Lowe v. Shelton, (AC 24496)

• Decision Date: 13 July 2004
• Docket Number: (AC 24496)
• Citation: 851 A.2d 1183,83 Conn. App. 750
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: PAUL LOWE, JR. v. CITY OF SHELTON ET AL.

83 Conn. App. 750

851 A.2d 1183

PAUL LOWE, JR. v. CITY OF SHELTON ET AL.

(AC 24496)

Court of Appeals of Connecticut.

Argued February 20, 2004.

Officially released July 13, 2004.

Schaller, Dranginis and McLachlan, Js. Paul Lowe, Jr., pro se, the appellant (plaintiff).

Karen Baldwin Kravetz, with whom, on the brief, were Thomas E. Katon and Jesse A. Langer, for the appellees (defendants).

Opinion

SCHALLER, J.

Paul Lowe and Nadine Cartwright-Lowe, initiated this appeal on behalf of the plaintiff Paul Lowe, Jr., their then minor son, from the judgment of the trial court, rendered in favor of the defendants, the city of Shelton, the board of education of the city of Shelton, Shelton High School and Donald K. Ramia, the headmaster of Shelton High School. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Before addressing the merits of the plaintiff's appeal, we must first determine whether we have jurisdiction over the appeal. The following facts, as found by the court, and procedural history are relevant to whether we have jurisdiction. The plaintiff, then a freshman at Shelton High School, attempted to establish a jazz club at the school. The plaintiffs parents, after learning that the plaintiffs application for the jazz club was going to be denied by the student council, spoke with Ramia about the impending denial. Two days later, the student council denied the plaintiffs application to form the club.

Ramia sent a letter to the plaintiffs parents indicating why the student council rejected the proposed club. The letter stated, inter alia, that the application to form the jazz club was rejected because: "At the [student council] executive board meeting the members were informed that the advisors had resigned and therefore the club couldn't be approved because there were no advisors. The reason they resigned was because [the plaintiff] had reserved the band room telling [the music chairperson] that he had the advisors' permission, when in fact he did not have their permission, nor had he even spoke[n] to them about it."¹ Ramia subsequently determined that the plaintiff had, in fact, attempted to reserve the band room and that he had obtained permission from one of the advisors to the club. The plaintiffs parents were informed of that information in a letter from the corporation counsel for the city of Shelton.

The plaintiffs parents, as next friends and through counsel, initiated the present action on March 7, 2000, on behalf of the plaintiff, claiming that the statement in the letter was libelous because it asserted that the plaintiff was a liar. The plaintiff's parents did not raise any claims on their own behalf.

After a trial, the court rendered judgment in favor of the defendants. In its memorandum of decision, the court found that the plaintiff did not prove his claim of libel per se because he was "a student and has not reached that stage in life where one might say he was engaged in the practice of a profession or calling," and that the statement in the letter was not intended to cause any injury. The court also found that the plaintiff did not prove his claim of libel per quod because there was no evidence that he suffered any actual or special damages. In addition, the court found that the letter from the Shelton corporation counsel informing the plaintiffs parents that further investigation revealed that a faculty member had given permission to the plaintiff to use the band room constituted a retraction of the statement contained in the prior letter to the plaintiffs parents. Finally, the court found that the statement contained in the letter to the plaintiffs parents was privileged.

The plaintiffs parents, on behalf of the plaintiff but without the aid of counsel, brought this appeal on August 11, 2003. On December 18, 2003, the plaintiff reached the age of majority. He filed a pro se appearance on February 19, 2004. At oral argument, the defendants' attorney stipulated that the plaintiff was past the age of majority and the sole party plaintiff. At oral argument, we asked the parties to file simultaneous supplemental briefs on (1) whether we have subject matter jurisdiction over this appeal because it was filed by the plaintiffs parents without the appearance of an attorney and (2) if it was improper for the plaintiffs parents to file the appeal, whether the defect is curable. We initially conclude that we have subject matter jurisdiction over the plaintiffs appeal. We further conclude that nonattorney parents do not have the authority to maintain an appeal on behalf of their minor child without the appearance of an attorney. Because, under the facts of this case, however, the defect was curable and was cured by the filing of a pro se appearance, we will address the merits of the plaintiff's appeal.

I

We initially address whether we have subject matter jurisdiction over this appeal. We conclude that we have jurisdiction.

