Higham v. Affleck, 83-281-A

• Decision Date: 18 February 1986
• Docket Number: No. 83-281-A,83-281-A
• Citation: 504 A.2d 1013
• Parties: Richard HIGHAM et al. v. John J. AFFLECK, as Director of the Rhode Island Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services. ppeal.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 1013

504 A.2d 1013

Richard HIGHAM et al. v. John J. AFFLECK, as Director of the Rhode Island Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services.

No. 83-281-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Feb. 18, 1986.

Cynthia Mann/Barry H. Best (R.I. Legal Services), Providence, for plaintiff.

Arlene Violet, Atty. Gen., Thomas Martin, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., for defendant.

OPINION

WEISBERGER, Justice.

This is an appeal from a preliminary injunction enjoining John J. Affleck, as Director of the Rhode Island Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services (SRS), ¹ from denying general public assistance (GPA) benefits to individuals who, even though their income is below the GPA standard of need, are ineligible for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) because of the effect of AFDC retrospective budgeting rules. Without reaching the ultimate merits of the case, we affirm.

On March 16, 1983, Richard and Beth Higham (plaintiffs), on behalf of themselves, their children, and others similarly situated, filed a class-action complaint in the Superior Court seeking injunctive and declaratory relief. The plaintiffs claimed that they were denied GPA benefits solely because of their temporary ineligibility for AFDC benefits owing to AFDC retrospective budgeting. The plaintiffs asserted that the denial of benefits, carried out under SRS Manual § 602(I)(B)(4), was unlawful for three reasons: (1) the denial of benefits violated G.L.1956 (1977 Reenactment) §§ 40-6-2 and 40-6-8; (2) section 602(I)(B)(4) was promulgated and applied without following the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), G.L.1956 (1977 Reenactment) § 42-35-3, and therefore was invalid, and action pursuant to it was unlawful; and (3) the denial of benefits violated their federal constitutional rights of due process and equal protection.

Since the parties agreed on most of the material facts, the application for the preliminary injunction was decided on the basis of memoranda submitted to the court. The plaintiffs filed memoranda, affidavits, and exhibits in support of their motion while defendant relied on his memorandum submitted in Raquel Morales et al. v. John J. Affleck, C.A. No. 83-1093 (Morales), a companion case.

On May 3, 1983, a decision was handed down. The preliminary-injunction order, entered on May 5, 1983, enjoined defendant from "denying [GPA] benefits to individuals whose income is below the GPA standard of need due to the effect of AFDC retrospective budgeting rules." The decision stated that this case was a companion case to Morales and that Morales was dispositive of plaintiffs' request for injunctive relief. Although companion cases, the trial justice pointed out two distinctions between the instant case and Morales. In Morales the plaintiffs had received some AFDC whereas in the instant case plaintiffs were not receiving AFDC when they were denied GPA benefits. In addition, the judge noted that these plaintiffs also contend that § 602(I)(B)(2) violates the APA. However, because the trial justice held that Morales was dispositive, the APA claim was not reached.

The trial justice in Morales held that although § 602(I)(B)(2) did not violate §§ 40-6-2 and 40-6-8, it was unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because it created a classification by which similarly situated needy individuals were treated differently. In reaching this decision, the trial justice decided that the classification could not even pass the rational relation test. Next, the trial justice applied certain basic criteria to determine whether the preliminary injunction should be granted. He first determined that there was a probability of success on the merits. Then he balanced the...