Hagans v. Wyman

• Decision Date: 08 January 1973
• Docket Number: Docket 72-2175.,No. 443,443
• Citation: 471 F.2d 347
• Parties: Cynthia HAGANS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. George K. WYMAN, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

471 F.2d 347 (1973)

Cynthia HAGANS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. George K. WYMAN, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 443, Docket 72-2175.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued November 30, 1972.

Decided January 8, 1973.

Michael Colodner, Asst. Atty. Gen., State of New York (Louis J. Lefkowitz, Atty. Gen., Samuel A. Hirshowitz, First Asst. Atty. Gen., on the brief), for appellants.

Carl Jay Nathanson, Hempstead, N. Y., for appellees.

Before FRIENDLY, Chief Judge, and WATERMAN and HAYS, Circuit Judges.

HAYS, Circuit Judge:

The State of New York appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York permanently enjoining the enforcement or implementation of Section 352.7(g)(7) of Title 18 of the New York Code of Rules and Regulations,¹ a regulation permitting the state to recoup advance payments for rent from subsequent grants under the Aid to Dependent Children Program (ADC). In issuing the injunction the District Court held that the New York regulation violated the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq., and the regulations promulgated thereunder. We find that the District Court did not have jurisdiction to reach the pendent statutory claim because no substantial constitutional claim was presented by the facts of this case. We therefore remand the case with instructions to dismiss for want of jurisdiction.

The plaintiffs in this action are all recipients of aid under the ADC Program. Under this program the plaintiffs receive monthly grants to pay for shelter, fuel, and other necessities. The plaintiffs spent the portion of the grant designated for shelter for some other purpose and were therefore unable to pay their rent. When they were threatened with eviction, the New York State Department of Social Services paid their rent and deducted the amount advanced from later grants made under the ADC Program. Plaintiffs objected to the recoupment, claiming that the regulation authorizing the recoupment violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and contravened the provisions of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq. and the regulations promulgated thereunder. The District Court agreed with plaintiffs' second contention and found that 18 NYCRR 352.7(g)(7) violated the Social Security Act and the regulations promulgated under the Act, and permanently enjoined the enforcement of the regulation. This court granted a stay of the District Court's order and set an expedited appeal schedule. The case was argued on April 7, 1972, and the stay was continued pending the decision of the panel. On June 15, 1972 this court, 2 Cir., 462 F.2d 928, vacated the order of the District Court and remanded the case to determine whether under the state procedure plaintiffs were entitled to a notice and hearing. With the consent of the parties, hearings on remand were adjourned until October 6, 1972. At this time, plaintiffs moved to permit certain additional persons to intervene as plaintiffs. Several of these intervenors had had state hearings.² On October 19th, the District Court again permanently enjoined the enforcement of 18 NYCRR § 352.7(g)(7). This court stayed the injunction for the second time and heard oral argument on November 30.

Plaintiffs advance 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3) as the primary basis for jurisdiction in this case.³ This section provides:

"The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action authorized by law to be commenced by any person:

(3) To redress the deprivation, under color of any State law, statute, ordinance, regulation, custom or usage, of any right, privilege or immunity secured by the Constitution of the United States or by any Act of Congress providing for equal rights of citizens or of all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States".

To establish jurisdiction under this statute, a substantial constitutional claim must be advanced. E. g., Almenares v. Wyman, 453 F.2d 1075, 1082 (2d Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 944, 92 S. Ct. 962, 30 L.Ed.2d 815 (1972). Plaintiffs clearly fail to meet this standard.

Plaintiffs claim that they were denied equal protection of the laws because the recoupment of advances resulted in a lower grant of assistance than that available to other welfare recipients.

Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 485, 90 S.Ct. 1153, 25 L.Ed.2d 491 (1970) provides the guidelines for evaluating equal protection claims in social welfare cases.

"A statutory discrimination will not be set aside if any state of facts reasonably may be conceived to justify it." (Quoting McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 426, 81 S.Ct. 1101, 1105 (1961)).

The regulation in question, 18 NYCRR § 352.7(g)(7), has a rational basis. Since the state has a limited amount of funds available to allocate to welfare recipients, the recoupment regulation is reasonably designed to ensure that there are sufficient funds available to all recipients on the level set by the state legislature. By receiving the advance payment plaintiffs have gotten more than the normal grant. Without the recoupment regulation, the plaintiffs would be in a preferred position over all the other welfare recipients who have paid their full rent out of the normal grant. The purposes of equal protection are served by treating all alike without granting special favor to those who...