Source: http://openjurist.org/608/f2d/208
Timestamp: 2015-10-10 11:21:22
Document Index: 119395489

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 5', '§ 2201', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 13', '§ 1', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 5', '§ 1', '§ 5', '§ 5']

608 F2d 208 Shell Oil Company v. W Noel | OpenJurist
608 F. 2d 208 - Shell Oil Company v. W Noel HomeFederal Reporter, Second Series 608 F.2d.
608 F2d 208 Shell Oil Company v. W Noel 608 F.2d 208
1980-1 Trade Cases 63,118
SHELL OIL COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant,v.Philip W. NOEL et al., Defendants-Appellees.*
No. 79-1393.
Argued Nov. 6, 1979.Decided Dec. 26, 1979.
Robert G. Abrams, Washington, D. C., with whom A. M. Minotti, William Simon, Stuart H. Harris and Howrey & Simon, Washington, D. C., were on brief, for appellant.
Patrick J. Quinlan, Washington, D. C., with whom Dennis J. Roberts, II, Atty. Gen., Providence, R. I., was on brief, for appellees.
Before COFFIN, Chief Judge, CAMPBELL, Circuit Judge, WYZANSKI, Senior District Judge.*
This an appeal from the District Court's order granting defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiff's complaint. The District Court granted the motion on the ground that defendants were not proper parties to this action because they had no connection with the enforcement of the Rhode Island Motor Fuel Distribution and Sales Act of 1976, R.I.Gen.Laws §§ 5-55-5 and 5-55-6 (1978), as to which plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201, 2202 and also injunctive relief. We affirm the dismissal on the ground that there is no "case or controversy" within Article III of the United States Constitution.
On October 1, 1976 Shell Oil Company (Shell), a Delaware corporation, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island a complaint against Philip W. Noel, Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Julius C. Michaelson, Attorney General of the State of Rhode Island.
In its complaint plaintiff alleges that it is a producer and refiner of crude oil, and a wholesale and retail marketer of petroleum products. The complaint then quotes in full what are now §§ 5-55-5 and 5-55-6 of R.I.Gen.Laws.1 The general thrust, subject to some qualifications, of those sections is as follows: § 5-55-5 makes it unlawful for any refiner, distributor, producer or transporter of petroleum products engaged in business in Rhode Island to discriminate in price between purchasers of petroleum products of like grade and quality and makes it unlawful for any wholesaler or reseller of petroleum products to sell at retail level for less than four cents below his wholesale price; and § 5-55-6 provides that no supplier shall hinder, coerce, or threaten any dealer for the purpose of preventing him from joining any trading association made up of dealers, and that suppliers shall be obliged to bargain in good faith with bargaining agents selected by dealers.
It is not and could not be alleged that Rhode Island has anywhere provided criminal sanctions, such as fine or imprisonment, specifically attached to either § 5-55-5 or § 5-55-6.
Plaintiff alleges that §§ 5-55-5 and 5-55-6 are unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution because (1) they frustrate congressional purposes embodied in the Robinson- Patman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 13(a)-(f), and the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 Et seq., (2) § 5-55-5 makes discrimination unlawful in some situations in which plaintiff would have a defense against the application of the Robinson-Patman Act, (3) the provision of § 5-55-5 making unlawful certain sales at retail for less than four cents below the wholesale price is in conflict with the Sherman Act, and (4) § 5-55-6 in permitting combinations among dealers is in conflict with § 1 of the Sherman Act.
The complaint alleges in paragraph 10 that if §§ 5-55-5 and 5-55-6 are not declared unconstitutional plaintiff will be subject to the risk of financial liability and injunction under § 5-55-8 of R.I.Gen.Laws2; but this paragraph does not allege that the Rhode Island Governor or Attorney General plans to initiate any suit. Nor is there anywhere else in the complaint any allegation of probable or even possible civil action or criminal prosecution by the Governor or State Attorney General. (Cf. Complaint, par. 23).
Defendants moved to dismiss Shell's complaint on the grounds3 that (1) the Governor and Attorney General are not proper parties-defendant; (2) the complaint fails to present a justiciable controversy; and (3) the District Court does not possess subject matter jurisdiction over the claims raised.
On July 12, 1979 the District Court dismissed Shell's complaint on the sole ground that the Rhode Island Act "provides a purely private cause of action in its regulation of the economic relationships between (private) parties," and "neither the Governor nor the Attorney General ha(s) any connection with enforcement of the act."
We first address ourselves to the ground upon which the District Court rested its judgment, and consider whether defendants are proper parties.
In a suit brought to have a declaration of the unconstitutionality of a state statute or to enjoin the enforcement of the statute an officer of a state is an appropriate defendant if he has some connection with the enforcement of the act. Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 157, 28 S.Ct. 441, 453, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908). It is not necessary that his dut