Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/581/526/279660/
Timestamp: 2020-02-16 20:15:22
Document Index: 147745276

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 8', '§ 1763', '§ 1790', '§ 1761', '§ 4241']

Donna M. Johnson, on Behalf of Herself and All Otherssimilarly Situated, Plaintiff-appellant, v. American Credit Company of Georgia, Jeff F. Dickey, Clerk Ofthe State Court of Chatham County, Georgia, and His Agents,deputies and Assigns, in Their Official Capacities, Waltermitchell, Jr., Sheriff of the State Court of Chatham County,georgia, and His Agents, Deputies and Assigns, in Theirofficial Capacities, Defendants-appellees, 581 F.2d 526 (5th Cir. 1978) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Fifth Circuit › 1978 › Donna M. Johnson, on Behalf of Herself and All Otherssimilarly Situated, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Ame...
Donna M. Johnson, on Behalf of Herself and All Otherssimilarly Situated, Plaintiff-appellant, v. American Credit Company of Georgia, Jeff F. Dickey, Clerk Ofthe State Court of Chatham County, Georgia, and His Agents,deputies and Assigns, in Their Official Capacities, Waltermitchell, Jr., Sheriff of the State Court of Chatham County,georgia, and His Agents, Deputies and Assigns, in Theirofficial Capacities, Defendants-appellees, 581 F.2d 526 (5th Cir. 1978)
US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit - 581 F.2d 526 (5th Cir. 1978) Oct. 6, 1978
The trial court erred when it abstained from ruling on Johnson's motion for partial summary judgment and when it later dismissed her complaint because she supposedly had an adequate remedy at state law. She cannot be denied a federal forum to pursue her § 1983 claim on the ground that an adequate state remedy is available to her. The Supreme Court has squarely held that a plaintiff who brings a § 1983 action need not exhaust state judicial remedies. E. g., Monroe v. Pape, 1961, 365 U.S. 167, 81 S. Ct. 473, 5 L. Ed. 2d 492; McNeese v. Board of Education, 1963, 373 U.S. 668, 83 S. Ct. 1433, 10 L. Ed. 2d 622. "In a like manner, this Court routinely rejects the cry that it is necessary to exhaust state remedies." Hall v. Garson, 5 Cir. 1970, 430 F.2d 430, 436.
The defendants contend that the trial court's actions in declining to rule on the appellant's summary judgment motion and in later dismissing the complaint can be justified by the doctrine of abstention applied in Railroad Commission v. Pullman Company, 1941, 312 U.S. 496, 61 S. Ct. 643, 85 L. Ed. 971. We find that case inapposite. In Pullman the Supreme Court held that when a case involves an unsettled question of state law that, if resolved, might make it unnecessary to decide a federal constitutional question, a federal court should stay its hand until a state court has addressed the state questions.5 Pullman, then, does not justify abstention when the state law is unambiguous. Wisconsin v. Constantineau, 1971, 400 U.S. 433, 438-39, 91 S. Ct. 507, 27 L. Ed. 2d 515. Nor does Pullman call for abstention when the state courts have authoritatively construed the state law. Kusper v. Pontikes, 1973, 414 U.S. 51, 55-56, 94 S. Ct. 303, 38 L. Ed. 2d 260. The alleged constitutional defects are apparent on the face of the Georgia statutory provisions challenged by the appellant. Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Georgia has held that these statutes are constitutional. Doran v. Home Mart Building Centers, Inc., 1975, 233 Ga. 705, 213 S.E.2d 825; Kitson v. Hawke, 1973, 231 Ga. 157, 200 S.E.2d 703.6 Indeed, the Supreme Court of Georgia no longer entertains constitutional challenges to the attachment scheme.7 Under existing law, the trial court had the duty to exercise jurisdiction over Johnson's claims.8
Johnson had sought class action certification under F.R.Civ.P. 23(b) (2). To qualify under that provision, the action must satisfy all the requirements of both rule 23(a) and rule 23(b) (2). Those portions of rule 23 provide as follows:
Johnson asserts four constitutional challenges to this scheme. First, she argues that it violates due process because no judicial official with discretion to refuse to allow the attachment is required to determine whether the affidavit of the plaintiff justifies prejudgment attachment. Second, she finds the scheme unconstitutional because it allegedly does not require a prompt post-seizure hearing. Third, she contends that, because the six circumstances set forth in Ga.Code § 8-101 do not qualify as "extraordinary situations" of the type envisioned in Fuentes v. Shevin, 1972, 407 U.S. 67, 92 S. Ct. 1983, 32 L. Ed. 2d 556, due process requires a hearing prior to attachment. Finally, she insists that the scheme violates due process because it can result in the sale of the seized property without any notice or hearing.10
