Source: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/413/634
Timestamp: 2014-07-29 11:23:29
Document Index: 352041732

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 53', '§ 53', '§ 53', '§ 53', '§ 4', '§ 332', '§ 51', '§ 2', '§ 338', '§ 602', '§ 502']

Jule M. SUGARMAN, etc., et al., Appellants, v. Patrick McL. DOUGALL et al. | LII / Legal Information Institute
Supreme Court aboutsearch liibulletin subscribe previews Jule M. SUGARMAN, etc., et al., Appellants, v. Patrick McL. DOUGALL et al.
413 U.S. 634 (93 S.Ct. 2842, 37 L.Ed.2d 853)
Argued: Jan. 8, 1973.
1. Section 53 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment since, in the context of New York's statutory civil service scheme, it sweeps indiscriminately and is not narrowly limited to the accomplishment of substantial state interests. Pp. 638643.
2. The 'special public interest' doctrine has no applicability in this case. Pp. 643645.
3. Nor can the citizenship requirement be justified on the unproved premise that aliens are less permanent employees than citizens, or on other grounds asserted by appellants. Pp. 645646.
4. While the State has an interest in defining its political community, and in corresponding interest in establishing the qualifications for persons holding state elective or important nonelective executive, legislative, and judicial positions, the broad citizenship requirement established by § 53 cannot be justified on this basis. Pp. 646649.
'Except as herein otherwise provided, no person shall be eligible for appointment for any position in the competitive class unless he is a citizen of the United States.'
The four appellees, Patrick McL. Dougall, Esperanza Jorge, Teresa Vargas, and Sylvia Castro, are federally registered resident aliens. When, because of their alienage, they were discharged in 1971 from their competitive civil service positions with the city of New York, the appellees instituted this class action challenging the constitutionality of § 53. The named defendants, and appellants here, were the Administrator of the city's Human Resources Administration (HRA), and the city's Director of Personnel and Chairman of its Civil Service Commission. The appellees sought (1) a declaration that the statute was invalid under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, (2) injunctive relief against any refusal, on the ground of alienage, to appoint and employ the appellees, and all persons similarly situated, in civil service positions in the competitive class, and (3) damages for lost earnings. A defense motion to dismiss for want of jurisdiction was denied by Judge Tenney, 330 F.Supp. 265 (SDNY 1971). A three-judge court was convened. That court ruled that the statute was violative of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Supremacy Clause, and granted injunctive relief. 339 F.Supp. 906 (SDNY 1971).
Judge Lumbard joined the court's opinion and judgment, but wrote separately in concurrence. Id., at 911. Probable jurisdiction was noted. 407 U.S. 908, 92 S.Ct. 2434, 32 L.Ed.2d 682 (1972).
* Prior to December 28, 1970, the appellees were employed by nonprofit organizations that received funds through HRA from the United States Office of Economic Opportunity. These supportive funds ceased to be available about that time and the organizations, with approximately 450 employees, including the appellees and 16 other noncitizens, were absorbed by the Manpower Career and Development Agency (MCDA) of HRA.
The appellees in fact were so employed in MCDA. In February, however, they were informed that they were ineligible for employment by the city and that they would be dismissed under the statutory mandate of § 53(1). Shortly thereafter, they were discharged from MCDA solely because of their alienage.
A. Appellants argue, however, that § 53 does not violate the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment because the statute 'establishes a generic classification reflecting the special requirements of public employment in the career civil service.'
The distinction drawn between the citizen and the alien, it is said, 'rests on the fundamental concept of identity between a government and the members, or citizens, of the state.'
The civil servant 'participates directly in the formulation and execution of government policy,' and thus must be free of competing obligations to another power.
The State's interest in having an employee of undivided loyalty is substantial, for obligations attendant upon foreign citizenship 'might impair the exercise of his judgment or jeopardize public confidence in his objectivity.'
Emphasis is placed on our decision in United Public Workers v. Mitchell, 330 U.S. 75, 67 S.Ct. 556, 91 L.Ed. 754 (1947), upholding the Hatch Act and its proscription of political activity by certain public employees, and it is said that the public employer 'has broad discretion to establish qualifications for its employees related to the integrity and efficiency of the operations of government.'
