Opinion ID: 338364
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: propriety of class injunctive relief

Text: 59 The final issue raised by the government in its supplemental brief is whether under Section 405(g) the District Court had jurisdiction over the class aspects of this action and the authority to order class injunctive relief. The language of the section authorizes the District Court to enter a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing a decision of the Secretary. It contains no suggestion that a reviewing court is empowered to enter an injunctive decree whose operation reaches beyond the particular applicants before the court. Weinberger v. Salfi, supra, 422 U.S. at 763 n. 8, 95 S.Ct. at 2466. It is argued from this comment that class-wide injunctive relief was not proper. We do not, however, find the argument persuasive. 60 While it is clear that Congress has the authority to limit the equitable powers and discretion of the federal courts in order to implement important federal policy, such limitation will not be found in the absence of a clear legislative command. Porter v. Warner Holding Co., 328 U.S. 395, 398, 66 S.Ct. 1086, 90 L.Ed. 1332 (1946); Hecht Co. v. Bowles, 321 U.S. 321, 330, 64 S.Ct. 587, 88 L.Ed. 754 (1944). Ambiguities must be resolved in favor of that interpretation which affords a full opportunity for equity courts to exercise their traditional practices. Hecht Co. v. Bowles, supra, 321 U.S. at 330, 64 S.Ct. 587. There is no language in Section 405(g) to indicate any intent on the part of Congress to limit the traditional equitable powers of the court. Finding no such clear intent, we conclude that the District Court was authorized to enter an injunctive decree under Section 405(g). 22 61 Since this action was properly maintainable as a class action under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23 23 and since Section 405(g) conferred jurisdiction on the District Court to hear a claim by each individual member of the class, Rule 23 provides a procedure by which such power may be exercised in a single appropriate proceeding. Jimenez v. Weinberger, 523 F.2d 689, 694-95 (7th Cir. 1975), petition for cert. filed, 44 U.S.L.W. 3455 (U.S. Feb. 5, 1976) (No. 75-1114). The Supreme Court's comment in Salfi must be viewed in the context that in that case there was no jurisdiction under Section 405(g) over the class members since their claims had not been presented to the Secretary and they had not satisfied one of the statutory requirements for judicial review; hence, the applicants were not before the court in any sense. Here, however, we have determined that there was jurisdiction over the members of the class, and thus they were applicants before the court in a properly maintained class action.