Brooks v. Central Bank of Birmingham

Decision Date21 October 1983
Docket NumberNo. 82-7314,82-7314
Citation717 F.2d 1340
Parties33 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1, 32 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 33,869 Sharon D. BROOKS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CENTRAL BANK OF BIRMINGHAM, Defendant-Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Patrick Patterson, UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, Cal., Barry L. Goldstein, Washington, D.C., for plaintiff-appellant.

Mark L. Gross, Atty., William Bradford Reynolds, Jessica Dunsay Silver, Appellate Section, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for amicus U.S. Dept. of Justice.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Before JOHNSON and HENDERSON, Circuit Judges, and ALLGOOD *, District Judge.

PER CURIAM:

Sharon D. Brooks appeals the order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama granting her attorney's motion to withdraw as counsel after he had been previously appointed pursuant to Sec. 706(f)(1) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Act). 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-5(f)(1) (1976). 1

The facts and legal issues here are virtually identical to those in a prior case in the same district court. For that reason, reference to that case is necessary to a better understanding of this appeal. In 1979, nine individuals petitioned the district court for the appointment of counsel under this provision of the Act. Judge J. Foy Guin, Jr., the district judge assigned to the cases, denied their petitions, striking down Sec. 2000e-5(f)(1) as violative of the thirteenth amendment's prohibition against involuntary servitude. In re Nine Applications for Appointment of Counsel in Title VII Proceedings, 475 F.Supp. 87 (N.D.Ala.1979).

On appeal, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the decision, holding that the district judge lacked standing to raise the constitutional question sua sponte, and further that the court abused its discretion by reaching the constitutional validity of the statutory provision in issue without first attempting to settle the problem in accordance with the guidelines established in Caston v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 556 F.2d 1305 (5th Cir.1979). 2 White v. United States Pipe & Foundry Co., 646 F.2d 203 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981). 3 Although the court of appeals remanded the case for reconsideration in light of Caston, the district court took no action at that time.

Meanwhile, in 1981, Sharon Brooks filed an application under Sec. 2000e-5(f)(1) for the appointment of counsel to prosecute her Title VII grievance against Central Bank of Birmingham in the district court. Judge U.W. Clemon of the Northern District of Alabama granted her petition and appointed Henry Penick as her attorney on August 21, 1981. 4 The case was then transferred to Judge Guin. Shortly thereafter, on September 4, 1981, Penick filed a motion to withdraw as counsel for the appellant, citing the lack of sufficient merit in the case as the sole reason for his request. Judge Guin summarily denied the motion on October 2, 1981. However, eight months later, Judge Guin, perceiving that a motion to withdraw furnished the necessary vehicle to again confront the constitutional issue, granted Penick's motion, once more expressing his opinion that the thirteenth amendment proscribed the appointment of counsel in civil cases.

As in White, the two focal questions on this appeal are whether the district court had standing to raise the constitutional issue sua sponte, and, if so, whether he abused his discretion by not first resolving the appointment issue on nonconstitutional grounds.

The only difference between White and the case before us is one of form. In White, the court was concerned with an original application for appointment of counsel, while here we are dealing with the motion of an attorney to be relieved of his appointment. That distinction is insignificant in this context and thus White binds squarely on the present case.

In order to claim standing, a party must demonstrate that he has suffered injury in fact within the zone of interest sought to be protected by the challenged amendment or statute. Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150, 151, 90 S.Ct. 827, 829, 25 L.Ed.2d 184 (1970). In White, the court of appeals "unhesitatingly conclude[d] that the district court itself lacks standing to assert whatever rights members of the federal bar might enjoy under the thirteenth amendment." 646 F.2d at 206 (footnote omitted). As the moving party, Penick was the only person clothed with the standing necessary to pursue a thirteenth amendment claim. Instead, he chose to base his motion to withdraw on his belief that Brooks' purported cause of action could not be sustained on its merits. Because the only party with standing failed to raise the thirteenth amendment claim, the constitutional validity of the statute was not properly before the court.

Even if Penick had asserted that the appointment infringed on his thirteenth amendment rights, the district court abused its discretion by failing to first attempt a resolution of the issue on nonconstitutional grounds. It is beyond dispute that where nonconstitutional reasons can furnish the basis for decision, the federal courts cannot avoid this means simply by looking directly to constitutional principles. Gulf Oil Co. v. Bernard, 452 U.S. 89, 99, 101 S.Ct. 2193, 2199, 68 L.Ed.2d 693, 702 (1981); Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288, 341, 56 S.Ct. 466, 480, 80 L.Ed. 688, 707 (1936) (Brandeis, J., concurring). The court of appeals explicitly pointed out in White that Caston established the factors for evaluating initial applications for appointment of counsel. Those guidelines apply similarly to the review of existing appointments of counsel. With this...

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  • Poindexter v. F.B.I.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit
    • June 26, 1984
    ...that is to be used in evaluating motions for appointment in Title VII cases. Jenkins, 721 F.2d at 880; Brooks v. Central Bank, 717 F.2d 1340, 1342 & n. 2 (11th Cir.1983) (per curiam); Bradshaw, 662 F.2d at 1318; Jones v. WFYR Radio/RKO General, 626 F.2d 576, 578 (7th Cir.1980) (per curiam) ......
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    ...v. Maggio, 750 F.2d 405, 413 (5th Cir.1985); Slaughter v. City of Maplewood, 731 F.2d 587, 588 (8th Cir.1984); Brooks v. Central Bank of Birmingham, 717 F.2d 1340 (11th Cir.1983). Eight circuits have held against, at least in routine civil litigation (the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth......
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    • October 15, 2015
    ...errors of law than the kind of direct defiance or "stalemated posture" that requires reassignment. Brooks v. Cent. Bank of Birmingham, 717 F.2d 1340, 1343 (11th Cir.1983) ; cf., e.g., United States v. Remillong, 55 F.3d 572, 577 (11th Cir.1995) (reassigning a case when the district judge "s......
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    ...have held such orders are immediately appealable: Slaughter v. City of Maplewood, 731 F.2d 587 (8th Cir.1984); Brooks v. Central Bank of Birmingham, 717 F.2d 1340 (11th Cir.1983); Bradshaw v. Zoological Society of San Diego, 662 F.2d 1301 (9th Cir.1981); Hudak v. Curators of the University ......
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