Sanders v. Jefferson County Dept., Human Resources

Decision Date05 November 1999
Docket NumberNo. Civ.A. CV 99-J-2054S.,Civ.A. CV 99-J-2054S.
Citation117 F.Supp.2d 1199
PartiesShmuel SANDERS, Plaintiff, v. JEFFERSON COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

Shmuel Sanders, Birmingham, AL, for Shmuel Sanders, plaintiff pro se.

James E Long, Alabama Department of Human Resources, Montgomery, AL, for Jefferson County Department of Human Resources, defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOHNSON, District Judge.

This case is before this court on Defendants' Jefferson County Department of Human Resources ("DHR"), Jefferson County Food Stamp Office, Alabama State Department of Human Resources, and Charline Pritchett and Larry W. Simmons, both of whom are sued in their individual capacities, motion to dismiss (doc. 9). This court has considered said motion, the briefs submitted in support of and in opposition to, as well as oral arguments heard in open court.

Factual Background

Plaintiff is a participant in the Jefferson County Food Stamp Program, a program administered by Jefferson County Department of Human Resources. In December of 1998, Plaintiff applied for renewal of his food stamps. Complaint, ¶ 4. At the time of his application, Plaintiff contends he was a homeless individual as defined by 7 U.S.C. § 2012(s)(2). Id. Accordingly, Plaintiff would be entitled to a standard estimate of shelter expenses as a homeless person in determining his food stamp eligibility. See 7 C.F.R. § 273.9(d)(5)(i). Additionally, Plaintiff maintains he was entitled to, but was refused yearly income averaging. Complaint, ¶ 5. See 7 C.F.R. § 273.10(c)(ii).

There are seven counts to Plaintiff's complaint. The first count contends Defendants violated 7 C.F.R. §§ 273.9(d)(5)(i), 273.9(d)(5)(ii) and 273.10(c)(ii) as well as his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution when Defendants allegedly arbitrarily, capriciously, and in an abusive manner discriminated against him for being poor. Plaintiff offers Defendants' failure to deduct the cost of homeless shelter expense as evidence of such violations.

The second count alleges the denial of a formal hearing and Plaintiff's right of confrontation amounts to a deprivation of Plaintiff's rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. Complaint ¶ 12.

The third count for relief cites Defendants' failure to submit detailed findings of fact to support the reduction of his monthly food stamp benefit as arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of administrative discretion in direct violation of 7 C.F.R. §§ 273.15(c)(1) and (3); 273.15(f); 273.15(i)(1) and (3); 273.15(k)(1), (2), and (3); 273.15(p)(1), (4) and (6); and 273.15(q)(1), (2), and (3). Complaint ¶ 14.

In his fourth count, Plaintiff professes his belief and loyalty for Judaism. Plaintiff argues, without evidence to support, that most of the people with whom he dealt were predominantly members of various fundamental Christian sects. Complaint ¶ 16. In addition, Plaintiff questions the fairness and impartiality of individuals with whom "the shrill scream of an imagined voice of an imagined "Jesus" person in one's mental ear that the person before you is literally abandoned and outside of G-d's master plan for the entire world, nay, the entire universe" is present, can judge a food stamp claimant. Complaint ¶ 17 (emphasis in the original). Plaintiff claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1985 that he was discriminated against on the basis of race as a result of the alleged impartiality of those fundamental Christian employed by the Jefferson County Department of Human Resources. Complaint ¶ 18.

Plaintiff claims violations of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments in count five. To support this claim, Plaintiff alleges his due process and equal protection rights were violated when his food stamp benefit level was reduced without a pre-termination hearing. Complaint ¶ 20.

Under the same allegations, Plaintiff makes the claim of outrage in count 6.

Finally, in count seven Plaintiff argues Defendants Jefferson County Food Stamp Office and DHR are without the protection of the Eleventh Amendment. Complaint ¶ 24.

Legal Analysis

In the case at bar, Plaintiff alleges a series of violations of various rights under the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution as well as violations under the Food Stamp Act, 7 U.S.C. § 2011, et seq. Plaintiff asserts these claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1985.

1. Claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1981

Plaintiff alleges he was discriminated against on the basis of his race. Plaintiff is a "loyal and firmly committed believer in and adherent to the religion of Judaism." Complaint, ¶ 15. The Supreme Court has held that Jewish ancestry is a race for purposes of § 1981. Saint Francis College v. Al-Khazraji, 481 U.S. 604, 611-613, 107 S.Ct. 2022, 95 L.Ed.2d 582 (1987). Plaintiff maintains such discrimination violates his rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1981.

Section 1981 reads in its pertinent part "all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no other." Significant to this provision is the restriction of its scope to forbidding discrimination in the "mak[ing] and enforce[ment]" of contracts alone. "Where an alleged act of discrimination does not involve the impairment of one of these specific rights, § 1981 provides no relief. Section 1981 cannot be construed as a general proscription of racial discrimination...." Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, 491 U.S. 164, 176, 109 S.Ct. 2363, 2372, 105 L.Ed.2d 132 (1989); see also Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co., 392 U.S. 409, 436, 88 S.Ct. 2186, 2201, 20 L.Ed.2d 1189 (1968)

Plaintiff has failed to state a claim under § 1981. Food stamps are a matter of statutory entitlement, not a contractual right. See Atkins v. Parker, 472 U.S. 115, 128, 105 S.Ct. 2520, 2528, 86 L.Ed.2d 81 (1985) (food stamps, like welfare benefits, are considered statutory entitlements). Accordingly, even if Plaintiff sufficiently plead his allegations of racial discrimination,1 such allegations would fall outside the parameters of rights under § 1981.

2. Plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. § 1982 Claim.

Title 42 of the United States Code, § 1982 protects the right of citizens to "hold" real and personal property. It states: All citizens of the United States shall have the same right, in every State and Territory, as is enjoyed by white citizens thereof to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property. 42 U.S.C. § 1982. Section 1982 was enacted to enable Congress to enforce the Thirteenth Amendment, specifically to "prohibit all racial discrimination, private and public, in the sale and rental of property." Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co., 392 U.S. 409, 435 88 S.Ct. 2186, 2201, 20 L.Ed.2d 1189 (1968) (referring to § 1982 as a comprehensive statute forbidding all racial discrimination affecting the basic civil rights enumerated in the Act.)

Through the legislative history of the Act, it is clear the term "race" was used to embody all identifiable classes of persons who are subjected to intentional discrimination solely because of their ancestry or ethnic characteristics. See Shaare Tefila Congregation v. Cobb, 481 U.S. 615, 617, 107 S.Ct. 2019, 2022, 95 L.Ed.2d 594 (1987) (citing Saint Francis College v. Al-Khazraji, 481 U.S. 604, 107 S.Ct. 2022, 95 L.Ed.2d 582 (1987)). Those of Jewish ancestry are members of the protected class under § 1982. Id. However, in the case at bar, Plaintiff's claim fails under § 1982 because that section protects only the right of members of all races to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey property, not the right to receive food stamps.

3. Claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Plaintiff claims under 1983 violations of his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, as well as violations of the Food Stamp Act.2 Specifically, Plaintiff maintains his rights of due process and equal protection under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments were violated. Additionally, Plaintiff alleges his rights under 7 C.F.R. §§ 273.9(d)(5)(i), 273.10(c)(3)(ii), 273.15(c)(1) and (3), 273.15(k)(1), (2), and (3), 275.15(p)(1), (4) and (6), 273.15(q)(1), (2), and (3) were violated.

As the DHR and Jefferson County Food Stamp Office are not "persons" under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a cause of action can not be had against them. See Will v. Michigan Dept. of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 71, 109 S.Ct. 2304, 2313, 105 L.Ed.2d 45 (1989). Accordingly, all claims against these defendants are to be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

The remaining defendants, Charline Pritchett and Larry W. Simmons have been sued in their individual and official capacities. As to claims against these defendants acting in their official capacities, the Eleventh Amendment operates as a bar. The Eleventh Amendment reads as follows: "The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State." U.S. Const. amend. XI. Absent a legitimate abrogation of immunity by Congress or a waiver of immunity by the state being sued, the Eleventh Amendment is an absolute bar to suit by an individual against a state or its agencies in federal court. See Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974).

Edelman recognized that an award of damages against a state officer...

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