State of Alabama v. Robinson

• Citation: 220 F. Supp. 293
• Decision Date: 01 August 1963
• Docket Number: No. CA-63-324.,CA-63-324.
• Parties: STATE OF ALABAMA ex rel. Richmond M. FLOWERS, as Attorney General of Alabama, Petitioner, v. Marvin ROBINSON, Congress of Racial Equality, Bernard Lee, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Gadsden Christian Citizens Committee, Gadsden Student Movement, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, John Doe and Richard Roe, Respondents.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

220 F. Supp. 293

STATE OF ALABAMA ex rel. Richmond M. FLOWERS, as Attorney General of Alabama, Petitioner, v. Marvin ROBINSON, Congress of Racial Equality, Bernard Lee, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Gadsden Christian Citizens Committee, Gadsden Student Movement, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, John Doe and Richard Roe, Respondents.

No. CA-63-324.

United States District Court N. D. Alabama, M. D.

August 1, 1963.

Richmond M. Flowers, Atty. Gen., State of Alabama, and Gordon Madison, Asst. Atty. Gen., State of Alabama, Montgomery, Ala., for petitioner.

Oscar W. Adams, Jr., Birmingham, Ala., Norman Amaker and Jack Greenberg, New York City, and George White, Birmingham, Ala., for respondents.

ALLGOOD, District Judge.

The respondents in the above-styled cause, on July 3, 1963, effected a removal of the case from the Circuit Court of Etowah County, Alabama, in Equity, to this Court, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1441 et seq. Thereafter, on July 11, 1963, complainant, the State of Alabama, filed a motion to remand the case to the State court. After oral arguments of the parties on July 19, 1963, the matter was submitted to this Court on the pleadings and affidavits of the respective parties.

The case that has been removed to this Court was initiated by the State of Alabama, as complainant, in the Circuit Court of Etowah County, Alabama, in Equity. The initial pleading in that court was a "Petition for Peremptory or Temporary Injunction", in which the complainant, State of Alabama, averred, in part, that the respondents, Marvin Robinson, et al.:

"7. * * * have interfered with and are interfering with the normal flow of inter and intra city and state commerce in, through and to the City of Gadsden, Alabama, by assembling large numbers of Negroes on the streets and sidewalks of said city, blocking traffic and blocking entrance to various stores and business establishments in said city, by holding hands in such fashion and number as to form a human chain, and by lying down on the sidewalks and streets in front of and in the aisles of business establishments and bodily blocking entrance thereto thereby causing hazards and economic conditions detrimental to the people of the State. Petitioner further avers that the said acts of Respondents are reasonably calculated to provoke a breach of the peace unless restrained by this Honorable Court. * *"

The prayer for relief was, in part, that preliminary writs of injunction be issued to the respondents: "* * * enjoining each and all of said persons, * * * from

"(a) interfering with the normal flow of inter and intra city and state commerce by blocking traffic and entrances to and aisles of various stores and business establishments in the City of Gadsden;

"(b) interfering with the normal flow of inter and intra city and state commerce by holding hands in such fashion and number as to form a human chain;

"(c) interfering with the normal flow of inter and intra city and state commerce by lying down on the sidewalks and streets in front of and in the aisles of said stores and business establishments;

"(d) interfering with the normal flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic by holding hands in such fashion and number as to form a human chain;

"(e) interfering with the normal flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic by lying down on the sidewalks and streets in front of and in the aisles of said stores and business establishments."

Thereafter, on June 18, 1963, the petition was amended, in part, as follows:

"(g.) That said respondents and those acting in concert with them be enjoined and restrained from sitting or remaining in any business establishment or any other private place or establishment after being requested to leave or vacate said establishment by the owner or proprietor, his agent, servant, or employee, while acting within the line and scope of his employment, who is in possession of the business or property, where it interferes with the right to engage in inter and intra city and state commerce."

Consequentially, a peremptory or temporary Writ of Injunction was issued in accordance with the prayer of the petition and the petition as amended. In addition, the Writ of Injunction contained the following paragraph:

"But nothing in this Order shall be interpreted to restrict or enjoin said parties or their associates from peacefully walking in single or double file the streets of said City and County in an orderly fashion."

