Court Opinion

ID: 9473022
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:17:19.793358+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:43:16.771943
License: Public Domain

WELLFORD, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I continue to adhere to the original opinion in this case that the district court erred in granting defendants-appellees’ motion for summary judgment. As stated in Judge Krupansky’s opinion, it is clear that Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division v. Craft, 436 U.S. 1, 98 S.Ct. 1554, 56 L.Ed.2d 30 (1978), establishes a public utility’s property interest in continued service. Thus the district court erred in granting summary judgment on the grounds that the utility consumer in the instant case had no property interest that deserved due process protection.
I am persuaded by the petition, however, that the most proper course would be to remand the case for disposition on all issues, including liability as well as damages. The district court is the best body to make the initial determination about how much process is due and whether that standard was violated based on the unusual facts in this case. The amount of due process required in the ordinary utility bill dispute situation of Craft may or may not be required here because, as the Supreme Court stated in Craft and elsewhere, “due process is flexible and calls for such procedural protections as the particular situation demands.” 436 U.S. at 15 n. 15, 98 S.Ct. at 1563 n. 15.