Opinion ID: 391390
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Applicability of the Relation Back Doctrine in this Case

Text: 73 In this case we need not consider whether or to what extent a broader reading of Sosna's relation back doctrine should be accepted. 14 The answer in the case now before us follows even from the narrower interpretation of that doctrine, that is, from its application to controversies so transitory that no single named plaintiff can maintain a justiciable claim long enough to reach the class certification stage of the litigation. 74 Shortly after the Supreme Court's decision in Sosna, the Court decided a case that precisely fit within the class of transitory controversies that concerns us today. In Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 95 S.Ct. 854, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975), a state prisoner brought a class action suit challenging the pretrial detention of persons held for trial under a prosecutor's information. By the time the case reached the Supreme Court, the named defendants had long since been convicted and were no longer in custody awaiting trial; therefore, in accordance with Sosna, the case had to be dismissed absent a properly certified class. The district court had indeed certified a class, but there was nothing in the record to indicate that the named plaintiffs were, as Sosna ordinarily would require, still in pretrial detention at the time the district court certified the class. However, the Court held that because of the transitory nature of the controversy, Sosna did not require that the named plaintiffs have justiciable claims at the time of certification: 75 Such a showing ordinarily would be required to avoid mootness under Sosna. But this case is a suitable exception to that requirement. The length of pretrial custody cannot be ascertained at the outset, and it may be ended at any time by release on recognizance, dismissal of the charges, or a guilty plea, as well as by acquittal or conviction after trial. It is by no means certain that any given individual, named as plaintiff, would be in pretrial custody long enough for a district judge to certify the class. 76 420 U.S. at 110-11 n.11, 95 S.Ct. at 861 n.11 (citations omitted). 77 The Supreme Court again applied the relation back doctrine in Swisher v. Brady, 438 U.S. 204, 98 S.Ct. 2699, 57 L.Ed.2d 705 (1977). Swisher was a class action brought by several minors who had cases pending in a Maryland juvenile court; the suit challenged under the Double Jeopardy Clause a Maryland procedural rule which allowed the state to file exceptions to findings made by masters of the juvenile court. Before the class had been certified by the district court, the individual claims of all named plaintiffs had been rendered moot because the state had either withdrawn its exceptions or completed the adjudicatory process in each case. Noting the apparent mootness problem sua sponte, the Supreme Court approved the district court's certification of the class by applying the relation back doctrine of Sosna. The doctrine was applicable, according to the Court, because of the rapidity of judicial review of exceptions to masters' proposals, which created mootness questions before the district court reasonably could be expected to rule on certification. As the Court noted, the rapid judicial review of exceptions created mootness problems not only with respect to the named plaintiffs, but even perhaps with respect to a series of intervening plaintiffs appearing thereafter. 438 U.S. at 213-14 n.11, 98 S.Ct. at 2705 n.11. 78 One might argue that the narrower reading of the relation back doctrine does not fit the facts of this case, for Gerstein and Swisher the only cases in which the Supreme Court has applied this doctrine rest on the transitory nature of the plaintiffs' substantive claims. Gerstein's claim as to the state's use of pretrial detention was bound to expire when he was either released or convicted; given the ordinarily brief period of a claim based on pretrial detention, Gerstein's or any other individual prisoner's claim was almost certain to become moot before a class could be certified. Likewise, the named plaintiffs' double jeopardy claims in Swisher expired upon the termination of the relatively brief juvenile proceeding they sought to challenge. Mootness in both cases followed from the nature of the claim; where a plaintiff seeks to challenge a form of confinement or proceeding which is ordinarily brief, his substantive claim must necessarily expire in a short period of time. This case, by contrast, does not involve claims which by their nature are transitory, for the named plaintiffs' claims for damages under the federal securities acts did not expire with the mere passage of time. Instead, the plaintiffs' claims have been rendered moot by purposive action of the defendants in particular, by the defendants' full tender of the plaintiff's individual claims. In short, the claims asserted in Gerstein and Swisher naturally and inevitably expired, while Zeidman's and Youngelson's claims were satisfied by act of the defendants. 79 This distinction is arguably a significant one. Because of the natural expiration of the claims asserted in Gerstein and Swisher, it was doubtful in those cases that any plaintiff could have retained a justiciable claim long enough to reach the certification stage of the litigation. Whether any plaintiff in Zeidman's and Youngelson's class could reach that stage is, however, by no means as certain. While the defendants tendered these named plaintiffs' claims, they are not bound to do so in the future; it is at least conceivable, therefore, that the defendants will tire of this tactic (or run out of funds) and allow some subsequent plaintiff to procure a ruling on class certification. 