Case Name: Fred COOPER et al., etc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Honorable Enoch T. NIX, etc., et al., etc., Defendants-Appellants
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1974-07-18
Citations: 496 F.2d 1285
Docket Number: No. 73-3276
Parties: Fred COOPER et al., etc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Honorable Enoch T. NIX, etc., et al., etc., Defendants-Appellants.
Judges: 
Reporter: Federal Reporter 2d Series
Volume: 496
Pages: 1285–1289

Head Matter:
Fred COOPER et al., etc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Honorable Enoch T. NIX, etc., et al., etc., Defendants-Appellants.
No. 73-3276.
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
July 18, 1974.
Rehearing Denied Aug. 27, 1974.
Wm. J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Baton Rouge, La., Tom Matheny, Asst. Atty. Gen., Hammond, La., Fred G. Benton, Jr., Baton Rouge, La., for defendants-appellants.
Donn Moss, Ray Lamonica, Baton Rouge, La., for plaintiffs-appellees.
Before BELL, GOLDBERG and CLARK, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
BELL, Circuit Judge:
This appeal grows out of a suit over regulations at Southeastern Louisiana University which require student on-campus residence with some exceptions. The basic regulations were promulgated by the Louisiana State Board of Education. These regulations, Schedules 44 and 45, were upheld by a three-judge district court in Pratz v. Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, W.D.La., 1970, 316 F.Supp. 872, Aff'd 401 U.S. 1004, 91 S.Ct. 1252, 28 L.Ed.2d 541 (1971), in the face of a claim that they were facially unconstitutional. Ample space being available on campus at Southeastern, only Schedule 44 is here involved:
". . . that all unmarried, full-time undergraduate students, regardless of age or whether or not emancipated, are required to live in on-campus residence halls as long as space is available."
The suit here was brought by students who wished to reside off campus. The gist of their cause of action, assertedly local in nature so as to avoid the convening of a three-judge district court, Cf. Sands v. Wainwright, 5 Cir., 491 F.2d 417, cert. den., - U.S. -, 94 S.Ct. 2403, 40 L.Ed.2d 771 with Moody v. Flowers, 1967, 387 U.S. 97, 87 S.Ct. 1544, 18 L.Ed.2d 643, was that Southeastern was implementing Schedule 44 in an unconstitutional manner through exempting all undergraduate students age 23 and over as well as members of two social fraternities. They maintained that these practices violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The district court agreed. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
There were three stages to the litigation in the district court. First, a temporary restraining order was granted ex parte. Next, a preliminary injunction was granted from the bench after an evidentiary hearing. Subsequently, extensive written findings of fact and conclusions of law were entered by the district court on the motion for preliminary injunction. Cooper v. Nix, W.D.La., 1972, 343 F.Supp. 1101. Lastly, a permanent injunction was granted on motion of plaintiffs some months later. There was no further hearing.
There was a clear holding in the district court on the granting of the preliminary injunction that there was an equal protection violation as to those plaintiffs wishing to reside in Cardinal Newman Hall, an off-campus housing facility operated and supervised by The Roman Catholic Church of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, vis-a-vis those students residing off campus in fraternity houses. While it does appear that Cardinal Newman Hall and the two fraternities may be similarly situated with respect to having had a regulatory and supervisory nexus to Southeastern prior to the adoption of Schedule 44 and thus that their residents should be treated similarly, we do not reach any question with regard to this phase of the controversy. This is for the reason that this appeal entails only the permanent injunction and it is limited to disparity in treatment based on age — the 23 year old and above exemption. Plaintiffs took no cross-appeal and thus may not' raise matters outside the context of the final order. Defendants have no cause to complain although they seem to be under the mistaken impression that such an issue inheres in the case.
The claim based on age had its genesis in a regulation adopted by Southeastern which regulation exempted all students age 23 and over from the requirements of Schedule 44. The regulation was apparently in aid of administering Exemption B, Fn. 1, supra, to Schedule 44. This regulation was repealed after this litigation began but the district court found as a fact that Southeastern continued the practice, merely substituting deed for name. This finding of fact is not contested.
The equal protection violation found by the district court was in the disparity between the treatment of students in the age groups 21 and 22 and those 23 and over. There was no claim as to students under age 21. The district court found the disparity in treatment to be without a rational basis and thus arbitrary. This finding is sustained on the record before us. Indeed, there is no basis whatever in the record before us to justify the disparate treatment. We thus turn to the scope of the injunction in question. It provides in operative part:
"IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the preliminary injunction heretofore entered herein be made permanent and final, to-wit:
"Defendants, their agents, employees and all other persons, firms, corporations or institutions acting or claiming to act in their behalf, or in concert or participation with them are hereby enjoined and prohibited from requiring twenty-one year old and older students at Southeastern Louisiana University to live on campus."
It is noted that the wrong, i. e., the exemption of age 23 and above students is not enjoined. Rather the exemption is expanded to include other age groups. Schedule 44 was, in effect, rewritten by Southeastern to exempt the age 23 and over group and by the district court to exempt the age 21 and 22 groups. We hold that the scope of the injunction must be narrowed.
The Supreme Court has pointed out that in suits involving claims of constitutional deprivation, judicial power may be exercised only on the basis of a constitutional violation. And, in formulating remedies in such cases, as in any equity case, the nature of the violation determines the scope of the remedy. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, 1971, 402 U.S. 1, 16, 91 S. Ct. 1267, 28 L.Ed.2d 554, 566-567.
It is plain to us that the nature of the wrong here requires only the remedy that the wrong be enjoined, i. e., the 23 year old and over exemption. The order of the district court is reversed to the extent that it exceeded this remedy. The effect of this is to leave Schedule 44 intact at Southeastern, complete with the age exemption set out in Exemption B, fn. 1, supra.
Affirmed in part; reversed and remanded in part.
. The following are the Schedule 44 exemptions from this requirement:
A. In any case where it appears that a full-time undergraduate student will otherwise suffer significant hardship or because of sufficient financial, medical or other good and sound reasons shown.
B. In the case of older students, as, for example, (i) a returning military veteran; (ii) a previously married person where Proper Officials make a finding of fact that such individual is by virtue of age and experience incompatible with the educational objectives and values sought to be provided by on-campus residence herein outlined.
. The district court denied defendants' request for a further hearing. Defendants moved to disqualify the district judge on due process concepts. The order denying that motion, also a part of this appeal, is affirmed.