In Graham v. Richardson, 403 U.S., at 372, 91 S.Ct., at 1852, we observed that aliens as a class 'are a prima example of a 'discrete and insular' minority (see United States v. Carolene Products Co., 304 U.S. 144, 152153, n. 4, 58 S.Ct. 778, 783784, 82 L.Ed. 1234 (1938)),' and that classifications based on alienage are 'subject to close judicial scrutiny.' And as long as a quarter century ago we held that the State's power 'to apply its laws exclusively to its alien inhabitants as a class is confined within narrow limits.' Takahashi v. Fish Comm'n, 334 U.S., at 420, 68 S.Ct., at 1143. We therefore look to the substantiality of the State's interest in enforcing the statute in question, and to the narrowness of the limits within which the discrimination is confined.
See M. Konvitz, The Alien and the Asiatic in American Law, c. 6 (1946).
Appellants further assert that employment of aliens in the career civil service would be inefficient, for when aliens eventually leave their positions, the State will have the expense of hiring and training replacements. Even if we could accept the premise underlying this argumentthat aliens are more likely to leave their work than citizensand assuming that this rationale could be logically confined to the classified competitive civil service, the State's suggestion does not withstand examination. As we stated in Graham, noting the general identity of an alien's obligations with those of a citizen, the "justification of limiting expenses is particularly inappropriate and unreasonable when the discriminated class consists of aliens." 403 U.S., at 376, 91 S.Ct. at 1854.
Because of this conclusion, we need not reach the issue whether the citizenship restriction is in conflict with Congress' comprehensive regulation of immigration and naturalization. See Graham v. Richardson, 403 U.S., at 376380, 91 S.Ct. at 18541856.
Neither do we hold that a State may not, in an appropriately defined class of positions, require citizenship as a qualification for office. Just as 'the Framers of the Constitution intended the States to keep for themselves, as provided in the Tenth Amendment, the power to regulate elections,' Oregon v. Mitchell, 400 U.S. 112, 124125, 91 S.Ct. 260, 263, 27 L.Ed.2d 272 (1970) (footnote omitted) (opinion of Black, J.); see id., at 201, 91 S.Ct. at 303 (opinion of Harlan, J.), and id., at 293294, 91 S.Ct. at 348349 (opinion of Stewart, J.), '(e)ach State has the power to prescribe the qualifications of its officers and the manner in which they shall be chosen.' Boyd v. Thayer, 143 U.S. 135, 161, 12 S.Ct. 375, 382, 36 L.Ed. 103 (1892). See Luther v. Borden, 7 How. 1, 41, 12 L.Ed. 581 (1849); Pope v. Williams, 193 U.S. 621, 632633, 24 S.Ct. 573, 575, 48 L.Ed. 817 (1904). Such power inheres in the State by virtue of its obligation, already noted above, 'to preserve the basic conception of a political community.' Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S., at 344, 92 S.Ct., at 1004. And this power and responsibility of the State applies, not only to the qualifications of voters, but also to persons holding state elective or important nonelective executive, legislative, and judicial positions, for officers who participate directly in the formulation, execution, or review of broad public policy perform functions that go to the heart of representative government. There, as Judge Lumbard phrased it in his separate concurrence, is 'where citizenship bears some rational relationship to the special demands of the particular position.' 339 F.Supp., at 911.
We have held, of course, that such state action, particularly with respect to voter qualifications is not wholly immune from scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause. See, for example, Kramer v. Union School District, 395 U.S. 621, 89 S.Ct. 1886, 23 L.Ed.2d 583 (1969). But our scrutiny will not be so demanding where we deal with matters resting firmly within a State's constitutional prerogatives. Id., at 625, 89 S.Ct., at 1888; Carrington v. Rash, 380 U.S. 89, 91, 85 S.Ct. 775, 777, 13 L.Ed.2d 675 (1965). This is no more than a recognition of a State's historical power to exclude aliens from participation in its democratic political institutions, Pope v. Williams, 193 U.S., at 632634, 24 S.Ct., at 575576; Boyd v. Thayer, 143 U.S., at 161, 12 S.Ct., at 381, and a recognition of a State's constitutional responsibility for the establishment and operation of its own government, as well as the qualifications of an appropriately designated class of public office holders.
