Hinrichs v. Goodrich

• Decision Date: 30 November 1990
• Docket Number: No. 90-C-0072-C.,90-C-0072-C.
• Citation: 753 F. Supp. 261
• Parties: Lynn HINRICHS, Plaintiff, v. Patricia GOODRICH, Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services, Individually, and in her official capacity, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Wisconsin

753 F. Supp. 261

Lynn HINRICHS, Plaintiff, v. Patricia GOODRICH, Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services, Individually, and in her official capacity, Defendant.

No. 90-C-0072-C.

United States District Court, W.D. Wisconsin.

November 30, 1990.

David R. Gault, Western Wisconsin Legal Services, Dodgeville, Wis., for plaintiff.

F. Thomas Creeron, III, Asst. Atty. Gen., Madison, Wis., for defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

CRABB, Chief Judge.

This is a civil action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, in which plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment and permanent injunction preventing defendant Goodrich from terminating plaintiff's benefits or refusing to grant benefits to plaintiff under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program for plaintiff's failure to register for a work program for AFDC beneficiaries. Plaintiff contends that her decision to teach her children at home in accordance with her religious beliefs warrants her exemption from the AFDC work program. She challenges defendant's decision to reduce her benefits as a violation of her constitutional rights under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, and the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The matter is before the court on defendant's motion to dismiss on the ground that the pendency of state judicial proceedings requires this court to abstain from adjudicating plaintiff's constitutional claims. Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971). I conclude that, because the pending state court action is neither a prosecution of plaintiff for violation of a state statute nor the judicial review of an administrative proceeding brought against plaintiff to enforce a state law, it is not the type of proceeding to which the Younger doctrine applies. I conclude also that no exceptional circumstances exist that would permit this court to refuse to exercise jurisdiction over this case simply because a state action is pending. Therefore, defendant's motion to dismiss will be denied.

On a motion to dismiss, I am required to treat as true all of the well-pleaded allegations of the complaint and to draw all reasonable inferences in plaintiff's favor. I find that the complaint can be read as alleging the following.

ALLEGATIONS OF FACT

Plaintiff is a resident of Sauk County, Wisconsin. She has received monthly AFDC grants for the support of herself and her children. Defendant is the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services, the state agency responsible for the implementation and administration of the AFDC program in Wisconsin.

Plaintiff has six children. She believes that she has a responsibility to ensure that her children are taught "the word of God." She is impelled to teach her children in her home in a manner consistent with her religious beliefs because the public schools do not teach the word of God and there are no private religious schools accessible to her children.

Presently, plaintiff teaches her four youngest children at home from 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Her program has been approved by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction pursuant to Wis.Stat. §§ 118.15(4) and 118.165(1).

Under state law, all persons receiving AFDC benefits must register with the Wisconsin Employment Opportunities Program, a work incentive plan. Wis.Admin. Code § HSS 201.19(1). Home-based teaching is not a permissible exemption, even if the educational program is approved by the Department of Public Instruction.

Plaintiff has requested that she be exempt from participation in the Employment Opportunities Program because she teaches her children at home full-time for religious reasons. Her request was denied on January 9, 1989. The Sauk County Department of Human Services issued a Notice of Decision indicating that plaintiff's AFDC benefits would decrease effective February 1, 1989 because of her failure to participate in the work program.

On January 23, 1989, plaintiff requested a fair hearing through the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services. On October 16, 1989, a hearing officer found both that plaintiff did not have good cause for her failure to comply with the Wisconsin Employment Opportunities Program and that she was not exempt from such participation. The hearing officer declined to adjudicate plaintiff's constitutional claims on the ground that they were beyond the authority delegated to her by statute. On October 25, 1989 plaintiff requested a rehearing on this decision, which was denied on November 29, 1989. That order constitutes a final decision of the department.

ADDITIONAL FINDINGS OF FACT

On December 21, 1989, plaintiff filed a petition in the Sauk County Circuit Court, asking for review of the Department of Human Services' decision, including its constitutionality. That petition is pending. On February 1, 1990, plaintiff filed this complaint.

OPINION

Defendant's motion to dismiss raises the question whether this court must abstain from adjudicating plaintiff's constitutional claims because of the pendency of the state court proceeding initiated by plaintiff to review the administrative denial of her request for an exemption from the AFDC work requirements. The parties agree that resolution of this issue involves interpretation of the Younger doctrine governing abstention; they disagree about the application of that doctrine to the particular facts of this case.

