Williams v. Johnson

• Decision Date: 30 September 1974
• Docket Number: 73-426-K.,Civ. No. 73-1100-K
• Citation: 386 F. Supp. 280
• Parties: June Harris WILLIAMS, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Ejner J. JOHNSON, Administrator, Motor Vehicle Administration, and Harry R. Hughes, Secretary, Department of Transportation. Russell L. HOLDERBAUM v. MODERN BODY SHOP, INC., a Maryland Corporation.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

386 F. Supp. 280

June Harris WILLIAMS, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Ejner J. JOHNSON, Administrator, Motor Vehicle Administration, and Harry R. Hughes, Secretary, Department of Transportation.

Russell L. HOLDERBAUM v. MODERN BODY SHOP, INC., a Maryland Corporation.

Civ. Nos. 73-1100-K, 73-426-K.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

September 30, 1974.

Alan S. Davis and Janne Gallagher, Legal Aid Bureau, Inc., Baltimore, Md., for plaintiff in 73-1100-K.

Charles W. Bell, Rockville, Md., for plaintiff in 73-426-K.

Francis B. Burch, Atty. Gen. of Md., J. Michael McWilliams, Asst. Atty. Gen., N. Barton Benson, Jr., Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., and William M. Huddles, Asst. Atty. Gen., Baltimore, Md., for defendants in 73-1100-K.

George E. Krouse, Wheaton, Md., for defendant in 73-426-K.

FRANK A. KAUFMAN, District Judge.

In these two cases, which have been argued and considered together but have not been formally consolidated under Federal Civil Rule 42(a), plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of certain provisions of 5B Md.Ann.Code art. 63, §§ 41-45 (1972 Replacement Vol. & 1973 Supp.), which authorize the assertion of a mechanics' lien upon a motor vehicle and the sale of such motor vehicle by the lien holder. In Williams, plaintiff and defendants have moved for summary judgment; in Holderbaum, defendant's motion to dismiss under Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure has been supported by affidavits and has thus been converted from a dismissal motion into a summary judgment motion. In both cases, the material and relevant facts are seemingly not in dispute.¹See Federal Civil Rules 12 and 56.

I. HOLDERBAUM

In November, 1970, Russell L. Holderbaum delivered his damaged 1967 Austin Healey automobile to Modern Body Shop, Inc., a Maryland corporation, and arranged for Modern to repair and paint his car. Modern alleged, and plaintiff has not disputed, that at that time a 9 by 12 inch sign "conspicuously displayed" at the entrance to its premises announced to customers that a $2 per day storage charge was to be assessed on any car not picked up 15 days after repair work was completed.

On or about December 12, 1971, Modern advised Holderbaum that all repairs had been completed, and that it wanted Holderbaum to take away his car since Modern's lot was full. Holderbaum did not, however, remove his vehicle. Between May 26, 1972 and May 30, 1972, Holderbaum's car was vandalized on Modern's premises; certain bucket seat bottoms, an arm rest, and a trunk lid, with a total value of approximately $250.00, were removed. Subsequent to such vandalism, Holderbaum made the final of a series of payments to Modern of a total repair bill in an amount in excess of $1200, withholding $78.21 because of his dissatisfaction with Modern's repair of the vandalism and because of alleged defects in the painting work Modern had performed. On February 6, 1973, Modern notified Holderbaum, by certified mail, of Modern's intention to sell Holderbaum's automobile at public auction on March 1, 1973, for the $78.21 repair balance plus accrued storage charges of $884.00 for the period from December 14, 1971 to February 28, 1973. Modern mailed that notice to the home address which Holderbaum had provided defendant at the time he first delivered his car for repairs. When that letter was returned marked "Moved, Not Forwardable", Modern sent to Holderbaum on February 8, 1973 a second certified letter, that one addressed to Holderbaum at his place of employment. Holderbaum, however, was at that time on sick leave and did not receive the notice of the imminent public auction until after the sale had been completed. That public sale was held on March 1, 1973. The parties agree that it was held in full compliance with state law and that in accordance therewith notice was published in an appropriate periodical, the Montgomery County Sentinel, commencing February 15, 1973 and ending February 22, 1973. In that undisputed factual context, Holderbaum, in this suit against Modern in which he seeks damages, asserts that Maryland's statutory procedures are constitutionally defective in that they fail to require that actual notice be provided before a sale is made and that Modern, acting under color of state law and in contravention of 42 U.S. C. § 1983, deprived him of his property without due process of law. Jurisdiction is claimed under 28 U.S.C. § 1343, the jurisdictional counterpart of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Additionally, Holderbaum seeks, by way of pendent jurisdiction, to join with his federal action his state law claim that Modern unlawfully converted his property.

