Opinion ID: 472148
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Dismissal of the Declaratory Relief Claims

Text: 37 Finally, appellants contend that the district court erred in dismissing their declaratory relief claims since Sec. 78.068 does not meet the requirements of due process and since the district court had jurisdiction over these claims under 28 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1334(b) (West Supp.1986), which provides that district courts shall have non-exclusive jurisdiction of all civil proceedings ... arising in or related to cases under Title 11. We agree that the dismissal of these claims was improper, but several reasons persuade us to decline to reach the merits of the Fourth Amendment and due process claims. 38 First, the opinion below does not clearly indicate whether the district court reached the merits of appellants' due process claim. The district court initially suggested that the decision of the Florida Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of Sec. 78.068 was correct, but later dismissed both the Fourth Amendment and due process claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Thus, we cannot determine whether the district court found the due process claim to be without merit and then dismissed the Fourth Amendment claim for lack of jurisdiction or whether it dismissed both claims for lack of jurisdiction. To the extent that the dismissal of the declaratory relief claims rested on the absence of jurisdiction, we conclude that dismissal was improper. See, e.g., Gay Student Services v. Texas A & M University, 612 F.2d 160, 166 (5th Cir.) (where district court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1343 and 42 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1983, the separate remedy available through declaratory judgment may also proceed), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1034, 101 S.Ct. 608, 66 L.Ed.2d 495 (1980); Pettigrew v. Womble, 589 F.Supp. 242, 247 (D.S.C.1984) (same). 39 Second, if the district court did reach the merits of the due process claim, this issue was inadequately briefed in the court below and on appeal, and the district court's discussion of this claim was cursory. 40 Finally, the general principle of avoiding unnecessary decision of constitutional questions counsels against reaching the merits of the Fourth Amendment and due process claims. It is possible in the instant case that the decision in the foreclosure action will eliminate the need to decide the constitutional claims. For example, if appellants receive the relief they desire in the foreclosure action, they might not press their constitutional claims in the instant case. We therefore hold that the dismissal of the declaratory relief claims was improper. However, we decline to exercise our jurisdiction to reach the Fourth Amendment and due process claims, and to the extent that the district court decided these issues, its order is vacated.