As discussed in Part IV, this Court has determined that it need reach only the first argument raised by Johnson. That attachments are issued without judicial scrutiny affects equally all members of the suggested class that is, all persons who have had or will have property attached prior to judgment under the Georgia scheme. This Court, then, could hold that the trial court should have certified this broad class for Johnson's first argument and then disposed of the case, as we do in Part IV, by finding the statutory scheme unconstitutional on that basis. See Hammond v. Powell, 4 Cir. 1972, 462 F.2d 1053. In a class action, however, the trial court may not allow its view of the merits to determine the outcome of the class certification issue. See Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 1974, 417 U.S. 156, 178, 94 S. Ct. 2140, 40 L. Ed. 2d 732 (quoting Miller v. Mackey International, 5 Cir. 1971, 452 F.2d 424, 427). It was proper, then, for the trial court to consider the propriety of a class action on each of Johnson's four constitutional arguments.
We agree with Johnson that rule 23(a) (2)'s "commonality" provision does not require complete identity of legal claims. See, e. g., 7 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 1763 (1972). Rule 23(b) (2), though, has an independent requirement of commonality it allows a class action when "the party opposing the class has acted or refused to act on grounds Generally applicable to the class".11 Professors Wright and Miller state that a rule 23(b) (2) class action is appropriate when "the party opposing the class . . . has established a regulatory scheme Common to all class members . . . . What is necessary is that the challenged conduct or lack of conduct be premised on a ground that is applicable to the Entire class."12
Johnson seeks to bring a class action on behalf of all persons who have had or will have property attached prior to judgment under the Georgia statutory scheme. Under rule 23(b) (2), she may bring such a class action for only her first argument (that the statutory scheme is unconstitutional because attachments issue without prior judicial scrutiny) and her second argument (that the scheme is unconstitutional because no prompt post-seizure hearing is provided). The circumstances of the class members raise identical issues under these two arguments. In contrast, rule 23(b) (2) will not allow an action for this broadly defined class premised on her third argument that a prior hearing is required because the six situations in which attachment is allowed are not "extraordinary situations" under Fuentes. This argument obviously raises six discrete issues not common to the members of the broadly defined class. For her third argument, then, a subclass must be carved out of the class.
F.R.Civ.P. 23(c) (4) (B) provides that "(w)hen appropriate . . . a class may be divided into subclasses and each subclass treated as a class, and the provisions of this rule shall then be construed and applied accordingly". A subclass, then, must independently meet all of rule 23's requirements for maintenance of a class action. See 7A C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 1790, at 191-92 (1972). A fundamental requirement is that the representative plaintiff must be a member of the class she wishes to represent. See East Texas Motor Freight System, Inc. v. Rodriguez, 1977, 431 U.S. 395, 403, 97 S. Ct. 1891, 52 L. Ed. 2d 453; 7 C. Wright & A. Miller, § 1761. For her third constitutional challenge, then, Johnson may represent only a subclass consisting of all persons who, like her, have had or will have property attached prior to judgment because they allegedly were removing the property from the state. No challenge may be raised in this action to the other five situations that give rise to attachment under the Georgia statutes, because there are no representative plaintiffs present who have been aggrieved by them and thus who can represent the appropriate subclasses.13
Due process challenges to the facial constitutionality of creditors' provisional remedy statutes must be analyzed in light of four Supreme Court decisions: Sniadach v. Family Finance Corp., 1969, 395 U.S. 337, 89 S. Ct. 1820, 23 L. Ed. 2d 349; Fuentes v. Shevin, 1972, 407 U.S. 67, 92 S. Ct. 1983, 32 L. Ed. 2d 556; Mitchell v. W. T. Grant Co., 1974, 416 U.S. 600, 94 S. Ct. 1895, 40 L. Ed. 2d 406; North Georgia Finishing, Inc. v. Di-Chem, Inc., 1975, 419 U.S. 601, 95 S. Ct. 719, 42 L. Ed. 2d 751. The courts and commentators have struggled mightily to harmonize this line of decisions.14 In this case, because we hold that the Georgia scheme violates a clear requirement of these cases, we see no purpose in making a lengthy statement encompassing our views on the many nuances that arise out of Sniadach and its progeny.