II. WILLIAMS

On or about June 17, 1973, a 1968 Pontiac LeMans automobile belonging to June Harris Williams, a graduate student at the University of Maryland, broke down on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and was towed at the request of Williams to the premises of O'Donnell Pontiac. Four or five days later, Williams was advised by an agent of O'Donnell that her engine was beyond repair. That agent suggested that Williams permit him to search for a second-hand engine which might be installed in the car. Williams was later informed by O'Donnell that such an engine had been found, and could be installed at a total cost of $450.00. Williams, stating that she lacked funds, requested O'Donnell not to commence work on her car until so requested. O'Donnell so agreed. Subsequently, on September 19, 1973, Williams telephoned to O'Donnell to authorize commencement of the needed repairs and was informed that her car had been sold at public sale the previous week for nonpayment of storage charges. Williams has alleged that she had no knowledge of and did not consent to such charges.

In any event it is undisputed that Williams received no notice of the proposed public sale of her car. Although O'Donnell complied with the advertising requirements of article 63, sections 41-45, the registered letter it had sent to plaintiff at her then proper address was never picked up by her, and was eventually returned marked "Unclaimed" shortly thereafter after she had moved away.

Williams' car was purchased by Edward Louke, apparently the owner and operator of an auto sales agency in Westminster, Maryland, for a price of approximately $300.00. From those proceeds O'Donnell subtracted approximately $250.00, allegedly the amount of storage fees owed, and returned a balance of $40.00 to Williams. Louke, pursuant to 6 Md.Ann.Code art. 66½, §§ 3-106 & 3-114 (1970 Replacement Vol.), applied for and received from Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration a new certificate of title.

In her complaint, Williams initially sought $900.00 actual and $10,000.00 punitive damages against O'Donnell and Louke; a declaration that Maryland's mechanics' lien law, in not providing adequate notice to an alleged debtor and an opportunity for a judicial hearing prior to assertion of the lien,² is repugnant to the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; and a declaration that issuance by defendant Johnson, as Administrator of Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration, and defendant Hughes, as Secretary of Maryland's Department of Transportation, of a new title certificate without Williams' consent and without opportunity to be heard, is state action which is violative of constitutional guarantees of due process. See Fuentes v. Shevin, 407 U.S. 67, 92 S.Ct. 1983, 32 L.Ed.2d 556 (1972); cf. Mitchell v. W. T. Grant Co., 416 U.S. 600, 94 S.Ct. 1895, 40 L.Ed.2d 406 (1974). Subsequent to institution of this suit, Williams entered into a settlement with O'Donnell and Louke pursuant to which, inter alia, plaintiff's automobile has been returned to her in its old inoperable condition. Accordingly, Williams now seeks only declaratory relief against Johnson and Hughes.

III. WILLIAMS AND MOOTNESS

A basic tenet of our federal jurisprudence is that it is beyond the constitutional power of Article III courts to issue advisory opinions. Muskrat v. United States, 219 U.S. 346, 31 S.Ct. 250, 55 L.Ed. 246 (1911). One necessary corollary of that limitation upon judicial power is that a court is impotent to decide questions which "cannot affect the rights of litigants in the case before them." North Carolina v. Rice, 404 U.S. 244, 246, 92 S.Ct. 402, 404, 30 L.Ed.2d 413 (1971). See also Sibron v. New York, 392 U.S. 40, 50 n. 8, 88 S.Ct. 1889, 20 L.Ed.2d 917 (1969). Any question as to whether dismissal of a case on the grounds of mootness is a matter of judicial discretion or a matter of judicial disability appears to have been removed by the Supreme Court's recent decision in De Funis v. Odegaard, 416 U.S. 312, 94 S.Ct. 1704, 40 L.Ed.2d 164 (1974), establishing that it is the latter.³ In view of Williams' settlement with O'Donnell and Louke, the question arises as to whether there is sufficient life in Williams' quest for declaratory relief to permit its adjudication between Williams on the one hand and Johnson and Hughes on the other hand.

A case is considered moot when the issues presented are no longer "live" or the parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome. Professor Moore suggests an issue is moot if "there are no longer adverse parties with sufficient legal interests to maintain the litigation." 6A J. Moore, Federal Practice ¶ 57.13 (1974). Judge Leventhal would find mootness where a party has no "`substantial stake' in the controversy which assures a presentation with requisite diligence, and, indeed, `fervor.'" Alton & Southern Ry. Co. v. International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, 150 U.S.App. D.C. 36, 463 F.2d 872, 877 (1972), quoting from Sibron v. New York, supra 392 U.S. at 57-58, 88 S.Ct. 1889, and citing, inter alia, Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83, 106, 88 S.Ct. 1942, 20 L.Ed.2d 947 (1968). Where one or more of several issues presented in a case become moot, however, other issues which remain alive may supply the constitutional requirement of an Article III ca...