Court Opinion

ID: 9426050
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:16:35.689861+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:24.364604
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Douglas,
dissenting.
Like my Brother White, I have great difficulty understanding how it is possible, within the plain terms of 28 U. S. C. § 1253, to avoid a direct appeal to this Court from a dismissal which is required to be made by a district court of three judges. The Court does not decide whether one or three judges would be required for the disposition made below. Rather, it concludes that direct appeal to this Court under § 1253 lies only from the denial of injunctive relief by a three-judge court which *808“rests upon resolution of the merits of the constitutional claim presented below.” Ante, at 804.
I could at least concur in the result if I believed that a single judge had the power to dismiss based on Younger v. Harris, 401 U. S. 37 (1971), grounds, but I have my doubts about that proposition as well. Recently the Court's hostility to three-judge courts has led it to restrict the need for such courts. See Gonzalez v. Employees Credit Union, 419 U. S. 90 (1974); Hagans v. Lavine, 415 U. S. 528 (1974). I joined in those decisions, but I have come to the conclusion that the Court is going too far. I therefore must register my dissent.
Many have argued in recent years that the three-judge court is no longer needed, that it has outlived its original purposes and should therefore be eliminated as a needless waste of judicial resources.1 Whether the three-judge court is any longer needed for the reasons which led to its creation I do not know. But I note that at least some observers believe the three-judge court to be an important institution for litigants such as civil rights and welfare plaintiffs. Three judges may well display more sensitivity to national policies and perspectives than would a single judge, and when three judges decide in favor of a minority or an unpopular group their decision is likely to inspire more respect than would the decision of a single judge.2
I do not know how these various factors should be *809weighed. Perhaps the three-judge-court system, along with direct review here, should be eliminated or altered in a major way; perhaps not. Under the Constitution this decision is one for the Congress and not the courts.3 Moreover, there are practical reasons to avoid judicial usurpation of power over jurisdiction. Under the law as currently interpreted substantial difficulties can arise as to whether initial decisions should be made by a single judge or three judges and as to whether appeals should be to the courts of appeals or to this Court.4 A case can be split into pieces, making it difficult for courts to resolve issues in a way which takes into account all relevant aspects of the lawsuit. See Parks v. Harden, 504 F. 2d 861, 865-867 (CA5 1974). We should not encourage this kind of fragmentation in the name of judicial economy, for it will ultimately lead to much delay and duplication of effort.
To some extent the confusion surrounding three-judge courts is the fault of the statutory scheme, but I think that much of the blame must be placed on this Court. What is the status of Idlewild Liquor Corp. v. Epstein, 370 U. S. 713 (1962), after today’s decision? Perhaps Idlewild should be distinguished or overruled, as my Brother White urges, but I remain unconvinced. I think we would do better to leave settled as many principles as we reasonably can in this troubled area, and I certainly do not think that we help matters by twisting *810the language of § 1253 in the way the majority has done here.
I would reverse the decision below for the reasons given in Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd., ante, p. 613 (dissenting opinion), and I would remand the case for consideration of appellant’s constitutional claims.

 See, e. g., Statement of Charles Alan Wright, Hearings on S. 1876 before the Subcommittee on Improvements in Judicial Machinery of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 92d Cong., 2d Sess., 763, 773 (1972).

 See Hearing on S. 271 and H. R. 8285 before the Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice of the House Committee on the Judiciary, 93d Cong., 2d Sess., 141-151 (1973); Note, The Three-Judge Court Reassessed: Changing Roles in Federal-State Relationships, 72 Yale L. J. 1646, 1652-1653 (1963).

 U. S. Const., Art. III, §§ 1 and 2. Congress is aware of the three-judge-court issue, as is illustrated by its recent actions in this area. See Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act, Pub. L. No. 93-528, 88 Stat. 1706 (1974); Act of Jan. 2, 1975, Pub. L. No. 93-584, 88 Stat. 1917.

 See H. M. Hart & H. Wechsler, The Federal Courts and the Federal System 967-974 (2d ed. 1973); 9 J. Moore, Federal Practice ¶ 110.03 [3] (2d ed. 1973); Currie, The Three-Judge District Court in Constitutional Litigation, 32 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1 (1964).