Westenfelder v. Ferguson, C.A. No. 97-478L (D. R.I. 3/__/1998)
| Decision Date | 01 March 1998 |
| Docket Number | C.A. No. 97-478L. |
| Parties | MONICA WESTENFELDER, JOANNE DAVENPORT, JESSICA MACMILLAN, NATIVIDAD SOTO, JANNETTE VARGAS, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. CHRISTINE FERGUSON, DIRECTOR, RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island |
This case centers upon one aspect of the sweeping national changes in the manner by which government assists the needy. Specifically, the Court must review a State of Rhode Island statute which imposes a durational residency requirement for receipt of full cash assistance benefits.
The matter is before the Court on the motion of plaintiffs for a preliminary injunction to prevent defendant Christine Ferguson, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Human Services ("defendant"), from enforcing the durational residency requirement found in R.I. Gen. Laws § 40-5.1-8(e).1 For the reasons that follow, the motion is granted and a preliminary injunction will be issued.
In 1996, Congress fundamentally changed the nature of the American welfare system by repealing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children ("AFDC") program, and replacing it with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 ("PRWORA"), codified at 42 U.S.C. §§ 601, et seq.. In doing so, Congress aimed to increase the flexibility of the states to experiment with their welfare systems, with the ultimate goal of encouraging recipients to find work and end dependence on welfare. See 42 U.S.C. § 601. This new flexibility, however, remains subject to certain federal limitations, including the requirement that states encourage welfare recipients to work. See, e.g., 42 U.S.C. § 607.
In addition, PRWORA expressly authorizes states to limit welfare benefits to new residents to the amount that such persons received in their prior state of residence. 42 U.S.C. § 604(c) states:
A state operating a program funded under this part may apply to a family the rules (including benefit amounts) of the program funded under this part of another State if the family has moved to the State from the other State and has resided in the State for less than 12 months.
Following enactment of PRWORA, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed the Rhode Island Family Independence Assistance Act, R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 40-5.1-1, et. seq.. Effective as of May 1, 1997, this statute provides in relevant part:
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the amount of cash to which a family is entitled under the chapter shall be reduced by thirty percent (30%) until the family has been a resident of the state for twelve (12) consecutive months; provided, however, that no member of the family who has been resident of the state for twelve (12) consecutive months or longer shall have his or her benefit reduced under this subsection.
On August 21, 1997, plaintiffs, bona fide Rhode Island residents whose benefits were reduced by thirty percent pursuant to this durational residency requirement, filed a Class Action Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief.2 Proceeding under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, they argue that the durational residency requirement violates: (1) their right to travel under the United States Constitution; (2) the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution; (3) the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV, § 2, "as secured by" the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution; and (4) PRWORA. They seek a preliminary injunction and ultimately a permanent injunction to bar defendant from enforcing § 40-5.1-8(e); a declaration that said provision is unconstitutional; an order that the action be maintained as a class action with notice to the class members; and costs and fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988.
Plaintiffs originally sought a Temporary Restraining Order on the same grounds, but on August 26, 1997, this Court denied that request. On September 10-11, 1997, this Court held a hearing on plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction. The witnesses were: (1) plaintiff Monica Westenfelder; (2) Nancy Gewirtz, Ph.D., a professor of social work at Rhode Island College; (3) Susan Bodington, Assistant Director for Housing Policy at the Rhode Island Housing Mortgage Finance Corporation; (4) Jane Hayward, Associate Director in the Division of Management Services at the Rhode Island Department of Human Services; and (5) State Representative Antonio J. Pires, Chairman of the House Finance Committee. Exhibits were also introduced into evidence.
Following the taking of that evidence, the Court took the matter under advisement and post-hearing memoranda were filed. The Court has considered all the evidence presented and the arguments of the parties (orally and in writing), and now the matter is in order for decision.
