Russo v. Shapiro

• Decision Date: 19 December 1969
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 13409.
• Citation: 309 F. Supp. 385
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: Lorraine RUSSO, on behalf of herself and on behalf of her minor children; Ernestine Snow, on behalf of herself and on behalf of her minor children; Claretha Brown, on behalf of herself and on behalf of her minor child; and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Bernard SHAPIRO, Commissioner of Welfare of the State of Connecticut.

309 F. Supp. 385

Lorraine RUSSO, on behalf of herself and on behalf of her minor children; Ernestine Snow, on behalf of herself and on behalf of her minor children; Claretha Brown, on behalf of herself and on behalf of her minor child; and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Bernard SHAPIRO, Commissioner of Welfare of the State of Connecticut.

Civ. No. 13409.

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

December 19, 1969.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

William H. Clendenen, Jr., David M. Lesser, New Haven, Conn., for plaintiffs.

James M. Higgins, Asst. Atty. Gen., East Hartford, Conn., for defendant.

RULING ON PLAINTIFFS' AND DEFENDANT'S MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

BLUMENFELD, District Judge.

Plaintiffs in this class action seek a declaration that certain actions taken by defendant Commissioner of Welfare in administering supplemental welfare benefits under Connecticut's comprehensive scheme of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) are unconstitutional (under the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the fourteenth amendment) and are in contravention of the Social Security Act. They also seek an injunction against such conduct in the future. They have moved for summary judgment, as has the defendant. Plaintiffs' motion is denied, and the defendant's granted.

Facts

Prior to the fall of 1969, the Connecticut Welfare Department did not provide a back-to-school clothing allowance. The clothing needs of welfare recipients were the concern of other provisions of the state welfare regulations. An amount for replacement clothing is included in the regular monthly benefits and each person upon becoming eligible for welfare benefits is entitled to be brought up to welfare department standards of minimum clothing quantities. Conn. State Welfare Manual, Vol. 1, Chap. III, § 351.2. Also, special clothing allowances are available in the event that a "catastrophe" makes them necessary. Dep't. Bulletin No. 2226 (January 22, 1969).

On August 28, 1969, a group of welfare recipients marched to the State Capitol demanding additional welfare allowances for back-to-school clothing, and a conference on the subject was subsequently held among state welfare officials, the Governor, and some welfare recipients. Affidavit of Commissioner Shapiro at 1. From August 29 until September 3, back-to-school clothing allowances were awarded to several persons on the basis of need without a ceiling on the amount allowable for each individual. Id. at 2.

On September 3, Commissioner Shapiro, having returned to the state from a vacation the day before, issued a directive to the Welfare Department's District Directors to govern the back-to-school allowances. The directive is set out in the margin.¹ One of its provisions is that "in no instance will the back-to-school allowance for each child assisted be in excess of one payment of $30.00 per child who is otherwise eligible." Allowances made prior to the directive had not been so limited and some children in fact received more than $30. Plaintiffs Exhs. B-F.

Plaintiffs are welfare mothers and their school-age children who applied for back-to-school clothing allowances after the effective date of the directive and were found to be eligible for them. Their back-to-school clothing needs were assessed by the Department, and each child was found to need in excess of $30. Plaintiff Exhs. A and AA. Pursuant to the directive, however, each was limited to $30.

Plaintiffs claim that the directive on its face denies them the equal protection of the laws. They argue that the maximum allowance limitation of $30 treats the following groups arbitrarily more favorably than they are treated: (1) those who received their back-to-school clothing allowances before the date of the directive and were therefore able to have 100% of their need satisfied, even if in excess of $30; (2) those with needs of $30 or less who could therefore obtain 100% of their needs within the terms of the guideline; (3) those with needs in excess of $30 but less than plaintiffs' needs, who received $30 under the guideline (thereby being relieved of a greater per cent of their needs than plaintiffs).² Secondly, plaintiffs argue that the guideline deprives them of the due process of law because it establishes a conclusive presumption that their actual needs will not exceed $30 per child. Finally, they contend that the guideline contravenes the Social Security Act. This last contentio nis disposed of in the margin.³

Jurisdiction

Plaintiffs contend that this suit is authorized by 42 U.S.C. § 1983⁴ and that jurisdiction is vested under 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3),⁵ for which there is no jurisdictional amount requirement. As noted by two recent cases from this circuit, the scope of these two sections is not the same. Eisen v. Eastman, 421 F.2d 560, at 562 (2d Cir. Nov. 28, 1969); McCall v. Shapiro, 416 F.2d 246, 249-250 (2d Cir. 1969). However, it is clear from the history and from the cases that § 1343(3) is the "jurisdictional implementation" or "jurisdictional counterpart" of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, now 42 U.S. C. § 1983, and that "in cases alleging constitutional deprivations as distinguished from deprivations of rights secured by statutes providing for equal rights of citizens, see McCall v. Shapiro, supra both sections are subject to the same interpretation." Eisen v. Eastman, supra, 421 F.2d at 565 n.8, (emphasis added). Therefore, the same analysis which will serve to determine whether this court has jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims will be useful in considering whether plaintiffs state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Cf. Bell v. Hood, 327 U.S. 678, 682, 66 S.Ct. 773, 90 L.Ed. 939, 13 A.L.R.2d 383 (1946); Olson v. Board of Educ., 250 F.Supp. 1000, 1004 (E.D.N.Y.), appeal dismissed, 367 F.2d 565 (2d Cir. 1966).

