Cristiano v. Courts of Justices of the Peace

115 F.R.D. 240, 28 Wage & Hour Cas. (BNA) 256, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2641
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedMarch 30, 1987
DocketCiv. A. No. 86-149 MMS
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 115 F.R.D. 240 (Cristiano v. Courts of Justices of the Peace) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cristiano v. Courts of Justices of the Peace, 115 F.R.D. 240, 28 Wage & Hour Cas. (BNA) 256, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2641 (D. Del. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

MURRAY M. SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge.

Plaintiffs move for certification of a class consisting of all present and future United Auto Workers (“UAW”) members who have been or will be subjected to attachment of their wages under 10 Del.C. §§ 3501, 9582-9583,1 the Proceeding by Attachment statute (“Attachment Statute”).

The putative plaintiff class challenges the constitutionality of the Delaware attachment procedure on the ground that it violates their right to due process. Defendants,2 the New Castle County Justices of the Peace Courts (“J.P. Courts”), Judge Marc Niedzielski of J.P. Court No. 12, and Constable Charles Sharp, filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that the claim of the named class representative, Sharon Cristiano (“Cristiano”), is moot and, as a consequence, the named representative has no right to represent the class. The Court will determine whether Cristiano can represent the putative class, and then analyze whether this action meets the requirements for certification of a class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.

1. FACTS

Cristiano is a UAW member employed by the Chrysler Corporation at its Newark, Delaware, assembly plant. In September, 1985, Dr. Elmer Hewlett filed a debt action against Cristiano in J.P. Court No. 12 to collect $44 owed him for medical services provided to plaintiff’s daughter. The J.P. Court sent a summons by certified mail on October 28, 1985 to the last known address for Cristiano, which Dr. Hewlett had furnished. Dkt. 27 at A-2. The post office returned the summons stamped “Moved, left no address.” Id. at A-3. On December 5, 1985, Dr. Hewlett filed for an attachment in lieu of summons, under 10 Del.C. § 9582, directed to the Chrysler Corpora[243]*243tion for $44 plus $26 in costs. Id. at A-4. The summons issued on January 14, 1986, and Constable Sharp effected service on Chrysler on January 16. Id. at A-5, A-ll. Chrysler garnished Cristiano’s wages on January 23, at which time she received her first notice of the debt action and a hearing set for February 26. Under the Attachment Statute, Cristiano could not directly challenge the attachment prior to the hearing. After three continuances, the hearing was to be held on April 16.

On April 7, 1986, Cristiano filed suit in federal court seeking declaratory, injunctive, and compensatory relief for alleged constitutional violations in the enforcement of the Attachment Statute.3 She filed simultaneously a motion for class certification on the declaratory and injunctive claims, with the putative class to include all present and future hourly employees at Chrysler’s Newark plant. Plaintiff subsequently amended her motion to include all present and future UAW members who were or “will be subjected to those attachment procedures in the future.”4 Dkt. 43. On April 7, Dr. Hewlett wrote to Judge Niedzielski requesting that the suit against Cristiano be withdrawn. The J.P. Court ordered the attachment released by letter to Chrysler dated April 8. Plaintiff received her garnished wages on April 16.

II. ANALYSIS

Defendants argue that Cristiano’s claim for injunctive and declaratory relief is moot because the underlying attachment has been released.5 Once Dr. Hewlett requested the J.P. Court to dismiss the debt action, defendants assert Cristiano lost the necessary “personal stake” in the outcome of the litigation to meet the constitutional standing requirement of a live case or controversy. Moreover, they argue that a class representative with a moot claim cannot meet the adequate representation prerequisite of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)(4) for certification of a class.

Defendants have failed to distinguish two related but analytically distinct issues: the constitutional question of mootness and the requirements of the Federal Rules. See Note, Class Standing and the Class Representative, 94 Harv.L.Rev. 1637, 1653 &. n. 74 (1981). Defendants’ argument also overlooks the different analyses applied to individual and class claims when the issue of mootness arises. The court will begin by reviewing the basic doctrine of mootness, and then consider the special circumstance of a class action in which the putative representative’s claims are moot.

A. Mootness

The exercise of judicial power under Article III “depends upon the existence of a case or controversy.” North Carolina v. Rice, 404 U.S. 244, 246, 92 S.Ct. 402, 404, 30 L.Ed.2d 413 (1971). That controversy must remain live throughout the litigation, and not merely when it was commenced. Steffel v. Thompson, 415 U.S. 452, 459 n. 10, 94 S.Ct. 1209, 1216 n. 10, 39 L.Ed.2d 505 (1974). The rationale for this requirement [244]*244is to constrict the business of federal courts to “questions presented in an adversary context and in a form historically viewed as capable of resolution through the judicial process____” United States Parole Comm. v. Geraghty, 445 U.S. 388, 396, 100 S.Ct. 1202, 1208, 63 L.Ed.2d 479 (1980) (quoting Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83, 95, 88 S.Ct. 1942, 1950, 20 L.Ed.2d 947 (1968)). In considering the point at which a case becomes moot, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has held:

[a] case may become moot if (1) the alleged violation has ceased, and there is no reasonable expectation that it will recur, and (2) interim relief or events have completely and irrevocably eradicated the effects of the alleged violation.

Finberg v. Sullivan, 658 F.2d 93, 97-98 (3d Cir.1980); see New Jersey Turnpike Authority v. Jersey Central Power, 772 F.2d 25, 31 (3d Cir.1985); Galda v. Bloustein, 686 F.2d 159, 162-63 (3d Cir.1982).

Even if a case falls within the above circumstances, it is not necessarily moot “if the underlying dispute between the parties is one ‘capable of repetition, yet evading review.’ ” New Jersey Turnpike Authority, 772 F.2d at 31. The “capable of repetition, yet evading review” exception is well-established, see Southern Pacific Terminal Co. v. ICC, 219 U.S. 498, 31 S.Ct. 279, 55 L.Ed. 310 (1911), and is triggered when two elements are present: “(1) the challenged action was in its duration too short to be fully litigated prior to its cessation or expiration, and (2) there was a reasonable expectation that the same complaining party would be subjected to the same action again.” Weinstein v. Bradford, 423 U.S. 147, 149, 96 S.Ct. 347, 349, 46 L.Ed.2d 350 (1975) (per curiam); see Murphy v. Hunt, 455 U.S. 478, 482, 102 S.Ct. 1181, 1183-84, 71 L.Ed.2d 353 (1982)

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Bluebook (online)
115 F.R.D. 240, 28 Wage & Hour Cas. (BNA) 256, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2641, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cristiano-v-courts-of-justices-of-the-peace-ded-1987.