U.S.Const. Art. IV, § 4; U.S.Const. Amdt. X; Luther v. Borden, supra; see In re Duncan, 139 U.S. 449, 461, 11 S.Ct. 573, 577, 35 L.Ed. 219 (1891). This Court has never held that aliens have a constitutional right to vote or to hold high public office under the Equal Protection Clause. Indeed, implicit in many of this Court's voting rights decisions is the notion that citizenship is a permissible criterion for limiting such rights. Kramer v. Union School District, 395 U.S., at 625, 89 S.Ct., at 1888; Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 567, 568, 84 S.Ct. 1362, 1384, 12 L.Ed.2d 506 (1964); Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663, 666 667, 86 S.Ct. 1079, 1081, 16 L.Ed.2d 169 (1966); Carrington v. Rash, 380 U.S., at 91, 9394, 96, 85 S.Ct., at 777779; Lassiter v. Northampton Election Board, 360 U.S. 45, 5051, 79 S.Ct. 985, 989, 3 L.Ed.2d 1072 (1959); Mason v. Missouri, 179 U.S. 328, 335, 21 S.Ct. 125, 128, 45 L.Ed. 214 (1900). A restriction on the employment of noncitizens, narrowly confined, could have particular relevance to this important state responsibility, for alienage itself is a factor that reasonably could be employed in defining 'political community.'
Two factual considerations deserve more emphasis than accorded by the Court's opinions. First, the records in Nos. 71 1222 and 711336 contain no indication that the aliens suffered any disability that precluded them, either as a group or individually, from applying for and being granted the status of naturalized citizens. The appellees in No. 711222, as far as the record discloses, took no steps to obtain citizenship or indicate any affirmative desire to become citizens. In No. 711336, appellant was eligible for naturalization but 'elected to remain a citizen of the Netherlands', 162 Conn. 249, 250, 294 A.2d 281, 282, and deliberately chose not to file a declaration of intent under 8 U.S.C. 1427(f), 1430(a). The 'status' of these individuals was not, therefore, one with which they were forever encumbered; they could take steps to alter it when and if they chose.
Second, the appellees in No. 711222 all sought to be employees of administrative agencies of the New York City government. Of the 20 members of the class represented by the named appellees, three were typists, one a 'senior clerk,' two 'human resources technicians,' three 'senior human resources technicians,' six 'human resource specialists,' three 'senior human resources specialists,' and two 'supervising human resource specialists.' The record does not reveal what functions are performed by these civil servants, although appellee Dougall apparently was the chief administrator of a program; the remaining appellees were all employees of the New York City Human Resources Administration, the governmental body with numerous employees which administers many types of social welfare programs, spending a great deal of money and dealing constantly with the public and other arms of the federal, state, and local governments.
'A footnote hardly seems to be an appropriate way of announcing a new constitutional doctrine, and the Carolene footnote did not purport to announce any new doctrine . . ..' Kovacs v. Cooper, 336 U.S. 77, 9091, 69 S.Ct. 448, 455, 93 L.Ed. 513 (1949) (concurring opinion).
The only other apparent rationale for the invocation of the 'suspect classification' approach in these cases is that alienage is a 'status,' and the Court does not feel it 'appropriate' to classify on that basis. This rationale would appear to be similar to that utilized in Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 406 U.S. 164, 92 S.Ct. 1400, 31 L.Ed.2d 768 (1972), in which the Court cited, without discussion, Graham. Id., at 176 n. 14, 92 S.Ct., at 1407. But there is a marked difference between a status or condition such as illegitimacy, national origin, or race, which cannot be altered by an individual and the 'status' of the appellant in No. 711336 or of the appellees in No. 71-1222. There is nothing in the record indicating that their status as aliens cannot be changed by their affirmative acts.
'State legislatures are presumed to have acted within their constitutional power despite the fact that, in practice, their laws result in some inequality. A statutory discrimination will not be set aside if any state of facts reasonably may be conceived to justify it.' McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 425426, 81 S.Ct. 1101, 11041105, 6 L.Ed.2d 393 (1961).
Before discussing this question, a preliminary reflection on the Court's opinions is warranted. Perhaps the portions of the opinions that would most disturb native-born citizens and especially naturalized citizens who have worked diligently to learn about our history, mores, and political institutions and who have successfully completed the rigorous process of naturalization, is the intimation, if not statement, that they are really not any different from aliens. The Court concludes that, because aliens residing in our country must pay taxes and some of them (but not appellant in No. 711336) might at one time have been subject to service in the Armed Forces, the two 'groups' are indistinguishable for purposes of equal protection analysis. Compulsory military service has been ended by Congress.
