Duke v. James
| Decision Date | 09 September 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 81-7970,81-7970 |
| Parties | Billy W. DUKE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Fob JAMES, Governor of the State of Alabama; Charles Graddick, Attorney General of the State of Alabama; et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
John D. Stuebing, Joseph E. Carr, IV, Mobile, Ala., for plaintiff-appellant.
Susan Beth Farmer, Asst. Atty. Gen., Montgomery, Ala., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
Before GODBOLD, Chief Judge, FAY and SMITH *, Circuit Judges.
This appeal is from the October 29, 1981, judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama dismissing without prejudice appellant's cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1976). Judgment was entered in accordance with the magistrate's recommendation that appellees' motion to dismiss be granted because appellant failed to exhaust his state administrative remedies and upon the ground of Pullman 1 abstention. In light of the intervening decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Patsy v. Board of Regents of Florida, 2 it is now established that appellant was not required to exhaust his state administrative remedies before proceeding in federal court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Thus, Pullman abstention forms the only ground supporting the district court's judgment. Because we feel that the magistrate and the district court should not have abstained in this case, we reverse and we remand the case to the district court for further proceedings.
In July 1976, appellant Billy W. Duke (Duke) 3 was convicted of grand larceny, a felony under Alabama law. Pursuant to his rehabilitation program, Duke was enrolled in a state vocational institute where he was schooled in the barbering trade. After his release, Duke applied for and received an apprentice license from the State of Alabama to practice barbering. He has been continuously licensed by the state as an apprentice barber since 1979.
Alabama maintains a dual-licensing system for barbers, whereby, in certain areas, a county license may be required in addition to a state license. 4 In order to practice barbering in Mobile County, a barber must be licensed by the Barbers' Commission for the County of Mobile (Barbers' Commission) in addition to maintaining a state license. On August 26, 1980, Duke applied to the Barbers' Commission to take the apprentice examination, 5 which is a prerequisite to receiving an apprentice license in that county. 6 Duke's "Application for Apprentice Examination" was denied.
Duke filed a timely appeal 7 for an administrative hearing before the Barbers' Commission of Mobile County. Duke was informed by letter dated October 6, 1980, that his request that he be allowed to take the written examination was again denied. No reasons were given in the letter for the denial. 8
Instead of pursuing his administrative appeal remedies under section 17 of the statute, 9 Duke filed suit in federal district court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 10 Duke alleged that sections 5, 16, and 17 of the statute, the state statutory scheme for licensing and regulating barbers, and the policies of the Barbers' Commission which allow denial of an application for a license by an ex-felon violate the equal protection and due process clauses of the fourteenth amendment. 11
In lieu of an answer, appellees (Barbers' Commission) 12 filed a motion to dismiss the action. The case was referred to a magistrate. On October 8, 1981, the magistrate filed his recommendation that the motion to dismiss be granted.
That recommendation was based on two grounds: exhaustion and abstention. The magistrate found that the appeal procedures set forth in section 17 of the statute were administrative and not judicial. Following the general rule that state administrative remedies must be exhausted, the magistrate recommended dismissal. The magistrate, however, did not stop there. He went on, sua sponte, to recommend abstention under Railroad Commission of Texas v. Pullman Co. 13 The magistrate found section 16 of the statute, 14 allowing the Commission to refuse to issue a license for conviction of a felony, to be ambiguous. Finding a likelihood that clarification of state law would moot or substantially alter the federal question, the magistrate recommended dismissal without prejudice on that additional ground. On October 29, 1981, the district court entered judgment upon the recommendation of the magistrate, dismissing without prejudice Duke's cause of action on both grounds. Duke appealed.
Subsequently, on June 21, 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Patsy v. Board of Regents of Florida. 15 Patsy involved an action under section 1983 for denial of employment opportunities solely on the basis of race and sex discrimination. Patsy had failed to exhaust her available state administrative remedies before proceeding in federal court. The Supreme Court held that exhaustion of state administrative remedies is not a prerequisite to an action under section 1983. Relying on the legislative history of 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1997e, the Court stated that the policies of comity, fostering federal-state relations, and encouraging development of the record could not justify a judicially created exhaustion requirement, unless such was consistent with congressional intent.
In view of the intervening Patsy holding, the Barbers' Commission concedes that Duke is not required to exhaust his state administrative remedies before proceeding under section 1983. Patsy is controlling and disposes of the issue of exhaustion in this appeal.
Thus, disposition of this case turns on one issue: whether the district court erred in dismissing without prejudice Duke's action on the ground of Pullman abstention.
Duke contends that the district court erred in holding that this case presents an unsettled issue of state law which would moot or substantially alter the federal constitutional question. Duke also contends that even were abstention proper, the district court should have stayed rather than dismissed the case. The Barbers' Commission rebuts by pointing out that abstention involves the discretionary exercise of a court's equity power. Thus, the Barbers' Commission argues, the standard of review is abuse of discretion. 16 The Barbers' Commission contends that this case involves an unsettled question of Alabama law, the clarification of which would substantially alter the federal constitutional question and, thus, abstention was proper.
The abstention doctrine reflects the tension between the obligation of federal courts to decide cases that are properly within their jurisdiction and the obligation to avoid adjudicating constitutional questions that are not essential to the disposition of a case. Considerations of comity indicate that conflict between the federal and state systems should be minimized. To that end, in Pullman, 17 Justice Frankfurter spoke of the propriety of restraint in the exercise of jurisdiction "because of 'scrupulous regard for the rightful independence of the state governments' and for the smooth working of the federal judiciary." In spite of Justice Marshall's admonition in Cohens v. Virginia 18 that a federal court has "no more right to decline the exercise of jurisdiction which is given, than to usurp that which is not given," the abstention doctrine is well-established law. 19
It is improper, however, to view abstention as a tool merely to extract from the state courts an alternative state law ground for the judgment. Abstention is not intended to serve in this manner when state law is clear. Similarly, if the state court will merely apply federal constitutional law, then the state construction will not moot or modify the constitutional question. Abstention should not be used as a lever to force the state courts to do the federal courts' work. Such would thwart Duke's choice of the alternative federal forum, specifically provided by Congress.
Congress has deliberately afforded the section 1983 plaintiff an alternative federal forum. 20 It is not for the courts to withdraw that jurisdiction which Congress has expressly granted under section 1983 where such a withdrawal is contrary to the purpose of Congress in extending that alternative forum. In this regard, the Pullman doctrine is narrow and is tightly circumscribed. A federal court must grapple with difficult constitutional questions that confront it squarely. The abstention doctrine is an exception to this rule, to be exercised only in special or "exceptional " circumstances. 21
Pullman abstention requires two elements: (1) an unsettled question of state law and (2) that the question be dispositive of the case and would avoid, or substantially modify, the constitutional question. If such an issue is present, it is then incumbent on the court to exercise discretion in deciding whether to abstain. A number of factors should inform that decision. 22 Factors arguing against abstention include delay, 23 cost, doubt as to the adequacy of state procedures for having the state law question resolved, the existence of factual disputes, and the fact that the case has already been in litigation for a long time. Factors which might favor abstention include the availability of "easy and ample means" 24 for determining the state law question, the existence of a pending state court action that may resolve the issue, or the availability of a certification procedure, whereby the federal court can secure an expeditious answer.
An uncertain question of state law is critical to the decision to abstain. The test of uncertainty is typically said to be that the state law must be fairly subject to an avoiding construction. 25 Most Pullman-type cases involve a constitutional challenge to a state statute, as does Duke's claim. Construction of a state statute normally requires reference to the challenged statutory...
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