"Subject matter jurisdiction involves the authority of a court to adjudicate the type of controversy presented by the action before it. ... A court does not truly lack subject matter jurisdiction if it has competence to entertain the action before it.... Once it is determined that a tribunal has authority or competence to decide the class of cases to which the action belongs, the issue of subject matter jurisdiction is resolved in favor of entertaining the action.... [I]n determining whether a court has subject matter jurisdiction, every presumption favoring jurisdiction should be indulged." (Emphasis in original; internal quotation marks omitted.) Connecticut Light & Power Co. v. St. John, 80 Conn. App. 767, 771, 837 A.2d 841 (2004).

The defendants do not contest the court's competence to decide the type of action involved in this appeal. Rather, the defendants contend that we do not have subject matter jurisdiction over this appeal solely because it was brought by the plaintiffs nonattorney parents on his behalf.

This court has the competence and authority to hear the plaintiffs appeal. General Statutes § 52-263 authorizes an aggrieved party to appeal to this court from the decision of the trial court. The plaintiff in this case is the aggrieved party to this appeal, and all necessary parties are present. The plaintiffs parents had standing to initiate this appeal. "In order for a party to have standing to invoke the jurisdiction of the court, that party must be aggrieved. Standing is the legal right to set judicial machinery in motion. One cannot rightfully invoke the jurisdiction of the court unless [one] has, in an individual or representative capacity, some real interest in the cause of action...." (Emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted.) Hall v. Kasper Associates, Inc., 81 Conn. App. 808, 811, 846 A.2d 228 (2004). At the time that this appeal was filed, the plaintiff had not yet reached the age of majority. Because the plaintiff was unable to bring the appeal himself, he was required to bring it through a next friend, in this case, his parents. As the plaintiffs next friends, the plaintiffs parents had an interest, in a representative capacity, to invoke the jurisdiction of this court.

Because the plaintiffs parents had standing to initiate this appeal on behalf of the plaintiff, and the plaintiff has been aggrieved by the decision of the trial court, we have subject matter jurisdiction over this appeal.

II

We next address whether the nonattorney parents properly brought this appeal without the appearance of an attorney. We conclude that they did not.

The plaintiffs parents filed this appeal, as next friends, on behalf of the plaintiff, a minor at the time. A next friend is a "person who appears in a lawsuit to act for the benefit of ... [a] minor plaintiff...." Black's Law Dictionary (7th Ed. 1999). "It is well established that a child may bring a civil action only by a guardian or next friend, whose responsibility it is to ensure that the interests of the ward are well represented." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Orsi v. Senatore, 230 Conn. 459, 466-67, 645 A.2d 986 (1994); 42 Am. Jur. 2d, Infants § 160 (2000). The plaintiffs parents brought this action solely in a representative capacity as next friends. As we have noted, they did not raise any claims of their own. Accordingly, the party in interest in the underlying action and the aggrieved party to this appeal is the plaintiff, not his parents. "It is the infant, and not the next friend, who is the real and proper party. The next friend, by whom the suit is brought on behalf of the infant, is neither technically nor substantially the party, but resembles an attorney, or a guardian ad litem, by whom a suit is brought or defended in behalf of another." (Emphasis in original.) Morgan v. Potter, 157 U.S. 195, 198, 15 S. Ct. 590, 39 L. Ed. 670 (1895); Williams v. Cleaveland, 76 Conn. 426, 431-32, 56 A. 850 (1904); Black's Law Dictionary (7th Ed. 1999) (defining "next friend").

As nonattorneys, the plaintiffs parents lacked authorization to maintain this appeal without the appearance of an attorney. "[B]ecause pro se means to appear for one's self, a person may not appear on another person's behalf in the other's cause." (Emphasis in original.) Iannaccone v. Law, 142 F.3d 553, 558 (2d Cir. 1998). "Any person who is not an attorney is prohibited from practicing law, except that any person may practice law, or plead in any court of this state `in his own cause.' General Statutes § 51-88 (d) (2). The authorization to appear pro se is limited to representing one's own cause, and does not permit individuals to appear pro se in a representative capacity." (Emphasis added.) Expressway Associates II v. Friendly Ice Cream Corp. of Connecticut, 34 Conn. App. 543, 546, 642 A.2d 62, cert. denied, 230 Conn. 915, 645 A.2d 1018 (1994). The plaintiffs parents in this case were not appearing for their own cause. They were appearing for another individual, their son, in a representative capacity.

Although...