Despite the increasing frequency with which these statutes are invoked, Eisen v. Eastman, supra, 421 F.2d at 561 n.1, their scope is still unclear. Id. at 565 and 566. Nevertheless, some things are now settled. First, the statutes were not intended to be nor have they been extended to the limits that their language will allow. Hague v. C.I.O., 307 U.S. 496, 59 S.Ct. 954, 83 L.Ed. 1423 (1939); Carter v. Greenhow, 114 U.S. 317, 323, 5 S.Ct. 928, 29 L.Ed. 202 (1885); Eisen v. Eastman, supra, 421 F.2d at 565. Second, while § 1983 and § 1343(3) apply only to deprivations of "civil rights," Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 554, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 18 L.Ed. 2d 288 (1967); Holt v. Indiana Mfg. Co., 176 U.S. 68, 72, 20 S.Ct. 272, 44 L.Ed. 374 (1900); Eisen v. Eastman, supra, 421 F.2d at 565; McCall v. Shapiro, 416 F.2d at 249, it is now clear that their scope is not restricted to the privileges and immunities section of the Fourteenth Amendment. Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 171, 81 S.Ct. 473, 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961); Powell v. Workmen's Comp. Bd., 327 F.2d 131, 136 (2d Cir. 1964); Moss v. Hornig, 314 F.2d 89, 92 (2d Cir. 1963).

Finally, and of most concern in cases like the present, §§ 1983 and 1343 (3) apply only when "the right or immunity is one of personal liberty, not dependent for its existence upon the infringement of property rights." Hague v. C.I.O., 307 U.S. at 531, 59 S.Ct. at 971 (opinion of Mr. Justice Stone) (adopted somewhat hesitantly as the rule for this circuit in Eisen v. Eastman, supra, 421 F.2d at 566, and less hesitantly in McCall v. Shapiro, 416 F.2d at 250). See also Bradford Audio Corp. v. Pious, 392 F.2d 67, 72 (2d Cir. 1968).

Considerable difficulty is encountered when applying these principles to constitutional challenges to state welfare regulations and their administration by state officials. Eisen v. Eastman, supra, 421 F.2d at 566 n.10. The plaintiff must show that the constitutional right (or appropriate statutory right) of which he is being deprived is also a civil right involving personal liberty and "not dependent for its existence upon the infringement of property rights." The present case presents a good example of the difficulties involved.

Plaintiffs allege a denial of equal protection because they are limited to the same amount of aid as others with less need and, therefore, are deprived of the right to receive the back-to-school clothing allowances on the same terms as others. While I might otherwise be inclined to find that these allegations are insufficient to state a claim under § 1983 or secure jurisdiction under § 1343 (3) according to the standards set out above, I have difficulty distinguishing them from those in King v. Smith, 392 U.S. 309, 88 S.Ct. 2128, 20 L.Ed.2d 1118 (1968), where the Court sustained, without discussion,⁶ § 1343(3) jurisdiction over a similar alleged denial of equal protection by operation of state welfare legislation. Compare the similar difficulty noted by Judge Friendly in Eisen v. Eastman, supra, 421 F.2d at 564, and by Judge Kaufman, concurring in McCall v. Shapiro, 416 F.2d at 251. Judge Friendly suggested in Eisen, 421 F.2d at 564 that the regulation in King may have not only caused economic loss to AFDC children, "but also infringed their `liberty' to grow up with financial aid for their subsistence * * *." If so, is there not also a similar "liberty" in this case to have clothing to wear to school?⁷

To refuse jurisdiction in this case would require that a jurisdictional basis found adequate in the only similar case decided by the Supreme Court, King v. Smith, supra, be rejected. See also Westberry v. Fisher, 297 F.Supp. 1109 (S.D. Me.1969); Dews v. Henry, 297 F.Supp. 587 (D.Ariz.1969); Williams v. Dandridge, 297 F.Supp. 450 (D.Md.1968). Cf. Shapiro v. Thompson, supra. I hold that there is an adequate basis for jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3).

Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

Pursuing a different ground for its motion for summary judgment defendant urges that plaintiffs have failed to exhaust administrative remedies, although he does not suggest that any relief could have been obtained through pursuit...