Court Opinion

ID: 9426536
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:18:14.059616+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:01.552974
License: Public Domain

Me. Justice Stevens,
with whom Mr. Justice Brennan and Mr. Justice Marshall join, dissenting.
In Jimenez v. Weinberger, 417 U. S. 628, this Court held, sub silentio, that a three-judge court was properly-convened in a case raising the same jurisdictional issue this case raises. See Jimenez v. Weinberger, 523 F. 2d 689, 693 n. 5 (CA7 1975).
In 1974 when this Court vacated the judgment of the three-judge court in this case and remanded for further consideration in light of the Jimenez case, Norton v. Weinberger, 418 U. S. 902, the Court again implicitly held that the three-judge court had been properly convened. See ante, at 529 n. 3.
Today the Court enters a judgment of affirmance which it has no power to enter unless the three-judge court was properly convened. For we have no jurisdiction over a direct appeal from a district court order denying an injunction unless a three-judge district court was required. 28 U. S. C. § 1253. Since I believe such a court was required to consider the appellant’s constitutional claim, I am satisfied that we have jurisdiction over this appeal.
The jurisdictional statute, § 205 (g) of the Social Security Act, 42 U. S. C. § 405 (g), authorizes the claimant to commence a “civil action” against the Secretary to obtain review of an adverse decision. In such an action the Secretary is a litigant. If the Secretary’s decision rested on a statutory provision which is challenged as unconstitutional, the District Court has jurisdiction to decide the constitutional issue. Weinberger v. Salfi, 422 *534U. S. 749, 762, 764. Before this Court raised the question on its own initiative in that opinion, id., at 763 n. 8, this Court, the lower federal courts,1 and the Secretary himself,2 had uniformly assumed that if the district court should hold the statute unconstitutional, it could then enter appropriate injunctive relief. I believe this uniform understanding of the meaning of the statute is correct.
The Secretary argues, however, that injunctive relief is superfluous in an action by an individual plaintiff, since he can obtain all the relief to which he is entitled by an order “affirming, modifying, or reversing” the administrative decision. The Secretary also argues that the same reasoning applies to class actions, since an application for benefits by unnamed members of the plaintiff class and a denial of benefits are jurisdictional prerequisites to an action under § 205 (g). Alternatively, the Secretary contends that a plaintiff class will never *535be proper in. a § 205 (g) action, and in any event, that a plaintiff class could not properly be certified in this case.
Even asuming that equitable relief is unavailable to a plaintiff suing only on his own behalf, the Secretary’s conclusions with respect to class actions in general, and with respect to the present class action in particular, do not follow. Indeed, the Secretary’s argument proves too much. Injunctive relief in a class action is so similar to that expressly authorized by § 205 (g) that Congress could not have intended to allow one but not the other. The Secretary suggests only one distinction between an order reversing or modifying the denial of benefits to the members of a plaintiff class and an injunction requiring payment of benefits to all such persons: if an oficial disobeys an order reversing or modifying a decision of the Secretary, he cannot be held in contempt without issuance of mandamus or injunctive relief compelling compliance with the order; but if he disobeys an injunction, he may be held in contempt immediately.3 Surely Congress did not intend § 205 (g) to provide reluctant federal officials with a means of delay in the remote eventuality that they might not feel bound by the judgment of a federal court. Assuming a district court may issue classwide relief reversing or modifying a decision of the Secretary, I see no reason why it may not issue injunctive relief of equal breadth and virtually identical effect.
Nor can I accept the Secretary’s argument that a plaintiff class may never be properly certified in a § 205 (g) action or that no class could properly be certified in this case. He contends that since § 205 (g) permits review only of “any final decision of the Secretary made after a hearing to which [the plaintiff] was a party,” it manifests a congressional intent that judicial review proceed only on a case-by-case basis. I fail to see, however, *536why the need for case-by-case adjudication is not fully satisfied by limiting the plaintiff class to those who have satisfied the prerequisites to an action under § 205 (g).4 By definition, such persons have been denied relief for failure to meet the statutory requirement under constitutional attack5 and upon an administrative record sufficiently complete to permit judicial review. Once such persons are identified from their administrative records, relief may be granted expeditiously.6 Although *537the plaintiff class in this case was erroneously defined to include persons who did not satisfy the prerequisites for judicial review specified in § 205 (g), the overbreadth of the class did not deprive the District Court of jurisdiction over members of the class properly before it.7 Nor would it prevent later certification of an appropriate, narrower class. Cf. Jimenez v. Weinberger, 523 F. 2d, at 695.8
*538Accordingly, I would hold that the District Court had power to issue injunctive relief after certification of the plaintiff class and that an appeal from denial of such relief lies under 28 U. S. C. § 1253.
On the merits, I dissent for the reasons stated in my dissenting opinion in Mathews v. Lucas, ante, p. 516. I would reverse the judgment of the District Court.

