Albert H. Carter v. Robert Seamans, Jr., as Secretary of the Air Force

411 F.2d 767, 1969 U.S. App. LEXIS 12479
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedMay 8, 1969
Docket27359_1
StatusPublished
Cited by204 cases

This text of 411 F.2d 767 (Albert H. Carter v. Robert Seamans, Jr., as Secretary of the Air Force) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Albert H. Carter v. Robert Seamans, Jr., as Secretary of the Air Force, 411 F.2d 767, 1969 U.S. App. LEXIS 12479 (5th Cir. 1969).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Pursuant to new Rule 18 of the Rules of this court, we have concluded on the merits that this case is of such character as not to justify oral argument and have directed the clerk to place the case on the Summary Calendar and to notify the parties in writing. See Murphy v. Houma Well Service, 5 Cir. 1969, 409 F.2d 804, Part I.

This appeal is taken from the judgment of the court below dismissing the appellant’s action without prejudice. We affirm.

Appellant was discharged from the United States Air Force under conditions other than honorable. In his complaint he asks for a declaratory judgment that the discharge is a nullity and to order the Secretary of the Air Force to reinstate him and to award him all of the back pay, incentive pay, allowances, and other benefits accruing from the date of discharge. He also requests that his military records be corrected to reflect promotion at regular intervals so that he presently holds the rank of colonel.

*769 Appellant is also the plaintiff in an action in the United States Court of Claims, instituted prior to this action, in which he seeks the same relief. That court has stayed all proceedings pending disposition of the instant case.

In a carefully reasoned and well-written opinion, as yet unreported and attached hereto as an appendix to this decision, the district court has declined jurisdiction of this case, dismissing it without prejudice and deferring to the Court of Claims. We find no abuse of the district court’s discretion in so acting. The judgment below is affirmed.

Affirmed.

APPENDIX

MEMORANDUM OF THE COURT NOVEMBER 15, 1968

As Amended On Motion for Reconsideration Dec. 23, 1968.

M emorandum:

The Plaintiff, Albert H. Carter, was discharged from the United States “under other than honorable conditions” 1 on December 29, 1960. His discharge was purportedly effected pursuant to the provisions of 10 U.S.C. Sec. 1163(a) as implemented by Air Force Regulation 36-2. At the time of the discharge, Plaintiff held the rank of Captain and he had over three years of active commissioned service. Contending that his discharge was in violation of his constitutional rights and/or was contrary to law, and hence a legal nullity, Carter brought this action against the Secretary of the Air Force in order to have it set aside. The specific relief sought in-eludes, inter alia, a declaratory judgment that the discharge was illegal and invalid and that Plaintiff has continued to hold his office and commission at all times since December 29, 1960. Carter also asks the court to find that he is entitled to have his military records corrected so as to reflect that he has been promoted at regular intervals and that he now holds the rank of Colonel. Finally, he seeks an injunction restraining the defendant from further withholding all pay and allowances he would have earned during the relevant period and which may accrue in the future. It has been estimated that the claim, if paid in full, would involve approximately $135,000.

“The type of discharge issued serves as a judgment upon the quality of the service rendered by the dischnz’gce. There are five types of military discharge (other than for physical or mental disability) : (1) honorable, (2) general (under honorable conditions), (3) undesirable (the equivalent for officers is a discharge ‘under other than honorable conditions’), (4) bad conduct
(never issued to officers), and (5) dishonorable (a ‘dismissal’ for officers). * * * Types (4) and (5) are issued only upon sentence by court-martial; the others follow administrative action. Since about 90% of all discharges issued are honorable, a dischai-ge of that type is commonly regarded as indicating acceptable, rather than exemplary service. In consequence, anything less than an honorable discharge is viewed as derogatory, and inevitably stigmatizes the recipient. * * * ” Id. at 853 n. 1.

It is noteworthy that Carter is the plaintiff in an action in the United States Court of Claims styled Albert H. Carter v. United States which was filed on April 14, 1966. The action in the Court of Claims arose out of the same factual situation as the case at bar and it seeks similar relief. On April 26, 1968, the seven judges of the court, in a per curiam order, denied the government’s motion to dismiss and ordered, sua sponte, that all proceedings be stayed pending this court’s disposition of the instant case.