80 However, while we recognize that the named plaintiffs in this case have not presented claims which by their nature are so transitory that no single named plaintiff with such a claim could maintain a justiciable case long enough to procure a decision on class certification, we believe that the result should be no different when the defendants have the ability by tender to each named plaintiff effectively to prevent any plaintiff in the class from procuring a decision on class certification. By tendering to the named plaintiffs the full amount of their personal claims each time suit is brought as a class action, the defendants can in each successive case moot the named plaintiffs' claims before a decision on certification is reached. A series of individual suits, each brought by a new named plaintiff, could individually be picked off before class certification; as a practical matter, therefore, a decision on class certification could, by tender to successive named plaintiffs, be made just as difficult to procure in a case like the one now before us as it was in Gerstein and Swisher. Cf. Deposit Guaranty National Bank v. Roper, supra, 445 U.S. at 341, 100 S.Ct. at 1175 (Rehnquist, J., concurring) (suggesting that Roper in which defendants had tendered the named plaintiffs' individual claims fits within a 'narrow class of cases' where a contrary rule would lead to the 'reality' that 'otherwise the issue would evade review' ). 81 We recognize, of course, that this tactic would not work for all defendants in all suits brought as class actions. Often there would be too many named plaintiffs, or the individual claim of each would be too great, to make such a tactic financially feasible. But the difficulty inherent in any use of this tactic does not make it acceptable. The fact remains that in those cases in which it is financially feasible to pay off successive named plaintiffs, the defendants would have the option to preclude a viable class action from ever reaching the certification stage. This result is precisely what the relation back doctrine of Sosna, Gerstein and Swisher condemns, and we see no difference when it is caused by the defendant's purposive acts rather than by the naturally transitory nature of the controversy. 82 We find support for our conclusion in the decisions of several other circuits. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has in fact reached the precise question now before us. In Susman v. Lincoln American Corp., 587 F.2d 866 (7th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 942, 100 S.Ct. 1336, 63 L.Ed.2d 775 (1980), plaintiffs who sought damages for securities violations had filed a suit as a class action and timely moved for certification; while the motion was pending, the defendants tendered to the named plaintiffs the full amount of their personal claims and moved to dismiss the entire action for mootness. The district court dismissed the action, but the court of appeals reversed. The court of appeals recognized that ordinarily a suit brought as a class action must be dismissed for mootness when the claims of all named plaintiffs become moot and no class has yet been certified. The court also recognized that Sosna's relation back exception had not been applied by the Court in the context of mootness caused by the defendants' tender, but had instead been applied when the nature of the complaint was such that the mere passage of time would usually make the individual plaintiffs' complaint moot. 587 F.2d at 870. Still the court held that the action could not be dismissed for mootness before the plaintiffs' pending motion for class certification was heard. The court explained:(J)ust as necessity required the development of the relation back doctrine in cases where the underlying factual situation naturally changes so rapidly that the courts cannot keep up, so necessity compels a similar result here. If the class action device is to work, the courts must have a reasonable opportunity to consider and decide a motion for certification. If a tender made to the individual plaintiff while the motion for certification is pending could prevent courts from ever reaching the class action issues, that opportunity is at the mercy of a defendant, even in cases where a class action would be most clearly appropriate. 83 Id. 84 Although no other circuit appears to have considered the effect of a defendant's tender on a pending motion for class certification, several courts have considered the effect of a defendant governmental agency's voluntary performance of a specific action demanded in the lawsuit. In each of these cases the court has held that the defendant could not prevent a decision on the plaintiff's motion for certification by rendering the individual plaintiff's demand for injunctive relief moot before the court had reasonably been able to consider the motion. See DeBrown v. Trainor, 598 F.2d 1069, 1072 (7th Cir. 1979) (eligibility for food stamps restored by defendant state welfare agency); White v. Mathews, 559 F.2d 852, 857 (2d Cir. 1977) (administrative hearing and decision granted by defendant Department of Health, Education and Welfare); Basel v. Knebel, 551 F.2d 395, 397 n.1 (D.C.Cir.1977) (eligibility for food stamps restored by defendant state agency). Cf. Frost v. Weinberger, 515 F.2d 57, 63-64 (2d Cir. 1975) (summary judgment in plaintiffs' favor, in suit challenging denial of Social Security survivors' benefits, rendered before class was properly certified). Although these cases do not raise precisely the same issue as that faced in this case and in Susman, the same concern underlies them. As the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit explained in Mathews, refusal to certify the class would mean that the (agency) could avoid judicial scrutiny of its procedures by the simple expedient of granting hearings to plaintiffs who seek, but have not yet obtained, class certification. 559 F.2d at 857. 85 We conclude that a suit brought as a class action should not be dismissed for mootness upon tender to the named plaintiffs of their personal claims, at least when, as here, there is pending before the district court a timely filed and diligently pursued motion for class certification. Because this case need not be dismissed for mootness, and because the named plaintiffs are adequate class representatives under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(4) at least for the limited purpose of urging their pending motion for class certification, the district court should now proceed to a decision on that motion. If the court grants the motion and certifies the plaintiffs' purported classes, the court should then consider whether under Rule 23(a)(4) Zeidman and Youngelson may urge the merits of the classes' claims or whether, instead of these named plaintiffs, another representative would be appropriate. See Part IV-A-3 of this opinion, supra. We reverse the judgment of the district court and remand this case to the district court for proceedings consistent with this opinion. 86 REVERSED and REMANDED.