Federación De Coop. De Crédito De Puerto Rico v. Burgos

366 F. Supp. 1321
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedSeptember 14, 1973
DocketCiv. No. 536-73
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 366 F. Supp. 1321 (Federación De Coop. De Crédito De Puerto Rico v. Burgos) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Federación De Coop. De Crédito De Puerto Rico v. Burgos, 366 F. Supp. 1321 (prd 1973).

Opinion

366 F.Supp. 1321 (1973)

FEDERACION de COOPERATIVAS de CREDITO de PUERTO RICO, Plaintiff,
v.
Alberto E. BURGOS, Administrator of the Cooperative Development Administration of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Defendant,
v.
Abimael HERNANDEZ et al., Intervenors.

Civ. No. 536-73.

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

September 14, 1973.

*1322 Federico A. Cordero, Santurce, P. R., for plaintiff.

Atty. Gen. of Puerto Rico, through Jaime A. Rodriguez, Old San Juan, P. R., for defendant.

Jaime Pieras, Hato Rey, P. R., for intervenor.

OPINION

TOLEDO, District Judge.

This cause, stemming from receivership proceedings initiated by defendant against plaintiff, under Section 931f of Title 5, Laws of Puerto Rico Annotated, is before the Court pursuant to plaintiff's second amended complaint of July 17, 1973 (based upon Title 28, United States Code, Sections 2281 and 2284; Title 42, United States Code, Section 1983, and its jurisdictional counterpart; as well as upon several provisions of the Constitution of the United States, the Bankruptcy Act, Title 11, United States Code, Section 1, et seq., and Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure); intervenors' amended complaint of August 7, 1973 (based on some jurisdictional grounds as *1323 plaintiff's amended complaint); and defendant's motion to dismiss the complaints.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The present cause has become a very protracted one because of the manner in which the pleadings came to the attention of the Court. On June 13, 1973, plaintiff filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment. Additionally, it filed an application requesting this Court to stay receivership proceedings to be initiated against it. This Court, on the same day, denied plaintiff's application and ordered the defendant to show cause why plaintiff's request should not be granted. An appearance was made by the parties on June 18, 1973, at which time plaintiff, realizing that its requested relief could only be granted by a Court of three judges, convened pursuant to Title 28, United States Code, Section 2284, announced it would file an amended complaint; thus forcing the Court to continue the hearing on its jurisdiction.

On June 21, 1973, plaintiff filed the amended complaint seeking declaratory and injunctive relief and, on June 22, 1973, filed a petition for a temporary restraining order. The defendant, on June 22, 1973, filed a memorandum of law which this Court considers as a memorandum in support of an oral motion to dismiss the amended complaint for lack of jurisdiction. On June 25, 1973, plaintiff filed a memorandum in support of its amended complaint. On a hearing held on June 27, 1973, plaintiff's counsel again requested permission to file amended complaint; this time to allege a denial of due process on the part of defendant as a cause of action under Title 42, United States Code, Section 1983. The Court granted the request and continued the hearing. On the same hearing, the Court, in view of the fact that the administrative hearing then scheduled by defendant was continued, postponed its consideration of the motion for temporary restraining order.

The announced second amended complaint was filed by plaintiff on July 2, 1973, with a memorandum of law in support of the due process contentions. A reply to plaintiff's due process contention was filed by defendant on July 13, 1973.

The case was again called on July 18, 1973 for a hearing, at which opportunity the members of the Board of Directors of plaintiff requested and were granted leave to file an intervenors' complaint seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Plaintiff, on July 30, 1973, filed a second memorandum of law on the procedural due process contentions and on July 31, 1973, defendant submitted his final memorandum in support of his motion to dismiss plaintiff's complaints, as well as intervenors (who reiterated all stated and alleged by plaintiff). The intervenors, on August 7, 1973, filed an amended complaint with a supporting brief.

On August 16, 1973, defendant filed a motion for appropriate relief. The Court set the motion for hearing on September 4, 1973. As a result of a conference in chambers on the last set date, mentions on the part of plaintiff of events not alleged in its second amended complaint, are to be entertained by this Court as additions to the allegations of the said amended complaint.

BASIC FACTS

This cause originates from the fact that by letter of June 7, 1973, defendant Alberto E. Burgos, acting in his official capacity as Administrator of the Cooperative Development Administration, advised plaintiff that, in view of the results of an investigation performed by the Inspector of Cooperatives of Puerto Rico concerning certain business transactions carried out by plaintiff, he had decided to institute receivership proceedings against it, under the provisions of Section 7 of Act No. 89 of 1966, Title 5, Laws of Puerto Rico Annotated, Section 931f. Plaintiff then sought judicial protection by filing this action.

*1324 THE CAUSE OF ACTION UNDER SECTION 2281 OF TITLE 28, UNITED STATES CODE

Plaintiff and intervenors pray that this Court convene a three judge court pursuant to Title 28, United States Code, Section 2284, to have Section 7 of the Act No. 89 of 1966, Title 5, Laws of Puerto Rico Annotated, Section 931f,[1] declared unconstitutional. The mentioned Section is said to be unconstitutional because, movants allege, Congress has placed the matter covered by the Section under a single uniform federal regulatory scheme, the Bankruptcy Act, Title 11, United States Code, Section 1, et seq. Accordingly, movants also pray that the intervention of the Administrator of the Cooperative Development Administration be declared, by the three judge court, to be prohibited by the alleged preemption of the field by the Bankruptcy Act; and that the three judge court issue a preliminary and permanent injunction against the enforcement of the Act. Meanwhile, they request this Court issue a temporary restraining order restraining defendant, his agents or employees, from initiating receivership administrative proceedings, against them until a hearing is held before a three judge court on their application for injunctive and declaratory relief.

This Court has repeatedly stated: that whenever a petition to convene a three judge court pursuant to Section 2284 of Title 28, United States Code, is filed before it, the original inquiry it has to make before it decides to convene the requested court is whether the complaint complies with the requirements of the statute involved, (in this case of Section 2281 of Title 28, United States Code); that we are obliged to treat the statutes of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as if Puerto Rico were a state for purposes of Section 2281 jurisdiction; that the state statute challenged must be challenged so that a substantial constitutional claim be at issue; and that the challenged statute must have a statewide applicability, Marin v. University of Puerto Rico (D.C.P.R.1972), 346 F. Supp. 470, 481-482; Suarez v. Administrador Del Deporte Hipico (D.C.P.R.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
366 F. Supp. 1321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federacion-de-coop-de-credito-de-puerto-rico-v-burgos-prd-1973.