Opinion ID: 75244
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Circuit Approaches

Text: Despite the Supreme Court’s attempt in Stanley to harmonize the approaches of the courts of appeal, implementation of Stanley has been inconsistent in cases for injunctive relief. A discussion of the differences is helpful to explain our rationale for agreeing with the majority of circuits that have addressed this issue. The Seventh Circuit, in Knutson v. Wisconsin Air Nat’l Guard, 995 F.2d 765 (7th Cir. 1993), found cases for reinstatement against the military nonjusticiable. According to the court, “[t]hese sorts of reinstatement claims, often pending for several years in civilian courts, may well leave WIANG in limbo awaiting the outcome of litigation and thus significantly hamper its ability to staff 7 properly and to fulfill its mission.” Id. at 771. The result of review of military personnel decisions by civilian courts would be to “undermine military discipline and decision-making or impair training programs and operational readiness.” Id. In Watson, the Eighth Circuit found a case nonjusticiable for similar reasons. As does Speigner, Watson brought a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action seeking damages, back pay, correction of his record, and reinstatement of the National Guard.6 Watson, 886 F.2d at 1007. The Eighth Circuit dismissed his case because “the policies upon which the Feres doctrine, and subsequent case law in that doctrine’s development, are premised weigh heavily in favor of precluding claims for equitable relief.” Id. at 1008. The court explained its decision by stressing that “[t]he judiciary does not acquire competence in this area merely because the remedy sought is an injunction rather than damages. . . . To disallow claims for damages while agreeing to review claims for injunctive relief arising from the same facts would be to exalt form over substance.” Id. at 1009. The court wanted to avoid “a highly intrusive judicial inquiry into personnel decisions that bear upon the readiness of the military to perform its mission.” Id. at 1008. The Fifth Circuit approaches cases against the military in a similar manner. Though it was not necessary to apply the Feres line of cases to the facts, the Fifth 6 While Watson’s case was pending, the Supreme Court decided Stanley, causing Watson to abandon his claim for monetary damages. See Watson, 886 F.2d at 1007. 8 Circuit outlined the rationale and policy behind the nonjusticiability doctrine in Meister v. Texas Adjutant Gen. Dep’t, 233 F.3d 332 (5th Cir. 2000). The court emphasized that “courts should not interfere with military discipline and management. These are areas where we have little competence or authority to proceed.” Id. at 338. In Meister, the court cited Crawford v. Texas Army Nat’l Guard, 794 F.2d 1034, 1036 (5th Cir. 1986), a pre-Stanley decision that, consistent with Chappell, applied the same rationale as Meister. In Crawford, plaintiffs requested, inter alia, injunctive relief in the form of reinstatement of their eligibility for all available retirement benefits and the removal of certain information from their personnel files. The Fifth Circuit held that their case was nonjusticiable because “[t]he injunctive-relief exception to Chappell advocated by appellants could swallow Chappell’s rule of deference” to the military establishment. Id. at 1036. In conclusion, the Fifth Circuit stated its belief that “suits for injunctive relief, like those for monetary damages, must be carefully regulated in order to prevent intrusion of the courts into the military structure.” Id. at 1036-37. The Fifth Circuit noticed an exception to this rule for cases involving “challenges to the facial validity of military regulations” that are distinct from “discrete personnel matters.” Id. at 1036. 9 The Second Circuit also follows the same approach to cases by enlisted personnel against the military when the injury is incident to service. The court opined that “allowing service members to sue their superiors would unacceptably compromise military discipline and readiness for combat.” Jones v. New York State Div. of Military and Naval Affairs, 166 F.3d 45, 52 (2nd Cir. 1999). Relying on the same quote from Stanley that Speigner relies on in this case, the minority of circuits have held that injunctive relief is attainable against the military. To make the argument that he could sue the military for monetary damages, Stanley relied on the sentence in Chappell that states, “[t]his Court has never held, nor do we now hold, that military personnel are barred from all redress in civilian courts for constitutional wrongs suffered in the course of military service.” Chappell, 462 U.S. at 304, 103 S.Ct. at 2368. In Stanley, the Supreme Court called this argument “irrelevant,” and pointed out that, “[a]s the citations immediately following that statement suggest, it referred to redress designed to halt or prevent the constitutional violation rather than the award of money damages.” Stanley, 483 U.S. at 683, 107 S.Ct. 3063. From this sentence, Speigner and the First Circuit see a window for claims for injunctive relief against the military. See Wigginton v. Centracchio, 205 F.3d 504, 512 (1st Cir. 2000) (“[T]aken together, Chappell and Stanley . . . make it clear that intramilitary suits alleging 10 constitutional violations but not seeking damages are justiciable.”). Before the Supreme Court decided Stanley, the Third Circuit, in a case that has been relied upon post-Stanley, also held that injunctive relief claims for reinstatement were justiciable based on Chappell. See Jorden v. Nat’l Guard Bureau, 799 F.2d 99, 111 (3d Cir. 1986) (“[I]f Jorden establishes a constitutional violation, the remedy will be a court-ordered reinstatement, rather than the kind of ongoing judicial oversight held inappropriate in Gilligan. . . . Jorden’s claims for reinstatement are reviewable.”). We do not find this argument persuasive, however, because the “citations immediately following” the Chappell quote that the Court referred to in Stanley are all cases challenging military regulations on their faces, rather than their application to discrete personnel decisions. See, e.g., Goldman v. Weinberger, 475 U.S. 503, 106 S.Ct. 1310 (1986) (First Amendment challenge to dress code in Air Force); Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57, 101 S.Ct. 2646 (1981) (Fifth Amendment challenge to all-male draft registration); Brown v. Glines, 444 U.S. 348, 100 S.Ct. 594 (1980) (First Amendment challenge to regulation of petitions); Parker v. Levy, 417 U.S. 733, 94 S.Ct. 2547 (1974) (Fifth Amendment challenge that criminal provisions in the military code were overbroad and vague); Frontiero 11 v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677, 93 S.Ct. 1764 (1973) (Fifth Amendment challenge to military benefits statute that discriminated against women). In contrast, however, “civilian courts have traditionally deferred to the superior experience of the military in matters of duty orders, promotions, demotions, and retentions.” Knutson, 995 F.2d at 771. In cases where claims by enlisted personnel against the military have been heard, it was “[t]he nature of the lawsuits, rather than the relief sought, [that] rendered them justiciable.” Crawford, 794 F.2d at 1036. See also Watson, 886 F.2d at 1010 (“There is a vast difference between judicial review of the constitutionality of a regulation or statute of general applicability and judicial review of a discrete military personnel decision.”). Therefore, we now hold that cases brought by enlisted personnel against the military for injuries incident to service are nonjusticiable, whether the claims request monetary damages or injunctive relief. Consistent with Supreme Court precedent, this holding in no way bars facial challenges to military regulations.