Interport Pilots Agency, Inc. v. Sammis
| Decision Date | 28 September 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. CV-90-4325 (ADS).,CV-90-4325 (ADS). |
| Citation | 774 F. Supp. 734,1992 AMC 416 |
| Parties | INTERPORT PILOTS AGENCY, INC., A Corporation of the State of New Jersey, Captain Charles Jonas, Captain Francis Burn, Jr., and Captain Philip Gaughran, Plaintiffs, v. S. Fraser SAMMIS, Robert Pouch and Board of Commissioners of Pilots of the State of New York, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
Evans, Osborne & Kreizman, Little Silver, N.J., for plaintiffs; Joel N. Kreizman, of counsel.
Robert Abrams, Atty. Gen. of the State of N.Y., Barrie Goldstein, Asst. Atty. Gen., New York City, for defendants.
Whether the federal "boundary statute" and New York's Navigation Law together permit Connecticut-licensed pilots to navigate their vessels through the Long Island Sound, into or out of ports located in New York on the north shore of Long Island, is the gravamen of the present controversy. Claiming entitlement to do so prompted these Connecticut pilots to commence this declaratory judgment action to finally settle the issue between them and the State of New York.
The plaintiffs move pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(a) for partial summary judgment on their first cause of action of the complaint seeking a declaratory judgment. Specifically, the plaintiffs seek a declaration as to their rights under 46 U.S.C. § 8501(b) and New York Navigation Law § 89-b.
For the reasons that follow, the Court finds that federal subject matter jurisdiction exists and that the plaintiffs are entitled to a declaration that Connecticut-licensed pilots may navigate foreign-flag vessels and American vessels under register to or from New York ports located within the "boundary area" of the Long Island Sound.
The material facts underlying this controversy, set forth below, are not in dispute.
The individual plaintiffs are ship pilots licensed by both the United States Coast Guard and the State of Connecticut. The corporate plaintiff, Interport Pilots Agency, Inc. ("Interport"), is the pilot agency of which the individual plaintiffs are members.
The defendant, Commissioners of Pilots of the State of New York ("Board of Commissioners"), is a public entity constituted pursuant to section 87(1) of New York's Navigation Law. The individual defendants, S. Fraser Sammis ("Sammis"), and Robert Pouch ("Pouch"), are the President and Secretary, respectively, of the Board of Commissioners.
Sound Pilots, Inc. ("Sound Pilots"), is an association based in Newport, Rhode Island, which acts as a dispatching agent assigning pilots to ships through a rotation system. Presently there are fifteen pilots licensed by the Board of Commissioners to be "Long Island-Block Island Sound" pilots, each of whom are members of Sound Pilots.
Under the present procedure, once assigned to a vessel, the New York-licensed pilots meet foreign-flagged and American vessels under register, board the vessels from their pilot boat, and advise the master in navigating to or from the New York ports. A "master" is one who has "charge, control or direction of a vessel" for a specified period of time (N.Y. Navigation Law § 29). A "pilot", is an "individual licensed to take charge of the course of a vessel through or upon specific waters" (N.Y. Navigation Law § 210).
The rationale underlying the system is that these licensed pilots have the expertise and familiarity with local waters and conditions to properly navigate the vessels to one of Long Island's three ports, namely, Port Jefferson, Northville and Northport (Sammis Aff't ¶ 7).
Toward the end of 1990, Sound Pilots informed the defendant Board of Commissioners that the plaintiff Captain Jonas had met the vessel "Hoegh Forum" at the eastern end of the Long Island Sound and piloted this vessel to and from the Northville platform without a New York pilot. Captain Jonas, a Connecticut-licensed pilot, does not deny that he was the pilot on this voyage (see Jonas Aff't ¶ 7).
On November 5, 1990, the Board of Commissioners issued a letter to various state pilot groups, including Sound Pilots, stating that it was a violation of New York pilotage law (i.e., Navigation Law § 89-b1) for a foreign flag tank vessel to be piloted into the New York waters of the Long Island Sound via the eastern end, bound for the Northville platform, without a New York-licensed pilot aboard.
Sound Pilots, by Captain Bruce B. Fisher, later advised the Board of Commissioners by letter dated January 17, 1991, of seven other alleged instances of Connecticut-licensed pilots navigating through the Long Island Sound to and from New York ports. Because of the pendency of this lawsuit, the Board of Commissioners refrained from taking any further action on these alleged violations (Sammis Aff't ¶ 10).
The plaintiffs commenced this action contending that the Board of Commissioners' position in the November 5, 1990 letter is contrary to both federal and state law. Specifically, the plaintiffs contend that they have full authority by virtue of federal law to pilot vessels through the New York State waters of the Long Island Sound to and from New York-based ports, such as Port Jefferson, and the Northville and Northport platforms in those waters.
