Court Opinion

ID: 9615130
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:31:34.986288+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:41.872911
License: Public Domain

On Petition for Rehearing.
A petition for rehearing urges error in the opinion of this court in holding that, in the absence of the Administrator of Public Works as a party defendant, the complaint’s allegations of malice or coercion on his part are insufficient to raise a federal question distinct from that decided in Alabama Power Co. v. Ickes, 58 S.Ct. 300, 82 L.Ed. -.
We adhere to the holding of the opinion. If there be a federal question warranting an injunction against local officials by reason of illegal acts charged against the Administration, as well as against the local defendants, it is with regard to a “grant loan contract,” such as was considered in the Alabama Power Case. The question would be, Can the Administrator be prevented from requiring the city to build the structures employing labor as intended by the congressional legislation ?
Since the purposes of the national government as outlined in the National Industrial Recovery Act, 48 Stat. 195, thus may be frustrated, the Administrator is a necessary party. That he can be made a party is apparent from the Alabama Power Company Case. The absence of a party, who may be sued in the District of Columbia, does not make him any the less a necessary party.
Williams v. United States, 138 U.S. 514, 11 S.Ct. 457, 34 L.Ed. 1026, cited by the petitioner, held that an equitable title to land may be canceled in an action brought only against the equitable owner, although the holder of the adverse legal title, in that case the state of Nevada, was not made a party. There was no showing that the rights of the state would be conclusively determined against it, or that it would be affected by the determination of the action. In this case, on the contrary, the grant loan contract of the Administrator of Public Works may be vitally affected by injunction proceedings to which he has not been made a party.
Rehearing denied.