 See, e. g., Jimenez v. Richardson, 353 F. Supp. 1356, 1358 (ND Ill. 1973), vacated and remanded on other grounds sub nom. Jimenez v. Weinberger, 417 U. S. 628; Maracle v. Richardson, 348 F. Supp. 234, 235, 237 (WDNY 1972) (three-judge court); Williams v. Richardson, 347 F. Supp. 544, 548, 552 (WDNC 1972) (three-judge court).

 The Secretary has repeatedly asserted jurisdiction in this Court under 28 TJ. S. C. § 1253 where a three-judge District Court has enjoined enforcement of provisions of the Social Security Act. See Jurisdictional Statement in Mathews v. Diaz, O. T. 1973, No. 73-1046, p. 2; Jurisdictional Statement in Weinberger v. Salfi, O. T. 1974, No. 74r-214, p. 2; Jurisdictional Statement in Weinberger v. Wiesenfield, O. T. 1974, No. 73-1892, p. 2. Indeed, when the present case was first here, the Secretary moved to affirm, not to dismiss for want of jurisdiction, even though no greater basis for jurisdiction was present then than now. See Jurisdictional Statement in Norton v. Weinberger, O. T. 1973, No. 73-5598, p. 2, Motion to Affirm 1. See also Brief for Appellee in Jimenez v. Weinberger, O. T. 1973, No. 72-6609, p. 2.

 Tr. of Oral Arg. 33-35.

 These prerequisites are: “(1) a final decision of the Secretary-made after a hearing; (2) commencement of a civil action within 60 days after the mailing of notice of such decision (or within such further time as the Secretary may allow); and (3) filing of the action in an appropriate district court, in general that of the plaintiff's residence or principal place of business.” Weinberger v. Salfi, 422 U. S. 749, 763-764. The last two requirements may be waived entirely by the Secretary and the first may be partially waived or satisfied by less than literal compliance. See id., at 763-767; Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U. S. 319, 326-332; Mathews v. Diaz, 426 U. S. 67, 75-77.

 The District Court certified the plaintiff class “to include all of those persons otherwise eligible for child’s insurance benefits under 42 U. S. C. § 402 (d) (1) but who cannot qualify for such child’s insurance benefits solely because they cannot meet the requirement of 42 TJ. S. C. § 416 (h) (3) (C) (ii) that they be living with or supported by their father on the date on his death.” Norton v. Weinberger, 364 F. Supp. 1117, 1121 (Md. 1973). Although this class is too broadly defined, it may be appropriately narrowed to include only those who satisfy the prerequisites to an action under § 205 (g). See n. 7, infra.

 The Secretary also suggests that a plaintiff class would fail to satisfy the requirement that “the questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members.” Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 23 (b) (3). He contends that individual members of the plaintiff class probably will assert independent grounds for relief that they do not share with the class. However, if the class action succeeds on the merits, such claims would simply become moot. In any event, the class in this case was certified under the separate *537requirements of Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 23 (b) (2). 364 F. Supp., at 1120.

 The Secretary argues to the contrary, relying upon a statement in Salfi that a similar defect in the class action allegations in that case deprived the District Court of jurisdiction over the entire class. Weinberger v. Salfi, supra, at 764. However, the statement in Salfi was unnecessary to tho decision in that case, since this Court possessed jurisdiction over the case on independent grounds and relief was ultimately denied on, the merits. See 422 U. S., at 763 n. 8, 767-785. This Court has subsequently pointed out in a similar situation that the question whether a properly defined class may be certified need not be reached. Mathews v. Diaz, supra, at 71-72, n. 3. Accordingly, I do not read the statement in Salfi to preclude certification of a more narrowly defined class in this case. The District Court possessed jurisdiction over those members of the certified class who satisfied the prerequisites of a § 205 (g) action. It follows that it possessed jurisdiction to grant injunctive relief to that subclass and that the denial of such relief is appealable to this Court under 28 U. S. C. § 1253.

 The Secretary asserts that a limited class would not satisfy the "numerosity” requirement of Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 23 (a)(1): “the class [must be] so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable.” But as a general matter, one surely cannot say that this requirement could never be satisfied in any § 205 (g) action that might be brought. The Secretary offers no justification for such a broad assertion. Even if the Secretary has advanced a colorable claim on this record that a plaintiff class could not be certified in accord with the requirements of Rule 23, surely the jurisdiction of this Court — the question directly at issue — should not turn on that question. Such a jurisdictional rule would only increase the burden of three-judge court litigation to the breaking point, particularly as it affects the summary dispositions of this Court.