The Complaint alleges four causes of action. The first cause of action seeks a declaration that the plaintiff Interport's pilots may navigate through the New York waters of the Long Island Sound to bring vessels to and from New York ports without a New York pilotage license. The second and third causes of action allege constitutional violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The fourth cause of action alleges a pendent state-law cause of action based upon interference with prospective economic advantage.
The plaintiffs now move for partial summary judgment on the first cause of action only.
In opposition, the defendant Board of Commissioners contends that pursuant to section 89-b(1) of New York's Navigation Law, only pilots licensed by New York may navigate to and from New York ports through the New York waters of the Long Island Sound.
At the outset, even though not raised in the parties' papers, the Court must, as in any case or controversy, determine whether federal subject matter jurisdiction exists (see Fed.R.Civ.P. 12h3; Browning-Ferris Indus. of S. Jersey, Inc. v. Muszynski, 899 F.2d 151, 159 2d Cir.1990; Republic of the Philippines v. Marcos, 806 F.2d 344, 352 2d Cir.1986, cert. dismissed sub nom. Ancor Holdings, N.V. v. Republic of the Philippines, 480 U.S. 942, 107 S.Ct. 1597, 94 L.Ed.2d 784, cert. denied sub nom. New York Land Co. v. Republic of the Philippines, 481 U.S. 1048, 107 S.Ct. 2178, 95 L.Ed.2d 835 1987; see generally P. Bator, D. Meltzer, P. Mishkin & D. Shapiro, Hart and Wechsler's The Federal Courts and the Federal System 1703 3d ed. 1988 court has continuing duty to ensure jurisdiction exists).
The Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201-2202, provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
"in a case of actual controversy within its jurisdiction, except with respect to Federal taxes, any court of the United States, upon filing of an appropriate pleading, may declare the rights and other legal relations of any interested party seeking such declaration ..." (28 U.S.C. § 2201).
Significantly, the Act itself merely creates a remedy of declaratory relief, and does not create or confer federal subject matter jurisdiction over an action that would not normally come within the Court's original jurisdiction. That is, there must be an independent basis of federal jurisdiction before the Court may render a declaratory judgment (see generally 10A C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2766 1983 & Supp.1991 discussing operation of the Act and independent jurisdictional requirement).
The complaint in this action specifically seeks relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, on the ground that the defendants, acting "under color of state law", denied the plaintiffs due process by not affording them a hearing before refusing to allow the pilots access to New York ports. In addition, the complaint alleges that the actions of the defendants in denying access to the New York ports of the Long Island Sound has caused ship owners to cease doing business with the plaintiffs.
"Consideration of the issue of jurisdiction is not equivalent ... to an evaluation of the merits of a party's federal claim" (Town of West Hartford v. Operation Rescue, 915 F.2d 92, 99 2d Cir.1990; see also Spencer v. Casavilla, 903 F.2d 171, 173 2d Cir.1990). The test is whether the claim "is so patently without merit" so as to justify dismissal based on jurisdictional grounds (Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Envtl. Study Group, Inc., 438 U.S. 59, 70-71, 98 S.Ct. 2620, 2628-2629, 57 L.Ed.2d 595 1978 citing cases). Clearly, federal jurisdiction over the claims set forth in this action exists pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331, 28 U.S.C. § 1343 and 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Before proceeding to the merits of the instant motion, however, the Court must also be satisfied that there is truly a "substantial controversy" to justify relief under the Declaratory Judgment Act in light of the mandate against the issuance of advisory opinions. Such a determination may only be properly made on a case-by-case basis (see Salomon Bros. v. Carey, 556 F.Supp. 499, 501 S.D.N.Y.1983).
"Congress established the declaratory judgment procedure so that parties who were uncertain of their rights could adjudicate their claims without first engaging in dubious conduct" (Penguin Books USA Inc. v. Walsh, 929 F.2d 69, 72 2d Cir.1991). The federal court's (id. quoting ...
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Interport Pilots Agency, Inc. v. Sammis
...declaring that the boundary statute authorizes the Connecticut pilots to navigate Long Island Sound to and from New York ports. 774 F.Supp. 734 (E.D.N.Y.1991). On the ground of qualified immunity, the district court subsequently dismissed the claims asserted against the individual defendant......
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Fusco v. Rome Cable Corp.
...provide an independent basis for making a motion; it simply creates the remedy of declaratory relief. Cf. Interport Pilots Agency, Inc. v. Sammis, 774 F.Supp. 734, 737 (E.D.N.Y.1991), aff'd on other grounds, 14 F.3d 133 (2d Cir.1994) (emphasis in original) ("the Declaratory Judgment Act its......