In Sniadach, the Supreme Court invalidated the Wisconsin prejudgment garnishment procedure because notice and the opportunity to be heard were not required before the seizure of wages. Then, in Fuentes, a 4-3 decision,15 the Court struck down the prejudgment replevin laws of Florida and Pennsylvania because they denied "the right to a prior opportunity to be heard before chattels are taken from their possessor". 407 U.S. at 96, 92 S. Ct. at 2002. In Mitchell, however, the Supreme Court held that the Louisiana sequestration statute comported with due process even though it provided no pre-seizure notice and opportunity to be heard. The Court explained that the Louisiana procedure "effects a constitutional accommodation of the conflicting interests of the parties" because, among other things, the creditor was required to obtain prior judicial authorization for the attachment. 416 U.S. at 606, 617 & n.12, 94 S. Ct. at 1900. Finally, in Di-Chem the Court struck down the Georgia garnishment scheme because, unless the debtor posted a counterbond, it placed the garnished property "totally beyond use during the pendency of the litigation on the alleged debt, all by a writ of garnishment issued by a court clerk . . . without participation by a judicial officer". 419 U.S. at 606, 95 S. Ct. at 722. The Court stressed that the Georgia scheme was unlike the Louisiana procedure upheld in Mitchell, which allowed issuance of a writ of sequestration "only by a judge upon the filing of an affidavit going beyond mere conclusory allegations and clearly setting forth the facts entitling the creditor to sequestration". 419 U.S. at 607, 95 S. Ct. at 722.
Johnson immediately appealed this ruling. This Court held that the ruling was not appealable. Johnson v. American Credit Co., 5 Cir. 1975; See 517 F.2d 478 (table). The Supreme Court denied certiorari. 424 U.S. 971, 96 S. Ct. 1472, 47 L. Ed. 2d 740 (1976)
See generally Field, Abstention in Constitutional Cases: The Scope of the Pullman Abstention Doctrine, 122 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1071 (1974); 17 C. Wright, A. Miller & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure: Jurisdiction §§ 4241-43 (1978). In Carey v. Sugar, 1976, 425 U.S. 73, 96 S. Ct. 1208, 47 L. Ed. 2d 587 (per curiam), the Supreme Court applied Pullman in holding that the three-judge district court should have abstained from ruling on the constitutionality of New York's attachment scheme. The Court determined that, if accorded the opportunity, the New York courts might give the challenged statutes a constitutional construction
In its order abstaining from addressing Johnson's motion for partial summary judgment, the trial court asserted that the challenged statutes might not be unconstitutional on their face because a Georgia state judge from whom a writ of attachment is sought might invoke the inherent powers of his court to engraft all the requisite due process safeguards upon the Georgia attachment scheme. Even assuming the existence of such inherent judicial power, this approach to abstention is inappropriate. First, it did not take into account that a clerk of the court may issue writs of attachment under Georgia law. Second, it would require abstention in every case in which a state statute is facially challenged on federal constitutional grounds, even when, as here, the statute is unambiguous and has been recently upheld by the highest state court. As a general principle, then, this approach would drive all such cases out of the federal forum. That is clearly an improper result, since in such cases "it is the Duty of the federal court to exercise its properly invoked jurisdiction" except when the challenged state law is unclear. Harman v. Forssenius, 1965, 380 U.S. 528, 534-35, 85 S. Ct. 1177, 1182, 14 L. Ed. 2d 50 (emphasis added)
