Court Opinion

ID: 9455708
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 19:30:46.503278+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:34:42.220169
License: Public Domain

On Petition for Rehearing
PER CURIAM.
ORDER
Appellee’s petition for rehearing is granted, and the opinion in the above entitled cause filed February 3, 1970, is modified in accordance with the supplemental opinion annexed hereto.
So ordered.
SUPPLEMENTAL OPINION
LEVENTHAL, Circuit Judge:
In a petition for rehearing the defendants urge that we determine the issue *567whether Congress has committed to the unreviewable discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture the administration of the programs in controversy (administration of the Food Stamp Act of 1964 and the Commodities Distribution Program). The petition also focuses on our statement that even should the District Court view these matters as committed to the unreviewable discretion of the Secretary, it should rule in the alternative whether in its view the Secretary exercised his discretion in a manner consistent with the statute and the Constitution. The defendants point out that the effect of this suggestion may be to force them to undergo a trial on an issue which it later appears should not have been tried at all.
Clarification of our views is in order. Taking into account the nature of these programs, not only their complexity but also their state of flux and changes being made therein, we adhere to our order remanding to the District Court at this juncture.
Our decision was made in the context of the general rule, subject only to rare exceptions, that the action of a government agency in the domestic sphere, as contrasted with actions in the spheres of foreign affairs or national security, is subject to judicial review for arbitrariness and abuse of discretion, even though discretion may be broad.
The defendants’ petition for rehearing stresses that if this case does involve issues that are non-reviewable it is not in the interest of justice that they be subject to possibly burdensome discovery on the issues relating to the propriety, assuming reviewability, of the way the Secretary has exercised his discretion. The District Court has adequate discretion to assure that discovery will be reasonably related to the object of furnishing the court with an adequate basis for ruling intelligently on the questions before it, and will not unduly burden the government officials concerned. Thus defendants protest that plaintiffs seek to take the oral deposition of the Secretary of Agriculture, but subjecting a cabinet officer to oral deposition is not normally countenanced. D.C. Federation of Civic Ass’ns v. Sirica, No. 24, 216 (May 8, 1970).
Upon further consideration we must also take into account the difficulty occasioned by the fact that sometimes, albeit rarely, Congress has made issues non-reviewable in court because the very process of judicial consideration in the particular circumstances requires the statement of reasons and explanations of matters that Congress wishes held in confidence. Cf. International Ass'n of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, v. National Mediation Board, 138 U.S.App.D.C. 96, 425 F.2d 527 (January 30, 1970). While we have no basis for assuming that the program before us is one of those rare cases, we think it more appropriate to modify our opinion. The matter stands thus:
Overall we think it a wholesome approach that a District Court considering a claim of non-reviewability of an issue in the realm of domestic government policy give its view on the merits, on the claim of abuse of discretion. However, this is not an imperative, and the District Court may appropriately decline to rule on the merits, or to permit the litigation to be maintained on the merits, if it is of the view that the very maintenance of the action is contrary to the intent of Congress and will injure the public interest.
Remanded.