Opinion ID: 294743
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF 5 U.S.C. 1502(a)(3)

Text: 8 In Oklahoma v. United States Civil Service Commission, 330 U.S. 127, 67 S.Ct. 544, 91 L.Ed. 794 (1947), the Supreme Court in a 5-2 decision upheld the constitutionality of 5 U.S.C. 1502(a)(3), the section under attack here. The primary constitutional challenge advanced by the state of Oklahoma was that the Hatch Act, insofar as it attempted to regulate the internal affairs of a state, invaded its sovereignty in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. Although the majority of the Court in Oklahoma did not specifically discuss the First Amendment issues which are raised so forcefully in this appeal, they noted that in the companion case of United Public Workers v. Mitchell, 330 U.S. 75, 67 S.Ct. 556, 91 L.Ed. 754 (1947), decided the same day, the Court had sustained against First Amendment challenges an analogous provision of the Hatch Act forbidding federal employees in the Executive Branch from engaging in partisan political activity, 5 U.S.C. 7324(a)(2). Both provisions, the Court emphasized, were designed to achieve 'better public service by requiring those who administer funds for national needs to abstain from active political partisanship.' Oklahoma, supra, 330 U.S. at 143, 67 S.Ct. at 553. 9 Justice Black dissented in Mitchell and Oklahoma, arguing vigorously that the political activity sections of the Hatch Act were unconstitutional. He underscored that millions of state and federal employees 'can take no really effective part in campaigns that may bring about changes in their lives, their fortunes, and their happiness' merely because they are paid out of the public treasury. Mitchell, supra, 330 U.S. at 107, 67 S.Ct. at 573. The dissenting Justice objected to the vagueness of the statutory prohibitions and the indiscriminately broad class of employees covered by the Act, for it encompassed those whose political involvement posed no direct or indirect threat of corrupting governmental operations or undermining public confidence in the integrity of the federal or state apparatus. 3 He contended that 10 'laws which restrict the liberties guaranteed by the First Amendment should be narrowly drawn to meet the evil aimed at and to affect only the minimum number of people imperatively necessary to prevent a grave and imminent danger to the public.' Id. at 110, 67 S.Ct. at 574. 11 The appellants in this case assert that a series of Supreme Court opinions since 1947 have undermined the rationale of Mitchell and Oklahoma, and these decisions should no longer be followed. They point out that the Court in Mitchell applied a 'reasonable basis' test in evaluating First Amendment issues. It was sufficient, according to this test, that Congress could 'reasonably' find that political activity by the covered employees interfered with the efficiency and integrity of the public service. The appellants emphasize that standards for reviewing statutes abridging the exercise of First Amendment freedoms have changed dramatically since 1947, and that statutes are now subjected to closer judicial scrutiny to determine whether the interests of the Government are compelling, and whether the objectives of the legislation can be accomplished by narrower, less drastic means. See United States v. Robel, 389 U.S. 258, 88 S.Ct. 419, 19 L.Ed.2d 508 (1967); Keyishian v. Board of Regents, 385 U.S. 589, 87 S.Ct. 675, 17 L.Ed.2d 629 (1967); Aptheker v. Secretary of State, 378 U.S. 500, 84 S.Ct. 1659, 12 L.Ed.2d 992 (1964); Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 83 S.Ct. 1790, 10 L.Ed.2d 965 (1963); Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, 372 U.S. 539, 83 S.Ct. 889, 9 L.Ed.2d 929 (1963); N.A.A.C.P. v. Button, 371 U.S. 415, 83 S.Ct. 328, 9 L.Ed.2d 405 (1963); Shelton v. Tucker, 364 U.S. 479, 81 S.Ct. 247, 5 L.Ed.2d 231 (1960). According to the appellants, the Hatch Act cannot survive contemporary review under these more rigorous constitutional standards. Their position, in brief, is that Justice Black's dissent in Mitchell reflects the now prevailing viewpoint of the Supreme Court. 