The defendants do not assert that the abstention by the district court can be justified under the principles of federalism and comity developed in Younger v. Harris, 1971, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S. Ct. 746, 27 L. Ed. 2d 669, and extended in Trainor v. Hernandez, 1977, 431 U.S. 434, 97 S. Ct. 1911, 52 L. Ed. 2d 486. Younger and Trainor do not apply to this case
The trial court appeared to have no other objection to the class action. We find that Johnson's action qualifies for class action status under F.R.Civ.P. 23 when the class is defined as we have in the following portion of this Part of our opinion. The defendants argue that the class is unmanageable because it is too large and too diversified. This argument would be relevant only if Johnson had sought class certification under Rule 23(b) (3). See F.R.Civ.P. 23(b) (3) (D)
F.R.Civ.P. 23(b) (2) (emphasis added)
When faced with a situation when no named plaintiff can represent a subclass, a trial court should consider whether it is in the interests of justice and judicial economy to postpone dismissal as to the subclass for a specified period in which members of the subclass could become plaintiffs by amendment of the Complaint or by intervention and thereby save the subclass action. Cf. LaReau v. Manson, 1974 D. Conn., 383 F. Supp. 214; Sullivan v. Winn-Dixie Greenville, Inc., 1974 D.S.C., 62 F.R.D. 370. Because of our resolution of the merits in this case, we need not face this consideration
See Alderman, Default Judgments and Postjudgment Remedies Meet the Constitution: Effectuating Sniadach And its Progeny, 65 Geo. L.J. 1 (1976); Brabham, Sniadach Through Di-Chem And Backwards: An Analysis of Virginia's Attachment and Detinue Statutes, 12 U. Richmond L.Rev. 157 (1977); Catz & Robinson, Due Process and Creditor's Remedies: From Sniadach And Fuentes To Mitchell, North Georgia And Beyond, 28 Rutgers L. Rev. 541 (1975); Hansford, Procedural Due Process in the Debtor-Creditor Relationship: The Impact of Di-Chem, 9 Ga.L.Rev. 589 (1975); Kay & Lubin, Making Sense of the Prejudgment Seizure Cases, 64 Ky.L.J. 705 (1976); Newton, Procedural Due Process and Pre-Judgment Creditor Remedies: A Proposal for Reform of the Balancing Test, 34 Wash. & Lee L.Rev. 65 (1977); Newton, Fuentes 'Repossessed' Revisited, 28 Baylor L.Rev. 497 (1976); Nickles, Creditors' Provisional Remedies and Debtors' Due Process Rights: Attachment and Garnishment in Arkansas, 31 Ark.L.Rev. 607 (1978); Pearson, Due Process and the Debtor: The Impact of Mitchell v. W. T. Grant (pts. 1-2), 28-29 Okla.L.Rev. 743, 277 (1975-76); Rendleman, Analyzing the Debtor's Due Process Interest, 17 Wm. & Mary L.Rev. 35 (1975); Scott, Constitutional Regulation of Provisional Creditors' Remedies: The Cost of Procedural Due Process, 61 Va. L. Rev. 807 (1975); Note, Debtors' and Creditors' Due Process: Applying the Balancing Standard, 29 U.Fla.L.Rev. 554 (1977)
Fuentes was argued November 9, 1971, when the Supreme Court had two vacancies. On January 7, 1972, Justice Powell and Justice Rehnquist joined the Court. The seven justices who had been present at oral argument decided the case on June 12, 1972. See North Georgia Finishing, Inc. v. Di-Chem, Inc., 1975, 419 U.S. 601, 616 n.1, 95 S. Ct. 719, 42 L. Ed. 2d 751 (Blackmun, J., dissenting)