The parties have entered into an extensive stipulation of facts and the case is now before the court for decision on cross motions for summary judgment.

The defendant has launched a pervasive attack on the jurisdiction of this court to determine the case at bar. Accordingly, the court is duty bound to re *770 solve the jurisdictional issues before discussing the merits.

Defendant’s first line of attack is founded on the contention that the instant action is, in substance and effect, a suit against the United States over which this court lacks jurisdiction because of the absence of consent to be sued.

In determining whether an action comes within the purview of the sovereign immunity doctrine, the critical consideration is not the identity of the parties, but rather the result of the judgment or decrees which might be entered. Minnesota v. Hitchcock, 185 U.S. 373, 387, 22 S.Ct. 650, 46 L.Ed. 954 (1902). The applicable principle was concisely stated in Dugan v. Rank, 372 U.S. 609, 83 S.Ct. 999, 10 L.Ed.2d 15 (1963), where the court wrote:

“The general rule is that a suit is against the sovereign if ‘the judgment sought would expend itself on the public treasury or domain, or interfere with the public administration,’ * * * or if the effect of the judgment would be ‘to restrain the Government from acting, or to compel it to act.’ ”

Id. at 620, 83 S.Ct. at 1006. 2 Judged by those standards the instant action unquestionably qualifies as a suit against the sovereign since, as previously noted, the claim for back pay and allowances alone entails the possible payment of some $135,000.

There are, however, two well-recognized instances where suits for specific relief against public officers are not considered to be against the sovereign. In these two instances the sovereign’s consent to be sued is not required and the defense of sovereign immunity is unavailable. Thus, the actions of a public officer can be made the basis of a suit for specific relief against the officer as an individual if, but only if, (1) the officer’s action is beyond his statutory powers, or (2) if within those powers, the powers themselves or the manner in which they are exercised are constitutionally void. 3 Plaintiff, not unexpectedly, contends that the instant case falls within either or both of these exceptions, thereby attempting to hurdle the sovereign immunity barricade.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

RANDALL D. WOLCOTT, MD, PA v. Sebelius
635 F.3d 757 (Fifth Circuit, 2011)
Dennis v. United States Bureau of Prisons
325 F. App'x 744 (Eleventh Circuit, 2009)
Haltermann v. Johnson
988 F. Supp. 1477 (S.D. Georgia, 1996)
Salleh v. Christopher
876 F. Supp. 297 (District of Columbia, 1995)
Public Citizen v. Kantor
864 F. Supp. 208 (District of Columbia, 1994)
Burkins v. United States
865 F. Supp. 1480 (D. Colorado, 1994)
Ocean Breeze Festival Park, Inc. v. Reich
853 F. Supp. 906 (E.D. Virginia, 1994)
1610 CORP. v. Kemp
753 F. Supp. 1026 (D. Massachusetts, 1991)
SOUTHEASTERN PEANUT ASSN. v. Lyng
734 F. Supp. 519 (M.D. Georgia, 1990)
Gilbert Equipment Co., Inc. v. Higgins
709 F. Supp. 1071 (S.D. Alabama, 1989)
PROTECT OUR EAGLES'TREES v. City of Lawrence, Kan.
715 F. Supp. 996 (D. Kansas, 1989)
Scalise v. Meese
687 F. Supp. 1239 (N.D. Illinois, 1988)
Divine Farms, Inc. v. Block
679 F. Supp. 867 (S.D. Indiana, 1988)
J.C. Products, Inc. v. United States
608 F. Supp. 92 (W.D. Michigan, 1984)
Carter v. Orr
587 F. Supp. 436 (District of Columbia, 1984)
Doko Farms v. United States
588 F. Supp. 867 (N.D. Texas, 1984)
Medina v. O'NEILL
589 F. Supp. 1028 (S.D. Texas, 1984)
Pavlov v. Parsons
574 F. Supp. 393 (S.D. Texas, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
411 F.2d 767, 1969 U.S. App. LEXIS 12479, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/albert-h-carter-v-robert-seamans-jr-as-secretary-of-the-air-force-ca5-1969.