Davis v. Reagan

485 F. Supp. 1255
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Iowa
DecidedMarch 19, 1980
DocketCiv. 78-106-D
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 485 F. Supp. 1255 (Davis v. Reagan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. Reagan, 485 F. Supp. 1255 (S.D. Iowa 1980).

Opinion

RULING AND ORDER

STUART, Chief Judge.

This matter came to trial before the Court on January 17, 1980. At such time, the parties filed a Stipulation of Facts, and as a result, no material facts are disputed. Appearances are noted in the Clerk’s minutes.

The Iowa Department of Social Services (hereinafter “IDSS”) administers the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (hereinafter “AFDC”) program for which it receives federal moneys. The AFDC program is designed to provide financial assistance to families with dependent children in financial need in cases where one parent is dead, absent from the home, incapacitated or unemployed. As a corollary to the* AFDC program, Congress created the WIN program which is an employment and employment referral program for AFDC families. In Iowa, the WIN program is operated through the Iowa Department of Job Services pursuant to an agreement between such agency and the Secretary of Labor. In some counties, the WIN program is mandatory. In other counties, it may be voluntary or non-operational. In mandatory WIN counties, nonexempt AFDC persons must register in the WIN program to receive AFDC benefits. AFDC persons in voluntary WIN counties may register in the WIN program, or with the Job Service of Iowa in its capacity as' a state public employment agency to qualify for benefits.

Robert Davis initiated this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201-2202 and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, requesting declaratory and injunc-tive relief on behalf of himself, his wife, their minor children, and all persons similarly situated. In his complaint, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant Commissioner of IDSS, presently Michael Reagan as successor .to Victor Preisser, improperly terminated all AFDC payments to his family under the unemployed fathers component of the AFDC program because he was “der-egistered” from the WIN program for his failure to participate.

The plaintiff contends that the defendant’s actions pursuant to the above-mentioned state regulations were invalid (1) as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (a) because deregis-tration of a parent for failure to participate in WIN without good cause deprives all members of the needy family of AFDC while deregistration of caretaker relatives other than a parent for the same reason only reduces AFDC payments because such relatives needs are not considered in computing the amount; (b) because AFDC assistance is terminated to the innocent family members when a parent refuses an employment offer, but not if AFDC qualification is based on the parent’s death, continued absence or incapacity; (2) as a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because needy dependent children are punished for the alleged wrongdoing of their fathers; and (3) as *1257 void under the Supremacy Clause because the state standards are inconsistent with the federal standards set forth in 42 U.S.C. § 602 and 45 C.F.R. § 224.51 (1978). The parties stipulate that Davis’s termination was based upon his refusal of an offer of employment and Section IV-D of the IDSS Employees Manual which requires termination of AFDC-UF benefits to all family members where the unemployed parent refuses an offer of employment without good cause. There is no dispute that Davis in fact refused employment without good cause or that the procedures outlined in the IDSS manual were properly followed.

On December 13,1979, the Court granted Jane Jensen’s Application to Intervene and her complaint was filed December 20, 1979. In this complaint, the plaintiff-intervenor alleges that the family’s AFDC benefits were improperly terminated as a result of her husband’s refusal without good cause of an offer of employment. The parties stipulate that Russell Jensen, the plaintiff-inter-venor’s husband, registered with the Job Service of Iowa in its capacity as a state public employment office since his county of residence was a voluntary WIN area. Upon questioning by the Court, the defendant’s counsel admitted that Jensen was registered with Job Service at the time benefits to himself and his family were terminated, and therefore, was not deregistered. As was the case with the plaintiff, there is no dispute that Russell Jensen refused without good cause an offer of employment. As defendant does not claim any authority to “deregister” a person registered with Job Service, Davis and Jensen are not identically situated. This distinction, however, is not significant under the courts view and further reference to plaintiffs will apply to both.

JURISDICTION

The Court will first consider the defendant’s jurisdictional challenge. The complaint alleges that jurisdiction is conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3), (4), and states that the action is authorized by 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The defendant contends that Chapman v. Houston Welfare Rights Org., 441 U.S. 600, 99 S.Ct. 1905, 60 L.Ed.2d 508 (1979) requires the Court to find it lacks jurisdiction because (1) section 1983, found to be remedial and not substantive in nature, does not provide for the “protection of civil rights, . . . ” within the meaning of § 1343(3), and (2) the allegation of incompatibility between federal and state statutes does not give rise to a claim “secured by the Constitution” within section 1343(3). In Chapman, however, the plaintiffs failed to assert any constitutional claim. The plaintiffs in the present matter allege that the defendant’s actions were taken in violation of the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. In Hagans v. Lavine, 415 U.S. 528, 536-37, 94 S.Ct. 1372, 1378-79, 39 L.Ed.2d 577 (1974), the Supreme Court held that a constitutional claim will support pendant jurisdiction if such claim is not “wholly insubstantial”, “obviously frivolous”, or “no longer open to question”. The Court is of the opinion that the constitutional claims asserted in this case are sufficient to satisfy this standard. The Court, therefore, has jurisdiction to consider the constitutional claims pursuant to section 1343(3), and may exercise pendant jurisdiction over the plaintiffs’ other claims.

CLASS CERTIFICATION

Because the Court has found that it has jurisdiction to consider this matter, the Court must next consider the plaintiff’s request for class certification. The plaintiffs in their Class Action Memorandum filed January 15, 1980, state that they bring the action on behalf of themselves and the following persons:

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Related

Norman v. McMahon
225 Cal. App. 3d 1450 (California Court of Appeal, 1990)
Davis v. Reagen
630 F.2d 1299 (Eighth Circuit, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
485 F. Supp. 1255, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-reagan-iasd-1980.