It is possible that the Court's approval of the Louisiana sequestration procedure in Mitchell does not create a constitutional requirement that a Judge approve a prejudgment seizure. Because due process is a flexible concept, all that might be required is that "the official making the required determinations exercise some discretion and possess the necessary professional competence". Jonnet v. Dollar Savings Bank, 3 Cir. 1976, 530 F.2d 1123, 1130 n.15. See Di-Chem, 419 U.S. at 611 n.3, 95 S. Ct. 719 (Powell, J., concurring in the result). The Georgia attachment scheme challenged here would violate even this more limited version of due process
We believe, though, that a fair reading of Mitchell and Di-Chem indicates that they do require judicial approval of a prejudgment seizure. After Mitchell and Di-Chem, we do not believe that we must engage in Ad hoc balancing in every case that comes before us. Rather, we agree with the Court of Appeals of the Eighth Circuit that "Justice White (in his opinion in Mitchell) emphasized the Necessity of judicial supervision of the proceedings". Guzman v. Western State Bank, 8 Cir. 1975, 516 F.2d 125, 130 (emphasis added); See Guzman, 516 F.2d at 130-31 & n.7; Mississippi Chemical Corp. v. Chemical Const. Corp., 1977 S.D. Miss., 444 F. Supp. 925, 941; Betts v. Tom, 1977 D. Haw., 431 F. Supp. 1369, 1378; Aaron Ferer & Sons Co. v. Berman, 1977 D. Neb., 431 F. Supp. 847, 852 & n.6; Hamrick v. Ashland Finance Co., 1976 S.D.W.V., 423 F. Supp. 1033, 1036; United States General, Inc. v. Arndt, 1976 E.D. Wis., 417 F. Supp. 1300, 1313 (three-judge court); Terranova v. AVCO Financial Services, 1975 D. Vt., 396 F. Supp. 1402, 1404-05, 1407 (three-judge court); Thornton v. Carson, 1975 Ariz., 111 Ariz. 490, 533 P.2d 657; Ray Lein Const., Inc. v. Wainwright, 1977 Fla., 346 So. 2d 1029, 1032; Unique Caterers, Inc. v. Rudy's Farm Co., 1976 Fla., 338 So. 2d 1067, 1071; Hillhouse v. City of Kansas City, 1977 Kan., 221 Kan. 369, 559 P.2d 1148, 1153, 1156; Williams v. Matovich, 1977 Mont., 560 P.2d 1338, 1340-41. Cf. Hutchison v. Bank of North Carolina, 1975 M.D.N.C., 392 F. Supp. 888, 896-97 (three-judge court); Phillips v. Guin & Hunt, Inc., 1977 Fla., 344 So. 2d 568, 572. But see Hood Motor Co. v. Lawrence, 1975 La., 320 So. 2d 111. We also agree with Professor Scott that the Ex parte process envisioned in Mitchell and Di-Chem requires "participation of a judicial officer, specific factual allegations of entitlement, and access to an 'immediate' post-seizure hearing". Scott, Supra note 14, at 832-33. See Catz & Robinson, Supra note 14, at 559-60; Newton, 28 Baylor L.Rev. 497, Supra note 14, at 523 & n.107. But see Note, Supra note 14, at 564-68.
Our holding is bolstered by noting that in Di-Chem the Court found the Georgia statutes to be inconsistent with Fuentes simply because under them "a bank account . . . was impounded and, absent a bond, put totally beyond use during the pendency of the litigation on the alleged debt, all by a writ of garnishment issued by a court clerk without notice or opportunity for an early hearing and without participation by a judicial officer". 419 U.S. at 606, 95 S. Ct. at 722. Thus, if Fuentes retains precedential force and the Court in Di-Chem indicated that it does it must stand for the proposition that, absent pre-seizure notice and opportunity to be heard, prejudgment seizure is unconstitutional unless it is authorized by a judge with discretion to deny the writ and is promptly followed by a hearing, or unless it occurs in an "extraordinary situation".