Kitchen v. Crawford

326 F. Supp. 1255, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11130
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedJune 29, 1970
DocketCiv. A. No. 13356
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 326 F. Supp. 1255 (Kitchen v. Crawford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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

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]*1257C. § 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.

However, a district court considering its § 1343(3) jurisdiction in the Fifth Circuit is not writing on a clean slate but rather on a palimpsest. In McGuire v. Sadler, 337 F.2d 902 (5th Cir. 1964), the plaintiff alleged the Texas Land Commissioner and others conspired to fraudulently deprive plaintiff of his land. The Fifth Circuit held the district court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1343 (3) as well as § 1331 though the damage was capable of valuation. In Hornsby v. Allen, 326 F.2d 605 (5th Cir. 1964), the plaintiff alleged the denial of her liquor license violated plaintiff’s Fourteenth Amendment right to due process and equal protection of the law. The Court noted that plaintiff had not sought to invoke § 1331 jurisdiction and concluded § 1343(3) jurisdiction was present. In Mansell v. Sanders, 372 F.2d 573 (5th Cir. 1967), the plaintiff alleged that the method by which the County Commissioners denied plaintiff’s application for a garbage franchise denied plaintiff due process and equal protection of the law. The court noted no federal question jurisdiction was alleged and concluded the district court had jurisdiction under § 1343(3). In Holloway v. Department of [1258]*1258Housing and Urban Development, 418 F.2d 242 (5th Cir. 1969), plaintiffs claimed deprivation of due process of law in the administration of tenant regulations in public housing. The district court viewed the matter as a breach of contract suit and dismissed the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The Fifth Circuit reversed, holding the complaint alleged a cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and noting that “jurisdiction, in that event, is premised on 28 U.S.C.A. § 1343(3).” 418 F.2d at 243.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
326 F. Supp. 1255, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11130, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kitchen-v-crawford-gand-1970.