Leist v. Shawano County

91 F.R.D. 64, 33 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 66, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13739
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJune 10, 1981
DocketNo. 80-C-1053
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 91 F.R.D. 64 (Leist v. Shawano County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Leist v. Shawano County, 91 F.R.D. 64, 33 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 66, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13739 (E.D. Wis. 1981).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WARREN, District Judge.

Plaintiffs’ motion for certification of a plaintiff class, a plaintiff subclass and a defendant class under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are currently before the Court. The proposed defendant class is made up of all those governmental entities in Wisconsin responsible for the administration of general relief benefits under Wis.Stat. § 49.02-.03 which have not adopted written standards regarding eligibility, amounts of assistance and application processing procedures. The class includes both counties which have assumed liability of the non-county municipalities under Wis.Stat. § 49.03, and those other municipalities in counties where the county has not assumed liability. The proposed plaintiffs’ class includes all those individuals who are eligible dependent persons as defined in Wis.Stat. § 49.01, and who have applied for general relief benefits, or who will apply for general relief benefits, with the agencies responsible for administering the benefits. Plaintiffs’ proposed subclasses consist of all those members of the plaintiff class who are presently located in Shawano and Douglas counties, the Town of Hull and the City of Antigo. The individual defendants are responsible for the administration of general relief benefits under Wis.Stat. § 49.02.

This action is brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Jurisdiction is alleged under 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3). The plaintiff class seeks a declaratory judgment determining that the failure of the defendant class to provide written standards regarding eligibility, amount of assistance and applicant processing procedures violates the applicants’ due process rights guaranteed by Wis.Stat. Chapter 49 and the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The plaintiff subclasses seek injunctive relief against the individual defendants ordering each of the individual defendants to promulgate and abide by written regulations necessary to protect the plaintiffs’ due process rights. Plaintiffs also request reasonable costs, disbursements and attorney’s fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988.

[67]*67Plaintiffs note that because defendants have filed no briefs opposing the motion for certification of the class, the motion can be deemed unopposed under local rule 6. But regardless of whether defendants register opposition to certification, to maintain a class action, this Court must be satisfied that plaintiffs have met the prerequisites of a class action set out in Rule 23(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and that the action alleged fits within one of the three types of class actions established by rule 23(b). See Baxter v. Palmigiano, 425 U.S. 308, 96 S.Ct. 1551, 47 L.Ed.2d 810 (1976), citing Board of School Commissioners, City of Indianapolis v. Jacobs, 420 U.S. 128, 95 S.Ct. 848, 43 L.Ed.2d 74 (1975). This Court must also make appropriate orders with regard to notice to absent members of the plaintiff and defendant classes.

With respect to the proposed plaintiffs’ class, this Court is satisfied that the four criterion of rule 23(a) have been met. Plaintiffs have shown that the members of the plaintiffs’ class are so numerous that complete joinder is impracticable under rule 23(a)(1). The statistical evidence plaintiff presented estimating the size of the population below the poverty level provides a sufficient basis to infer that the interests of a large class of people are implicated in this litigation. There is no requirement that the size of the class be precisely calculated. See e. g., Singleton v. Drew, 485 F.Supp. 1020, 1021 (E.D.Wis.1980). Especially where the relief sought is declaratory and injunctive, even speculative and conclusory representations as to the size of the class have been held adequate to meet the numerosity requirement. See Doe v. Charleston Area Medical Center, 529 F.2d 638, 648 (4th Cir. 1975). As plaintiffs make clear in their motion, persons eligible for general relief are a constantly shifting class. This lack of ready identifiability supports, rather than detracts from, the impracticability of joinder of the members of the class. 529 F.2d at 645. Moreover, where the class challenge is to widespread administrative procedures and no individual class member has a financial stake likely to provide the incentive for individual litigation, class action status should be granted. Crow v. California Department of Human Resources, 325 F.Supp. 1314, 1316 (N.D.Cal. 1970), cert. denied, 408 U.S. 924, 92 S.Ct. 2495, 33 L.Ed.2d 335 (1972).

Plaintiffs have also demonstrated that there is a question of law common to the class as required under Rule 23(a)(2). Their contention is that a prevalent administrative practice violates the due process rights of all class members. Although factual differences may exist among class members regarding eligibility or amount of assistance, plaintiffs are uniformly impacted by the absence of written criteria for general relief programs. Like v. Carter, 448 F.2d 798 (8th Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 1045, 92 S.Ct. 1309, 31 L.Ed.2d 588 (1972). See also Singleton v. Drew, 485 F.Supp. 1020, 1021 (E.D.Wis.1980) (class actions are particularly appropriate where procedural protections are at issue); Alexander v. Silverman, 356 F.Supp. 1179 (E.D. Wis.1973) (class action is useful to assert constitutional entitlement to written and regularized procedures where general relief is denied).

This Court is also satisfied that the claims and defenses of the representative parties are “typical of the claims or defenses to the class” as required under Rule 23(a)(3). Especially where the deprivation of rights allegedly results from the failure to establish written and regularized procedures, the allegation that applicants are not provided with written program guidelines is sufficient to meet this third requirement. Alexander v. Silverman.

Finally, the Court finds that the plaintiffs are representative parties who will fairly and adequately represent the class as required under rule 23(a)(4).

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Bluebook (online)
91 F.R.D. 64, 33 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 66, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13739, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leist-v-shawano-county-wied-1981.