Given the ubiquity of texes in our present society, it is, in my opinion, totally unconvincing to attribute to their payment the leveling significance indicated by the Court. Is an alien who, after arriving from abroad in New York City, immediately purchases a pack of cigarettes, thereby paying federal, state, and city taxes, really no different from a citizen?
These statutes do not classify on the basis of country of origin; the distinctions are not between native Americans and 'foreigners,' but between citizens and aliens. The process of naturalization was specifically designed by Congress to require a foreign national to demonstrate that he or she is familiar with the history, traditions, and institutions of our society in a way that a native-born citizen would learn from formal education and basic social contact. Congress specifically provided that an alien seeking citizenship status must demonstrate 'an understanding of the English language' and 'a knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, and of the principles and form of government, of the United States.' 8 U.S.C. 1423. The purpose was to make the alien establish that he or she understood, and could be integrated into, our social system.
See also 8 U.S.C. 1424, which precludes aliens who manifest certain opposition to our society or form of government from being naturalized. An alien must demonstrate 'good moral character,' 8 U.S.C. 1427(a)(3), which was intended by Congress to mean a broad 'attach(ment) to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and (disposition) to the good order and happiness of the United States.' H.R.Rep.No.1365, supra, at 80. See also 8 CFR § 332b (1973), detailing the cooperation between the Immigration and Naturalization Service and local schools conducting citizenship education for applicants for naturalization. The above is sufficient to demonstrate, I believe, that Congress provided that aliens seeking citizenship status prove what citizens by birth are, as a class, presumed to understand: a basic familiarity with our social and political mores and institutions. The naturalized citizen has dem onstrated both the willingness and ability to integrate into our social system as a whole, not just into our 'political community,' as the Court apparently uses the term. He proved that he has become 'like' a native-born citizen in ways that aliens, as a class, could be presumed not to be. The Court simply ignores the purpose of the process of assimilation into and dedication to our society that Congress prescribed to make aliens 'like' citizens.
In No. 711222, I do not believe that it is irrational for New York to require this class of civil servants to be citizens, either natural-born or naturalized. The proliferation of public administration that our society has witnessed in recent years, as a result of the regulation of conduct and the dispensation of services and funds, has vested a great deal of de facto decisionmaking or policymaking authority in the hands of employees who would not be considered the textbook equivalent of policymakers of the legislative or 'top' administrative variety. Nevertheless, as far as the private individual who must seek approval or services is concerned, many of these 'low level' civil servants are in fact policymakers. Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254, 90 S.Ct. 1011, 25 L.Ed.2d 287 (1970), implicitly recognized that those who apply facts to individual cases are as much 'governors' as those who write the laws or regulations the 'low-level' administrator must 'apply.' Since policymaking for a political community is not necessarily the exclusive preserve of the legislators, judges, and 'top' administrators, it is not irrational for New York to provide that only citizens should be admitted to the competitive civil service.
But the justification of efficient government is an even more convincing rationale. Native-born citizens can be expected to be familiar with the social and political institutions of our society; with the society and political mores that affect how we react and interact with other citizens. Naturalized citizens have also demonstrated their willingness to adjust to our patterns of living and attitudes, and have demonstrated a basic understanding of our institutions, system of government, history, and traditions. It is not irrational to assume that aliens as a class are not familiar with how we as individuals treat others and how we expect 'government' to treat us. An alien who grew up in a country in which political mores do not reject bribery or self-dealing to the same extent that our culture does; in which an imperious bureaucracy historically adopted a complacent or contemptuous attitude toward those it was supposed to serve; in which fewer if any checks existed on administrative abuses; in which 'low-level' civil servants serve at the will of their superiorscould rationally be thought not to be able to deal with the public and with citizen civil servants with the same rapport that one familiar with our political and social mores would, or to approach his duties with the attitude that such positions exist for service, not personal sinecures of either the civil servant or his or her superior. These considerations could rationally be expected to influence how an administrator in charge of a program, such as appellee Dougall, made decisions in allocating funds, hiring or dealing with personnel, or decisionmaking, or how a lower level civil servant, such as appellee Jorge, was able to perform with and for fellow workers and superiors, even if she had no direct contact with the public. All these factors could materially affect the efficient functioning of the city government, and possibly as well the very integrity of that government. Such a legislative purpose is clearly not irrational.
