Opinion ID: 391390
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Do the named plaintiffs have standing to bring this appeal?

Text: 45 In the second place, no question has been raised as to the named plaintiffs' standing to appeal the district court's refusal to certify a purported class. This issue has been resolved in favor of the plaintiffs by the Supreme Court's recent decisions in Deposit Guaranty National Bank v. Roper, 445 U.S. 326, 100 S.Ct. 1166, 63 L.Ed.2d 427 (1980), and United States Parole Commission v. Geraghty, 445 U.S. 388, 100 S.Ct. 1202, 63 L.Ed.2d 479 (1980). Roper involved a factual situation similar to that now before us. In Roper, two credit card holders sued the bank which had issued the cards to recover allegedly usurious charges. Shortly after the district court denied the plaintiffs' motion to certify a class composed of all such credit card holders, the bank tendered to each of the plaintiffs the full amount of their personal claims and the district court dismissed the case; the plaintiffs refused the offer and appealed the district court's denial of certification and dismissal of the case. The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of this court, Roper v. Consurve, Inc., 578 F.2d 1106 (5th Cir. 1978), holding that the named plaintiffs had standing to appeal the denial of class certification even though the defendant's tender had rendered moot the named plaintiffs' personal claims. Although our decision relied on broader grounds, 578 F.2d at 1110-11, the Supreme Court seems to have rested its affirmance on the named plaintiffs' assertion of a cognizable economic interest in the certification question; the plaintiffs had asserted throughout the litigation a desire to shift to successful class litigants a portion of those fees and expenses incurred in (the) litigation, and this concern supplied the personal stake in the appeal required by Article III. 445 U.S. at 334 n.6 and 337, 100 S.Ct. at 1171 n.6 and 1172. 9 46 Although Roper clearly rested on the named plaintiffs' assertion of an economic interest in the certification of their purported class, the Court did not state in Roper that a cognizable interest was the only fact which can establish the named plaintiffs' standing to appeal the denial of certification after their individual claims become moot. Indeed, the Court recognized the relevance to justiciability questions in the class action context of several other important interests, including the responsibilities both of the named plaintiffs and of the district court to the members of the absent class, and the rights of the putative class members as intervenors. 445 U.S. at 332, 100 S.Ct. at 1170. These interests were not discounted but merely found unnecessary to the decision in the case: resolution of the narrow question presented requires consideration only of the private interest of the named plaintiffs. Id. See also 445 U.S. at 340 & n.12, 100 S.ct. at 1174 & n.12. 47 On the same day as the Supreme Court decided Roper, the Court reached in another case the situation presented by a named plaintiff who asserts no cognizable interest in the certification question. In United States Parole Commission v. Geraghty, supra, the Court held that a named plaintiff whose personal claim had expired had standing to appeal the district court's denial of certification despite the complete absence of any cognizable interest in the certification question. Geraghty, a federal prisoner, brought a class action suit challenging certain federal parole regulations. After the district court denied Geraghty's motion to certify his purported class (composed of all federal prisoners who are or would become eligible for parole) and granted the Parole Commission's motion for summary judgment on Geraghty's individual claim, Geraghty was in fact released from prison on parole. Geraghty appealed the district court's denial of certification, but at no point alleged any personal interest economic or otherwise in the certification question. See 445 U.S. at 420, 100 S.Ct. at 1221 (Powell, J., dissenting). The Court did not, however, find this fact to be dispositive. Instead, the Court looked to the purposes behind the Article III mootness doctrine. The Court emphasized the flexible character of that doctrine, and found the personal stake requirement of the doctrine to be met despite Geraghty's lack of a legally cognizable interest in the traditional sense. As the Court explained: 48 (T)he purpose of the personal stake requirement is to assure that the case is in a form capable of judicial resolution. The imperatives of a dispute capable of judicial resolution are sharply presented issues in a concrete factual setting and self-interested parties vigorously advocating opposing positions .... The question whether class certification is appropriate remains as a concrete, sharply presented issue ... (and) Respondent here continues vigorously to advocate his right to have a class certified. 49 445 U.S. at 403-04, 100 S.Ct. at 1212. On this basis the Court concluded that despite his lack of a cognizable interest in the certification question Geraghty retained a personal stake in that issue sufficient to assure that Art. III values are not undermined. 445 U.S. at 404, 100 S.Ct. at 1212. See Note, Class Standing and the Class Representative, 94 Harv.L.Rev. 1637, 1650-52 (1981) (arguing that Geraghty altogether abolishes the personal stake requirement in the class action context). 50 Like the named plaintiffs in Roper, Zeidman and Youngelson have asserted an economic interest in certification. And, like Geraghty, these named plaintiffs have vigorously advocated their right to class certification, and have done so in a concrete factual setting capable of judicial resolution. Therefore, in accordance with both Roper and Geraghty, the named plaintiffs now before us have standing to bring this appeal. 10 51