Kitchen v. Crawford

326 F. Supp. 1255, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11130
District Court, N.D. Georgia·Decided June 29, 1970·No. Civ. A. No. 13356·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

ORDER

EDENFIELD, District Judge.

The County Commissioners of Fulton County, Georgia, have refused to issue plaintiff a zoning permit for a trailer park in an area zoned for agriculture. Furthermore, they have initiated prosecution of plaintiff pursuant to Ga.Laws, 1952, p. 2689, on the grounds that plaintiff installed a trailer on his land in violation of the 1965 amendment to the 1955 Fulton County Zoning Resolution. Plaintiff alleges jurisdiction in this court under 28 U.S.C.A. § 1343(3). He claims damages under 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 1983 and 1985(2), (3); he also requests declaratory and injunctive relief because the above-mentioned law and resolution allegedly violate the Federal and Georgia Constitutions. The details are set out below as they become relevant.

By amendment to his complaint, plaintiff requested a three-judge court as provided for by 28 U.S.C. § 2281. The statute challenged by plaintiff (Ga. Laws 1952, p/ 2689) is not a statute of general application throughout the State. Consequently, a three-judge court cannot properly be convened. Moody v. Flowers, 387 U.S. 97, 87 S.Ct. 1544, 18 L.Ed.2d 643 (1967).

Plaintiff alleges jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1343(1), (2) and (3) and grounds his claim of jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3) on his claim for damages and injunctive relief under 42 U.S. [1257] C. § 1983 and his claim for declaratory relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2201. The gravamen of these claims is that the state zoning statute and county zoning resolutions pursuant to which plaintiff’s requested permit was refused deny plaintiff equal protection of the law and due process of law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. In addition, plaintiff alleges that the arbitrary action of the county officials in denying the zoning permit also infringes plaintiff’s Fourteenth Amendment rights.

Plaintiff’s alleged basis for jurisdiction under § 1343(3) is somewhat questionable because of Justice Stone’s statement, concurring in Hague v. CIO, 307 U.S. 496, 59 S.Ct. 954, 83 L.Ed. 1423 (1939), that a district court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 41(14) [now 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3)] of cases where plaintiffs alleged the infringement of a constitutional right “whenever the right or immunity is one of personal liberty, not dependent for its existence upon the infringement of property rights. * * ” 307 U.S. at 531, 59 S.Ct. at 971. This statement has served as the basis for courts concluding, especially in cases challenging state taxation laws, that 28 U.S. C. § 1343(3) does not give jurisdiction in eases where the underlying right is capable of valuation. See, e. g., Bussie v. Long, 383 F.2d 766 (5th Cir. 1967); Abernathy v. Carpenter, 208 F.Supp. 793 (W.D.Mo.1962) (three-judge), aff’d. 373 U.S. 241, 83 S.Ct. 1295, 10 L.Ed.2d 409 (1963). Though the taxation cases do involve rights that are particularly capable of valuation, the property rights-civil rights distinction is not applied with comparable facility in all cases. As one note-writer has observed, the application of the civil rights-property rights distinction might be awkward in the case of a professional speaker who contends his right to free speech was violated, or a person who claims he is the victim of a discriminatory hiring practice. Note, The “Property Rights” Exception to Civil Rights Jurisdiction — Confusion Compounded, 43 N.Y.U.L.Rev. 1208 (1968). Indeed in Hague Justice Stone specifically acknowledged Truax v. Raich, 239 U.S. 33, 36 S.Ct. 7, 60 L.Ed. 131 (1915), in which the Court sustained the district court’s jurisdiction of an alien’s claim that an Arizona law limiting the employment of aliens, denied complainant equal protection of the law. Though this complaint could arguably be valued, Justice Stone said, “[T]he gist of the cause of action was not damage or injury to property, but unconstitutional infringement of a right of personal liberty not susceptible of valuation in money.” 307 U.S. at 531, 59 S.Ct. at 971. Though the Supreme Court’s affirmance without opinion of Abernathy v. Carpenter, supra, is arguably an approval of the application of the civil rights-property rights distinction in determining § 1343(3) jurisdiction, the Court has not had occasion to apply the distinction in one of its opinions since Justice Stone’s concurrence in Hague.

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Kitchen v. Crawford, 326 F. Supp. 1255, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11130 (N.D. Ga. 1970).

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