Although it is well settled that abstention by a federal court is the exception, not the rule, New Orleans Public Service, Inc. (NOPSI) v. Council of City of New Orleans, 491 U.S. 350, 109 S.Ct. 2506, 2518, 105 L.Ed.2d 298 (1989); Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States, 424 U.S. 800, 96 S.Ct. 1236, 47 L.Ed.2d 483 (1976), the federalist nature of our system requires that the central government attempt to protect federal rights and yet "not unduly interfere with the legitimate activities of the states." Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. at 44, 91 S.Ct. at 750. "Absent extraordinary circumstances" such as bad faith or harassment, a federal court should abstain from granting a request to enjoin a state criminal proceeding. Id. at 43-44, 91 S.Ct. at 750-751. The rationale rests primarily on the idea of "comity," that is,

a proper respect for state functions, a recognition of the fact that the entire country is made up of a Union of separate state governments, and a continuance of the belief that the National Government will fare best if the States and their institutions are left free to perform their separate functions in their separate ways.

Id. at 44, 91 S.Ct. at 750.

Using this rationale, the Supreme Court has extended the Younger principle to non-criminal proceedings. For example, the Court has held that abstention is required in cases involving certain quasi-criminal and civil proceedings where important state interests are at stake, Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd., 420 U.S. 592, 95 S.Ct. 1200, 43 L.Ed.2d 482 (1975) (state-prosecuted obscenity abatement action in aid of and closely related to criminal prosecution); Juidice v. Vail, 430 U.S. 327, 97 S.Ct. 1211, 51 L.Ed.2d 376 (1977) (civil contempt order analogous to criminal proceedings and necessary to safeguard regular functioning of state judicial system); Trainor v. Hernandez, 431 U.S. 434, 97 S.Ct. 1911, 52 L.Ed.2d 486 (1977) (civil proceeding by state to recover fraudulently obtained welfare benefits); Moore v. Sims, 442 U.S. 415, 99 S.Ct. 2371, 60 L.Ed.2d 994 (1979) (state suit for child custody necessary to protect abused children) and Pennzoil Co. v. Texaco, Inc., 481 U.S. 1, 107 S.Ct. 1519, 95 L.Ed.2d 1 (1987) (application of state's lien and bond provisions to litigant appealing an adverse civil judgment). The Court has also held Younger applicable to state administrative proceedings "in which important state interests are vindicated, so long as in the course of those proceedings the federal plaintiff would have a full and fair opportunity to litigate his constitutional claims." Ohio Civil Rights Comm'n v. Dayton Christian Schools, Inc., 477 U.S. 619, 627, 106 S.Ct. 2718, 2723, 91 L.Ed.2d 512 (1986) (proceeding to enforce state civil rights statute). See also Middlesex County Ethics Comm. v. Garden State Bar Ass'n, 457 U.S. 423, 102 S.Ct. 2515, 73 L.Ed.2d 116 (1982) (state bar disciplinary proceedings).

Defendant contends that this case comes within the expanded Younger doctrine. She argues that all of the elements mandating Younger abstention are present: 1) the pendency of a state proceeding of a judicial or quasi-judicial nature, 2) that implicates important state interests, and 3) provides an adequate opportunity for the federal plaintiff to raise constitutional challenges. Middlesex Ethics Comm., 457 U.S. at 432, 102 S.Ct. at 2521.

With respect to the first element, defendant has shown that the hearing Wisconsin afforded to plaintiff was judicial in nature. Plaintiff was entitled to formal notice of hearing requirements, Wis.Stats. § 227.44(2); she had the opportunity to present and to rebut evidence, § 227.44(3); the hearing was transcribed, § 227.44(6); and a written opinion was issued that could be appealed to state court.

With respect to the second element, Wisconsin has an important interest in enforcing its benefits scheme. See, e.g., Trainor v. Hernandez, 431 U.S. at 444, 97 S.Ct. at 1918 (state's interest in administering and "safeguarding the fiscal integrity" of its public assistance programs sufficient to warrant Younger application); Kelly v. Lopeman, 680 F.Supp. 1101, 1109 (S.D. Ohio 1987) (important state interest in administration of unemployment compensation scheme).

Last, defendant points out, correctly, that although plaintiff could not pursue her constitutional claims at the administrative hearing, the state court review process provides her an opportunity to be heard on these claims. See Dayton Christian Schools, 477 U.S. at 626-27, 106 S.Ct. at...