Ragland v. Mueller
| Decision Date | 31 May 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 71-2430.,71-2430. |
| Citation | 460 F.2d 1196 |
| Parties | Robert B. RAGLAND, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Edward A. MUELLER, as Secretary of the State of Florida Department of Transportation, et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
William H. Maness, Jacksonville, Fla., for plaintiff-appellant.
John L. Briggs, U. S. Atty., John D. Roberts, Asst. U. S. Atty., Jacksonville, Fla., Howard Hadley, Gen. Counsel, State of Florida, Dept. of Transp., Tallahassee, Fla., Edmund B. Clark, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., Geoffrey B. Dobson, Tallahassee, Fla., Dirk D. Snel, Robert S. Lynch, Kent Frizzell, Asst. Attys. Gen., Washington, D. C., for defendants-appellees.
Before TUTTLE, GEWIN and THORNBERRY, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal from a dismissal of an action, seeking to enjoin Secretary of Transportation Volpe, Secretary of the State of Florida Department of Transportation, Edward A. Mueller and Federal Highway Administrator, Francis C. Turner, from proceeding with their plans to continue construction of I-295. This particular route the defendants have chosen goes directly through appellant's 50 acre wildlife refuge (Grandma's Farm) in Duval County, Florida.
Secretary Volpe and FHA Turner moved to dismiss "for failure to state a cause of action and for lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter." Secretary Mueller moved to dismiss on three grounds: (1) sovereign immunity, (2) standing, and (3) "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." After an evidentiary hearing, the motion was granted, but no grounds were stated. The court merely stated, as to each defendant "the motion to dismiss the complaint . . . is Granted."
So far as concerns "sovereign immunity" as a defense to a suit to enjoin state or federal officials from failing to comply with the laws spelling out their legal authority, the raising of such a defense in this action borders on the frivolous. See K. C. Davis, Administrative Law Treatise, Vol. 3, 27.03.
Regarding the defense of standing, appellees argue that because appellant Ragland raised the issues now being litigated in Federal Court in the state condemnation proceeding, he does not have standing to contest personally these same claims in Federal Court. Such an argument clearly confuses the defense of standing with that of collateral estoppel. Regarding the latter, we note that on the basis of the record before us, it simply is unclear whether all the procedural issues raised in the Federal portion of this litigation were also raised in state court. Specifically, it is unclear whether appellant's claim...
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Westinghouse Elec. Corp. v. Schlesinger
...object of specific relief." 77 This exception to the right of sovereign immunity has been often applied. Indeed, in Ragland v. Mueller (5th Cir. 1972), 460 F.2d 1196, 1197, a plea of sovereign immunity in a case for injunctive relief against proposed official action in violation of law was ......
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Lathan v. Brinegar
...amendments do not apply. Wildlife Preserves, Inc. v. Volpe, 3 Cir., 1971, 443 F.2d 1273. That is not this case. See also Ragland v. Mueller, 5 Cir., 1972, 460 F.2d 1196, and Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Inc. v. Bartlett, 3 Cir., 1971, 454 F.2d 613, in which the courts held that NEPA ......
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Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill
...cannot reasonably be applied to projects substantially completed. E. g., Pizitz, Inc. v. Volpe, 467 F.2d 208 (CA5 1972); Ragland v. Mueller, 460 F.2d 1196 (CA5 1972); Greene County Planning Board v. FPC, 455 F.2d 412, 424 (CA2), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 849, 93 S.Ct. 56, 34 L.Ed.2d 90 (1972).......
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Sierra Club v. Froehlke, Civ. A. No. 71-H-983.
...91 S.Ct. 2257, 29 L.Ed.2d 711; Clark v. Volpe, 461 F.2d 1266 (5th Cir. 1972), affirming 342 F.Supp. 1324 (E.D.La.1972); Ragland v. Mueller, 460 F.2d 1196 (5th Cir. 1972). 107 See, e. g., Arlington Coalition on Transportation v. Volpe, 458 F.2d 1323, 1329-1330 (4th Cir. 1972), cert. denied, ......