Opinion ID: 446619
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Lawfulness of Commission Proceedings on Remand

Text: 37 Petitioners contend that the Commission erred in reopening its proceedings to receive additional evidence before this court's mandate issued. We conclude that this was harmless error insufficient to taint the Commission's review. 38 Petitioners' first argument is that this court's gaining jurisdiction somehow ousted the Commission's usual ability to reopen proceedings. This argument is misconceived. First, the tenor of our decision in Containerfreight I plainly invited the Commission to solicit additional evidence. See 685 F.2d at 333. Secondly, the Commission is empowered by statute to reopen a proceeding at any time to supplement the record. 49 U.S.C. Sec. 10322(g)(1). The Supreme Court has confirmed the Commission's broad power to reopen proceedings even after they have become administratively final. See American Farm Lines v. Black Ball Freight Service, 397 U.S. 532, 540-41, 90 S.Ct. 1288, 1293-94, 25 L.Ed.2d 547 (1970). Furthermore, [t]his power of the Commission to reconsider a prior decision does not necessarily collide with the judicial power of review .... It does mean that thereafter the Commission is 'without power to act inconsistently with the court's jurisdiction.'  Id. at 541, 90 S.Ct. at 1294 (quoting Inland Steel Co. v. United States, 306 U.S. 153, 160, 59 S.Ct. 415, 419, 83 L.Ed. 557 (1938)). The Commission's reopening of its proceedings, far from being inconsistent with our decision in Containerfreight I, was invited by it. 39 The petitioners' second argument, based upon Fed.R.App.P. 41, is also unavailing. Rule 41(a) states that if a circuit court denies a petition for rehearing of one of its orders, the court's mandate shall not issue until seven days after entry of the denial. The Commission's reopening order of October 21, 1982 came only three days after we denied Manlowe's petition for rehearing. But the relevant decisions from the Commission's perspective--to forego its own petition for rehearing, and to reopen its docket proceeding--both occurred within a day of October 5, 1982. Petitioners do not allege that the Commission reopened its proceedings before our denial of Manlowe's petition for rehearing. Their argument that the technical infringement of Rule 41 revealed an intent on the part of the Commission to evade our prior decision, rather than to get on with the business of complying with it, simply is not plausible on the facts of this case. 40 Petitioners do not explain how the Commission's premature reopening of its docket proceeding prejudiced them in any way. As the prevailing party in Containerfreight I, petitioners do not contend, for example, that they were cheated of four days in which to file a motion for stay of our mandate pending certiorari. 7 Petitioners themselves acknowledge the possibility that this transgression ... is of such a technical nature as to be discounted. For these several reasons, we cannot agree that the Commission review in the reopened proceeding was somehow tainted. 41 In making their Rule 41 argument, petitioners resort exclusively to cases where a lower court's proceedings on remand were voidable because they preceded issuance of the appellate court's mandate. See United States v. Howe, 280 F. 815 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 259 U.S. 587, 42 S.Ct. 590, 66 L.Ed. 1077 (1922); Casner v. San Diego Trust and Savings Bank, 34 Cal.App.2d 524, 94 P.2d 65 (1938). Our discussion above emphasizes the different role of judicial review of agency decisions. The Commission's proceedings on remand were lawfully conducted. 42