A party seeking a preliminary injunction must demonstrate that: (1) the movant enjoys a likelihood of success on the merits; (2) there exists the potential for irreparable harm to the movant if the injunction is denied; (3) the injunction would not impose a hardship on the nonmovant outweighing that to the movant in the absence of an injunction; and (4) the injunction will not adversely affect the public interest. Ross-Simons of Warwick, Inc. v. Baccarat, Inc., 102 F.3d 12, 15 (1st Cir. 1996); Kleczek v. Rhode Island Interscholastic League, Inc., 768 F.Supp. 951, 953 (D.R.I. 1991).
"Likelihood of success is the main bearing wall of the four-factor framework." Ross-Simons, 102 F.3d at 16. The movant need not prove its claims at this early stage in the proceedings, but rather need only demonstrate that it is likely to succeed when the case is ripe for final decision. Kleczek, 768 F. Supp. at 953.
In this case, determining the likelihood of success requires the Court to undertake a careful consideration of plaintiffs' constitutional claims. They argue that Rhode Island's durational residency requirement acts as a "penalty" on the constitutional right to travel, triggering strict scrutiny under Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969), and its progeny. Plaintiffs contend that the requirement is not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest, and thus cannot survive strict scrutiny. They further submit that the requirement violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, because it is not rationally related to a legitimate state purpose.3
Defendant, meanwhile, responds that a mere thirty percent reduction in cash benefits, taken together with the unrestricted provision to newcomers of non-cash welfare benefits, does not rise to the level of a "penalty" upon the exercise of the right to travel. Thus, she argues, strict scrutiny is unwarranted. The purpose of the requirement, says defendant, is to encourage welfare recipients to find work and achieve self-sufficiency, and the statute is rationally related to that objective.
Plaintiffs' claim is properly analyzed under the Equal Protection Clause. The fundamental mandate of the Equal Protection Clause is that similarly situated persons should be treated alike. Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 216 (1982) (quoting F.S. Royster Guano Co. v. Virginia, 253 U.S. 412, 415 (1920)). Within this basic precept, legislatures must be free to do their work, which at times requires drawing distinctions between individuals. As the Supreme Court has stated:
A legislature must have substantial latitude to establish classifications that roughly approximate the nature of the problem perceived, that accommodate competing concerns both public and private, and that account for limitations on the practical ability of the State to remedy every ill. In applying the Equal Protection Clause to most forms of state action, we thus seek only the assurance that the classification at issue bears some fair relationship to a legitimate public purpose.
Id. Thus, the role of the courts in reviewing legislation alleged to violate equal protection is generally a deferential one; courts do not second-guess the wisdom or efficiency of state action, but merely seek to insure its rationality. Id.; see also Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 485-86 (1970).
However, two varieties of statutory classifications are "presumptively invidious" and require additional judicial scrutiny: (1) those which distinguish among individuals based on a "suspect" classification; and (2) those which distinguish among individuals in a manner that impinges upon a fundamental right. Plyler, 457 U.S. at 216-17. "With respect to such classifications, it is appropriate to enforce the mandate of equal protection by requiring the State to demonstrate that its classification has been precisely tailored to serve a compelling governmental interest." Id. at 217.
The determination of which standard of review applies is an important threshold issue. Thus, the Court must begin by deciding whether to apply strict scrutiny to the present statute.4
Rhode Island's durational residency requirement does not involve a suspect class. However, it does involve the fundamental right to travel5; the question, then, is whether that involvement rises to a level requiring strict scrutiny.6
Whether strict scrutiny is appropriate turns on whether the durational residency requirement "penalizes" the exercise of the fundamental right to travel and to migrate from one state to another.7 See Shapiro, 394 U.S. at 634. Precisely what constitutes a "penalty" is uncertain. In Shapiro, the Court found that denial of welfare benefits to newcomers for one year "penalized" their exercise of the right to migrate by denying them, on the sole basis of their status as newcomers, the "very means to subsist — food, shelter and other necessities of life". 394 U.S. at 627.
The Supreme Court has also found that states have "penalized" the...
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