the appellant, Mrs. Beatrice Anderson, applied for and received monthly Survivors' Benefits (OASDI) as the widow of the deceased insured, Napoleon Anderson. The benefits totaling $108.90 per month were paid by the Social Security Administration under Title II of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 401 et seq.

On October 7, 1969, Mrs. Anderson received a letter from the Chicago Payment Center, Social Security Administration, advising her that her eligibility for benefits had been erroneously determined, inasmuch as its record showed that she was not, in fact, the widow of the deceased. This termination grew out of an adverse claim for the benefits filed by Malinda Owens on March 13, 1969. Upon receipt of the adverse claim, the Social Security Administration had solicited evidence of eligibility from both the appellant and Malinda Owens. At this point in the proceedings, Mrs. Anderson was interviewed in the district office and submitted additional data. On the basis of the evidence presented by both claimants, a decision was rendered in favor of Malinda Owens. On October 17, 1969, after receiving the October 7 termination notice, Mrs. Anderson submitted a request for reconsideration as provided for by the procedures of the Social Security Administration.¹ 42 U.S.C. Section 405(b) provides that no payments are made during the period of administrative review.

On May 11, 1970, Mrs. Anderson filed suit in district court, claiming that the procedure for terminating OASDI benefits "deprived her of due process rights prior to termination, under the Fifth Amendment . . ., in that she was given no meaningful opportunity to challenge the Government's evidence, or to introduce evidence in her own behalf, prior to the termination of benefits." As she sought to have a federal statute declared unconstitutional and its enforcement restrained, the appellant moved for the convening of a threejudge district court pursuant to 28 U.S. C. Section 2282.

On July 17, 1970, the appellee moved for dismissal of appellant's suit for lack of jurisdiction and, in the alternative, for summary judgment. On January 16, 1971, the district court denied the motion for a three-judge court and granted the Secretary's motion for summary judgment. In a memorandum opinion the district court explained the basis of its decision that the claim presented by Mrs. Anderson was "unsubstantial":

. . . the plaintiff has requested a three-judge court be convened under 28 U.S.C. section 2282 to consider the constitutionality of 42 U. S.C. section 405. It is for this Court, then to determine whether a sufficiently substantial constitutional question has been raised to justify invoking Section 2282.

The Court finds that the issues raised by the plaintiff, while clothed in constitutional phraseology, are not in fact of constitutional proportions. The procedures adopted by the Social Security Administration to determine eligibility for benefits are fair ones. In view of the provisions for administrative review and for hearings after termination of benefits, the mere absence of an evidentiary hearing prior to termination does not present an unconstitutional denial of due process rights.

In recent years courts have begun to recognize a right to a pre-termination hearing on eligibility for welfare benefits. Kelly v. Wyman, D.C., 294 F. Supp. 893 (1968) reaff\'d sub nom. Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254, 90 S.Ct. 1011, 25 L.Ed.2d 287 (1970). The case before this court, however, involves not welfare but Social Security benefits. As the plaintiff admits in her case the loss of her widow\'s benefits does not have the draconian effects of a denial of welfare funds. In this situation a pretermination evidentiary hearing would not seem to be constitutionally required.

The responsibility of a district judge in determining whether to request a three-judge district court is narrow and by no means extends to consideration of the merits of the question presented. In Idlewild Bon Voyage Liquor Corp. v. Epstein, 370 U.S. 713, 82 S.Ct. 1294, 8 L.Ed.2d 794 (1962), a case in which the Supreme Court agreed with the Second Circuit that a district judge had erred in failing to take steps to convene a three-judge court, the Court discussed the limited nature of the judge's authority and the criteria he must apply in exercising it:

We agree with the Court of Appeals that a three-judge court should have been convened in this case. When an application for a statutory three-judge court is addressed to a district court, the court\'s inquiry is appropriately limited to determining whether the constitutional question raised is substantial, whether the complaint at least formally alleges a basis for equitable relief, and whether the case presented otherwise comes within the requirements of the three-judge statute. Those criteria were assuredly met here, and the applicable jurisdictional statute therefore made it impermissible for a single judge to decide the merits of the case, either by granting or by withholding relief. 370 U.S. at 715, 82 S.Ct. at 1296.

See also, Bailey v. Patterson, 369 U.S. 31, 82 S.Ct. 549, 7 L.Ed.2d 512 (1962); California Water Service Co. v. City of Redding, 304 U.S. 252, 58 S.Ct. 865, 82 L.Ed. 1323 (1938); Calloway v. Briggs, 443 F.2d 296 (6th Cir. 1971); and Jones

v. Branigin, 433 F.2d 576 (6th Cir. 1970).

It is well settled that assessment of the substantiality of the constitutional issue presented is to be based upon the complaint. For example, the Supreme Court stated in Ex Parte Poresky, 290 U.S. 30, 32, 54 S.Ct. 3, 4, 78 L. Ed. 152 (1933): "The existence of a substantial question of constitutionality must be determined by the allegations of the complaint." Thus, in such matters, the single district judge may not allow his views regarding the ultimate merits to intrude upon his decision. In this regard, see especially our recent decision in Calloway v. Briggs, supra.

We are aware that mere incantation of terms such as "substantial" or "insubstantial" affords only limited assistance. The Supreme Court has on more than one occasion addressed itself to this problem. In Ex Parte Poresky, supra the Court stated:

The question may be plainly unsubstantial, either because it is "obviously without merit" or because "its unsoundness so clearly results from the previous decisions of this court as to foreclose the subject and leave no room for the inference that the question sought to be raised can be the subject of controversy." Levering & Garrigues Co. v. Morrin, 289 U.S. 103, 53 S.Ct. 549, 77 L.Ed. 1062 supra; Hannis Distilling Co. v. Baltimore, 216 U.S. 285, 288, 30 S.Ct. 326, 54 L.Ed. 482; McGilvra v. Ross, 215 U.S. 70, 80, 30 S.Ct. 27, 54 L.Ed. 95. 290 U.S. at 32, 54 S.Ct. at 4.

In the instant case, the district court did not rely upon nor does the appellee cite Supreme Court cases which "foreclose" the issue raised by the complaint. Indeed, the decision below and the argument of appellee ultimately turn upon the effect of the recent and closely analogous Supreme Court decision in Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254, 90 S.Ct. 1011, 25 L.Ed.2d 287 (1970).

In order to determine the impact of Goldberg v. Kelly, supra, on the problem before us it is...