Opinion ID: 799396
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The District Court Denies VCS Relief

Text: After the district court denied in large part the VA's motion to dismiss, VCS requested a preliminary injunction on its mental health claims. The district court held an evidentiary hearing, but deferred ruling on the preliminary injunction, instead merging the request with a bench trial on the merits that would address all of VCS's claims. [8] The district court held a seven-day bench trial and, two months later, issued a comprehensive Memorandum of Decision, Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. See Veterans for Common Sense v. Peake ( Veterans ), 563 F.Supp.2d 1049 (N.D.Cal.2008). The district court denied VCS's various claims and concluded that ordering the relief requested by VCS would draw the district court into resolving when and how care is provideda role that it was not equipped to undertake. Id. at 1080-82. First, with respect to the VHA's provision of mental health care, the district court rejected VCS's challenge because VCS failed to identify a discrete, final agency action that the VA was required to take. Id. at 1082-83; see 5 U.S.C. § 706(1); see also Norton v. S. Utah Wilderness Alliance, 542 U.S. 55, 64, 124 S.Ct. 2373, 159 L.Ed.2d 137 (2004). Similarly, the district court rejected VCS's due process claims challenging the VA's failure to provide timely and effective mental health care because the VA's health care system reflected an appropriate balance between safeguarding the veteran's interest in medical treatment and permitting medical treatment without overly burdensome procedural protections. Veterans, 563 F.Supp.2d at 1082. With respect to the VBA's administration of service-related disability compensation, the district court denied VCS relief on the grounds that both 38 U.S.C. § 511 and § 502 precluded its review. The court reasoned that, because [t]he issue ... of whether a veteran's benefit[s] claim adjudication has been substantially delayed will often hinge on specific facts of that veteran's claim, it lacked jurisdiction under 38 U.S.C. § 511(a) to review the causes of delayed adjudication. Id. at 1083-84. It likewise found that ordering the VBA to remedy delays by implementing new procedures would invariably implicate VA regulations, review of which may be conducted only by the Federal Circuit under 38 U.S.C. § 502. Id. at 1084. The district court, however, reached the merits of VCS's disability-based claims, but concluded that neither delays in the VBA's Regional Offices' adjudication of disability-related claims, nor the lack of trial-like protections for veterans raising such claims, was unreasonable under the APA or violative of due process. Id. at 1085-86. The district court therefore denied VCS's request for a permanent injunction and declaratory relief, and granted judgment in favor of the VA. Id. at 1092. VCS appealed. A panel of this court, by a 2-1 majority, reversed on the constitutional claims. Veterans for Common Sense v. Shinseki, 644 F.3d 845, 878 (9th Cir.2011). The panel affirmed the district court's conclusion that the VA's procedures at its Regional Offices satisfied due process. Id. at 887-88. We granted the VA's petition for rehearing en banc. Veterans for Common Sense v. Shinseki, 663 F.3d 1033 (9th Cir.2011).