4 12 The appellants cite Robel as a prime example of the new constitutional approach. In that case the Court held unconstitutional a section of the Subversive Activities Control Act which barred all members of Communist-action organizations from employment in defense facilities. The Government urged that the purpose of the section was eminently reasonable-- to reduce the threat of sabotage and espionage in the nation's defense plants. The Court held, however, that although the government interest in such a prophylactic measure was substantial, the Constitution could not tolerate a broadside prohibition of all Communists from defense facilities regardless of the nature and extent of their activity in the Communist Party, the existence of any intent to further its unlawful aims, or the sensitivity of the position held in the defense establishment. The Court emphasized that Congress must achieve its legitimate goals through legislation having a 'less drastic' impact on the exercise of First Amendment freedoms. The appellants in this case argue that by a parity of reasoning, Congress must limit its curtailment of political activity to employees holding 'sensitive' government positions and whose activity in partisan politics is substantial. 13 We acknowledge the considerable weight of these arguments. Nevertheless, we feel obliged to regard Mitchell and Oklahoma as binding precedent on this lower federal tribunal. This court has previously observed that 14 rarely would a Court of Appeals be justified in declaring devitalized and no longer to be followed a Supreme Court decision passing directly on the precise point at issue, because of another decision of the Supreme Court in a related, though different area. The resolution of possible inconsistencies in the Supreme Court's decisions is ordinarily not the prerogative of inferior courts. Blalock v. United States, 247 F.2d 615, 621 (4th Cir. 1957). 15 See also United States v. Longfellow, 406 F.2d 415 (4th Cir. (1969); cert. denied, 394 U.S. 998, 89 S.Ct. 1594, 22 L.Ed.2d 776 (1969); Ashe v. Swenson, 399 F.2d 40 (8th Cir. 1968), rev'd, 397 U.S. 436, 90 S.Ct. 1189, 25 L.Ed.2d 469 (1970). In Ashe, supra, Judge (now Justice) Blackmun emphasized: 16 This court is not the Supreme Court of the United States. We therefore are not free to disregard an existing fiat and still live holding of the Supreme Court even though that holding is one by a sharply divided tribunal   . A change in constitutional concept and the overruling of an existing decision, if indicated at all, is for the Supreme Court and is not for us. Firmness of precedent otherwise could not exist. Further, we deal here with no mere implication or interpretation of language. We are confronted with a specific holding. Id. 399 F.2d at 45. 17 In the case at hand, the appellants have cited no Supreme Court case since 1947 dealing specifically either with the Hatch Act or other federal or state legislation involving the identical issue that would justify this court in contradicting the controlling Supreme Court authorities. It is highly relevant that other federal courts have in recent adjudications felt similarly constrained by the decisions of Mitchell and Oklahoma when constitutional challenges to the Hatch Act have been presented on essentially the same grounds urged here. Fishkin v. United States Civil Service Commission, 309 F.Supp. 40 (N.D.Calif.1969), appeal dismissed, 396 U.S. 278, 90 S.Ct. 557, 24 L.Ed.2d 463 (1970); 5 Kearney v. Macy, 409 F.2d 847 (9th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 943, 90 S.Ct. 958, 25 L.Ed.2d 124 (1970); Engelhardt v. United States Civil Service Commission, 304 F.2d 882 (5th Cir. 1962), aff'g, 197 F.Supp. 806 (M.D.Ala.1961); Palmer v. United States Civil Service Commission, 297 F.2d 450 (7th Cir. 1961), cert. denied, 369 U.S. 849, 82 S.Ct. 932, 8 L.Ed.2d 8 (1962). Conceivably, if the Supreme Court were to make a fresh evaluation of the constitutionality of the Hatch Act today, it might depart from the result it reached in 1947. Our holding is dictated, however, by our duty to give effect to an existing Supreme Court ruling on the precise issue before us. Mitchell and Oklahoma do not speak merely in the general area of First Amendment rights, from which one would be left to infer what the Court would think about the constitutionality of the Hatch Act. These two cases speak plainly and directly to the validity of the Hatch Act itself, leaving nothing to inference or speculation.