Opinion ID: 213700
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Supreme Court Precedent: Sosna, Gerstein, Roper, and Geraghty

Text: Once a class has been certified the expiration of a plaintiff's claim will not moot the action on appeal. Sosna v. Iowa, 419 U.S. 393, 401, 95 S.Ct. 553, 42 L.Ed.2d 532 (1975). In Sosna, the Court concluded that an Article III case or controversy persisted to allow a named plaintiff to appeal a constitutional ruling although the named plaintiff's claim expired as a result of her fulfillment of the challenged durational residency requirement because (a) the class was certified prior to expiration of her claim, giving the claims of the class a legal status separate from the named plaintiff's interest, id. at 399, 95 S.Ct. 553; and (b) the status giving rise to the claim was capable of repetition yet evading review to the extent that a party aggrieved by a durational requirement will eventually fulfill that requirement and likely during the pendency of the litigation, id. at 401, 95 S.Ct. 553. By attributing a legal status in the case or controversy to unnamed class members apart from that of the class representative, id. at 399 & n. 8, 95 S.Ct. 553, Sosna suggests that in a proposed class action the non-named class members have an unyielding interest that could precede the moment of class certificationthe premise appearing to be that any live Article III interest a class may or may not have in a case is or is not present from its inception. The Court explained: There may be cases in which the controversy involving the named plaintiffs is such that it becomes moot as to them before the district court can reasonably be expected to rule on a certification motion. In such instances, whether the certification can be said to relate back to the filing of the complaint may depend upon the circumstances of the particular case and especially the reality of the claim that otherwise the issue would evade review. Id. at 399-402 & n. 11, 95 S.Ct. 553. Sosna is not dispositive of this case because it concerned a certified class; however Sosna apparently acknowledges that the personal stake of the indivisible class may inhere prior to a definitive ruling on class certification. Shortly after Sosna, the Court extended its rationale to the pre-certification context in Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 95 S.Ct. 854, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975). In Gerstein, plaintiffs challenged a Florida statute permitting pretrial detention by information without a preliminary determination of probable cause. Id. at 105-07, 95 S.Ct. 854. It was unclear from the record whether the plaintiffs' pretrial detention had terminated while the certification motion was pending. Id. at 111 n. 11, 95 S.Ct. 854. However, the Court did not dismiss the case as moot, reasoning that it is most unlikely that any given individual could have his constitutional claim decided on appeal before he is either released or convicted, and, therefore, the Court determined, plaintiffs' claims were within the exception articulated in Sosna regardless of their status at the moment of certification. Id. at 110 n. 11, 95 S.Ct. 854. Since Sosna and Gerstein, the Court has further elaborated on the scope of the class action exception to mootness. In the same day, the Court held that an offer of judgment to a named plaintiff made while a certification motion is pending will not moot the action, Deposit Guaranty Nat'l Bank v. Roper, 445 U.S. 326, 100 S.Ct. 1166, 63 L.Ed.2d 427 (1980), and that a named plaintiff released from prison while a certification motion is pending may appeal a denial of class certification despite the mootness of his individual claim, U.S. Parole Comm'n v. Geraghty, 445 U.S. 388, 100 S.Ct. 1202, 63 L.Ed.2d 479 (1980). A comparison of Roper and Geraghty highlights the emerging rule. In Roper, a proposed class of credit card holders brought suit challenging certain finance charges as usurious. The district court denied class certification, and the bank tendered to each named plaintiff the maximum amount that each could have recovered, including interest and costs. 445 U.S. at 329-30, 100 S.Ct. 1166. The plaintiffs declined to accept the tender and made a counteroffer of judgment, attempting to reserve the right to appeal the adverse class certification ruling. The bank declined the counteroffer. Id. Nevertheless, the district court entered judgment in the plaintiffs' favor based upon the defendants' offer of judgment, over plaintiffs' objection, and dismissed the action. Id. The Supreme Court held that the named plaintiffs could appeal the denial of class certification. In determining whether there still existed a justiciable case or controversy, the Roper Court relied on the costs spreading functions of Rule 23 and the named plaintiffs' continued interest in the procedural rights appurtenant to representing a classfor example, the interest in sharing attorney expenses with the classto determine that a putative class representative retains an individual interest in appealing the denial of class certification. Id. at 338 n. 9, 100 S.Ct. 1166. Also determinative in this holding was the plaintiffs' rejection of the settlement offer. The court advised, The factual context in which this question arises is important. At no time did the named plaintiffs accept the tender in settlement of the case; instead, judgment was entered in their favor by the court without their consent and the case was dismissed over their continued objections. Neither the rejected tender nor the dismissal of the action over plaintiffs' objections mooted the plaintiffs' claim on the merits so long as they retained an economic interest in class certification. Id. at 332-33, 100 S.Ct. 1166. In Roper, Justice Rehnquist concurred: The distinguishing feature here is that the defendant has made an unaccepted offer of tender in settlement of the individual putative representative's claim. The action is moot in the Art. III sense only if this Court adopts a rule that an individual seeking to proceed as a class representative is required to accept a tender of only his individual claims. So long as the court does not require such acceptance, the individual is required to prove his case and the requisite Art. III adversity continues. Acceptance [of defendant's offer] need not be mandated under our precedents since the defendant has not offered all that has been requested in the complaint (i.e., relief for the class) and any other rule would give the defendant the practical power to make the denial of class certification questions unreviewable. Id. at 341, 100 S.Ct. 1166 (Rehnquist, J., concurring). In Geraghty, an inmate brought a class action challenging the validity of the U.S. Parole Commission's Parole Release Guidelines. 445 U.S. at 390, 100 S.Ct. 1202. The trial court denied certification of the class, and, while the appeal was pending, the named plaintiff was released from prison. Id. The Court was presented with the question whether the plaintiff could continue his appeal of the ruling. Id. In Geraghty, unlike in Roper, the alleged mootness occurred not as a result of an offer of judgment but due to an expiration of the claim. Id. at 401, 100 S.Ct. 1202. The Court reasoned, Although one may argue that Sosna contains at least an implication that the critical factor for Article III purposes is timing of class certification, other cases, applying a `relation back' approach, clearly demonstrate that timing is not crucial. Id. at 398, 100 S.Ct. 1202. And, the fact that a named plaintiff's substantive claims are mooted due to an occurrence other than a judgment on the merits does not mean that all the other issues in the case are mooted. A plaintiff who brings a class action presents two separate issues for judicial resolution. One is the claim on the merits; the other is the claim that he is entitled to represent a class. Id. at 402, 100 S.Ct. 1202. In articulating the nature of the personal stake requirement in the class action context, the Court noted that a `legally cognizable interest' ... in the traditional sense rarely ever exists with respect to the class certification claim. Id. (citation omitted). Instead, the Court concluded, [t]his `right' is more analogous to the private attorney general concept than to the type of interest traditionally thought to satisfy the `personal stake' requirement. Id. at 403, 100 S.Ct. 1202 (citing Roper, 445 U.S. at 338, 100 S.Ct. 1166). Looking to the purposes of the personal stake requirement, namely the need for sharply presented issues in a concrete factual setting and self-interested parties vigorously advocating opposing positions, the Court concluded that these elements can exist with respect to the class certification issue notwithstanding the fact that the named plaintiff's claim on the merits has expired. The question whether class certification is appropriate remains as a concrete, sharply presented issue. Id. at 403-04, 100 S.Ct. 1202.