Apparently, the injunction was violated; and, on June 21, 1963, the State of Alabama filed a verified petition for contempt, requesting that the court issue an order directing that the respondent, Marvin Edison Robinson, appear and show cause why he or she should not be held in contempt of court for failure to comply with the Writ of Injunction. Immediately thereafter, the court issued an order directing the Sheriff of Etowah County, Alabama, to take the respondent, Marvin Edison Robinson, into custody and to confine the respondent in the Etowah County jail, Gadsden, Alabama, pending a hearing on the petition for contempt filed by the State of Alabama. Subsequently, the respondents, Marvin Robinson, et al., effected a removal of all the aforementioned proceedings to this court.

In their petition for removal, the respondents averred, in part, as follows:

"3. This Court has original jurisdiction of the above described action under the provisions of Title 28, United States Code, §§ 1331 and 1343(3), and is one which may be removed to this Court by the Respondents, Petitioners herein, pursuant to the provisions of Title 28, United States Code, §§ 1441(a), (b), (c) and 1443(1) and (2), in that this is an action, wherein the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $10,000.00 exclusive of interest and costs, and that the action seeks to deprive Respondents under color of State Law, Statute, Ordinance, Regulation, custom or usage of rights, privileges and immunities secured by the Constitution of the United States providing for equal rights of citizens or of all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States. * * *"

In considering the motion to remand and the petition for removal, this Court is bound to follow and apply certain well-established principles of law. Being a court of limited jurisdiction,¹ a presumption arises that a cause is without the jurisdiction of the District Court,² and the burden is upon the petitioner— who seeks the jurisdiction of the court— to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the case falls within the court's jurisdiction.³ If it is at all doubtful that the petitioner has not sustained that burden, the cause should be remanded.⁴

In a removal case, procedure is governed by 28 U.S.C. § 1446 which, in part, provides that the petition must contain a short and plain statement of the facts which entitle the petitioner to a removal. This requirement is to be strictly construed, and it is essential for removal that a proper allegation of fact be set forth within the terms of Section 1446, supra.⁵

Thus, it is not sufficient for the petitioner to merely allege that the case is removable under one of the enumerated classes—facts must be alleged, not conclusions. Heckleman v. Yellow Cab Transit Co., (D.C., Ill., 1942), 45 F.Supp. 984.

On its face, the petition for removal appears to be insufficient to meet the requirements of the foregoing rules. However, since the respondents allege therein that their civil rights have been violated or threatened by the action of the State of Alabama, a closer examination of the record filed by the respondents is warranted.

The provisions of 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(3) are relied on by the respondents, in their petition for removal, as their authority to remove the cause to this Court under 28 U.S.C. § 1441.⁶

Thus, the first question is whether the action initiated in the State court is a civil action of which this Court has original jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331, which, in part, provides:

"(a) The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions wherein the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and arises under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States."

In Moore's Federal Practice, Vol. 1, ¶ 0.92 3.-1, p. 840, it is said:

"Since the defendant is the party seeking the jurisdiction of the federal court in a removal case, he has the burden of showing that the case is capable of being removed—i. e., that the federal jurisdictional requirements are present."

In this case, the respondents have not met the burden of showing that the Federal jurisdictional requirements under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 are present. They have not shown that the amount in controversy exceeds $10,000.00, nor have they shown that a Federal question is involved in the case.

As for the amount in controversy, the general rule is that the sum claimed by the plaintiff in the complaint will control. Moore's Federal Practice, 2nd Ed., Vol. 1, ¶ 0.91(1), p. 827. If, however, the complaint has no direct allegation as to the amount involved, the defendant may effect a removal by stating in his petition that the amount in controversy exceeds the jurisdictional minimum, and by showing that this statement is supported by necessary inferences from the complaint. Moore's Federal Practice, 2nd Ed., Vol. 1A, ¶ 157(6), p. 262; Ronzio v. Denver & R. G. W. R. Co., (10th Cir., 1940), 116 F.2d 604; 76 C.J.S. Removal of Causes § 29, p. 939; Davenport v. Procter & Gamble Mfg. Co., (2nd Cir., 1957), 241 F.2d 511, 514, 63 A.L.R.2d 1350.

The action initiated in the Circuit Court of Etowah County was for an injunction, and the complainant did not include in its petition for injunctive relief a request for damages. But, the respondents in their petition for removal have alleged that the amount in controversy exceeds $10,000.00. This conclusion, however, is not supported by the complaint filed...