In No. 711336 the answer is not as clearcut. The States traditionally have had great latitude in prescribing rules and regulations concerning technical competence and character fitness, governing those who seek to be admitted to practice law. See, e.g., Konigsberg v. State Bar of California, 366 U.S. 36, 81 S.Ct. 997, 6 L.Ed.2d 105 (1961). The importance of lawyers and the judiciary in our system of government and justice needs no extended comment. An attorney is an 'officer of the court' in Connecticut, a status this Court has also recognized. See, e.g., Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45, 73, 53 S.Ct. 55, 65, 77 L.Ed. 158 (1932); Ex parte Garland, 4 Wall. 333, 370, 18 L.Ed. 366 (1867). He represents his client, but also, in Connecticut, may 'sign writs and subpoenas, take recognizances, (and) administer oaths.' Conn.Gen.Stat.Rev. § 5185.
I would therefore reverse the judgment in No. 711222 and affirm that in No. 711336.
Section 53(2) of N.Y.Civ.Serv.Law (Supp.19721973) makes a temporary exception to the citizenship requirement:
The court found jurisdiction in the Civil Rights Statutes, 28 U.S.C. 1343(3) and (4). 339 F.Supp. 906, 907 n. 5. It held that the suit was properly maintainable as a class action and defined the class as consisting of 'all permanent resident aliens residing in New York State who, but for the enforcement of Section 53, would otherwise be eligible to compete for employment in the competitive class of Civil Service.' Id., at 907 n. 4.
Affidavit of Harold O. Basden, Director of Personnel of the Human Resources Administration, App. 3133.
We are aware that citizenship requirements are imposed in certain aspects of the federal service. See 5 U.S.C. 3301; Exec. Order No. 10577, 19 Fed.Reg. 7521, § 2.1 (1954); 5 CFR §§ 338.101, 302.203(g) (1973); and, for example, Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriation Act, 1972, § 602, Pub.L. 9249, 85 Stat. 122, and Public Works Appropriations Act, 1971, § 502, Pub.L. 91439, 84 Stat. 902. In deciding the present case, we intimate no view as to whether these federal citizenship requirements are or are not susceptible of constitutional challenge. See Jalil v. Hampton, 148 U.S.App.D.C. 415, 460 F.2d 923, cert. denied, 409 U.S. 887, 93 S.Ct. 112, 34 L.Ed.2d 144 (1972); Comment, Aliens and the Civil Service: A Closed Door?, 61 Geo.L.J. 207 (1972).
In congressional debates leading to the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment, there is clear evidence that Congress not only knew that as a matter of local practice aliens had not been granted the right to vote, but that under the amendment they did not receive a constitutional right of suffrage or a constitutional right to participate in the political process of state government, and that, indeed, the right to vote and the concomitant right of participation in the political process were matters of local law. Cong. Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess., 141142, 27662767 (1866).
It is noteworthy, as well, that the 40th Congress considered and very nearly proposed a version of the Fifteenth Amendment that expressly would have prohibited discriminatory qualifications not only for voting but also for holding office. The provision was struck in conference. It is evident from the debate that, for whatever motive, its opponents wanted the States to retain control over the qualifications for office. Cong. Globe, 40th Cong., 3d Sess., at 14251426, 16231633 (1869). And, of course, the Fifteenth Amendment applies by its terms only to 'citizens.'
Although some of the members of the class had not been residents of the United States for five years at the time the complaint was filed, and therefore were ineligible to apply immediately for citizenship, 8 U.S.C. 1427, there is no indication that these members, assuming that they are in the same 'class' as the named appellees, would be prohibited from seeking citizenship status after they had resided in this country for the required period. In any event, this circumstance only underscores the fact that it is not unreasonable to assume that they have not learned about and adapted to our mores and institutions to the same extent as one who had lived here for five years would have through social contact.
Although stated in Graham and the instant cases that aliens are 'like' citizens because they were subject to service in the Armed Services, none of the opinions considered in fact that Congress provided that aliens who in fact served honorably could expeditiously become citizens. 8 U.S.C. 1440. The Court's reliance on the fact that some male aliens had to register for the draft and serve if called to suggest that aliens and citizens are 'the same' neglects to consider this statute: aliens who served honorably were 'like' citizens in that they demonstrated, like citizens, a commitment to our society that Congress believed warranted, other considerations aside, their immediate, formal acceptance into our society.