Metcalf v. Swank

305 F. Supp. 785, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10074
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedOctober 29, 1969
DocketNo. 68 C 1226
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 305 F. Supp. 785 (Metcalf v. Swank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Metcalf v. Swank, 305 F. Supp. 785, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10074 (N.D. Ill. 1969).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON DEPENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS

ROBSON, District Judge.

The defendants move this court to dismiss the amended complaint in this class action challenging the constitutionality of the Illinois Public Aid Code. The challenged provisions limit the maximum shelter allowance available to public aid recipients to $90 per month,1 but also provide for exceptions to the limitation. Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 23 §§ 12-4.11 and 12-14. The class is comprised of all recipients of public aid in Illinois who are members of a family unit of two or more and who pay more than $90 per month for shelter, but who receive $90 or less from the Cook County and Illinois Departments of Public Aid for this purpose.2 The defendants are Harold O. Swank, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Aid, and William H. Robinson, Director of the Cook County Department of Public Aid. The defendants are charged by law with the enforcement of the Public Aid Code. Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 23 §§ 12-1 and 12-2.

This case was remanded to this court upon the finding by a three-judge court that the statute in question is constitutional on its face. Metcalf v. Swank, 293 F.Supp. 268 (N.D.Ill.1968). For the reasons set forth below, this court is of the opinion the motion to dismiss the amended complaint should be granted.

In Count I of the amended complaint, the plaintiff seeks a judgment declaring the shelter allowance provisions of the Illinois Public Aid Code unconstitutional. However, this issue has been resolved by the three-judge court, Met-calf v. Swank, supra, and is not properly [788]*788before this court. Count I of the amended complaint is therefore dismissed.

In Count II of the amended complaint, the plaintiff seeks a judgment declaring unconstitutional the manner in which the shelter allowance provisions are applied and administered. The plaintiff contends that the administration of these provisions violate the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, as well as the standards set forth in the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.

FAILURE TO EXHAUST AVAILABLE STATE REMEDIES

The Illinois Public Aid Code specifically requires the Illinois Department of Public Aid to "* * * provide a livelihood compatible with health and well-being for persons eligible for financial aid." Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 23 § 12-4.11. The Code provides explicit administrative and judicial appellate procedures to be followed by persons who have been denied aid which such recipients or potential recipients deem necessary for their health and well-being. Since the initiation of this suit, all of the representative plaintiffs except Mrs. Metcalf have obtained exceptions to the rental maximum.3 The remaining representative plaintiff has not pursued any of her available state remedies. An administrative appeal may be taken within 60 days after a decision is rendered by a county department of public aid, or within 30 days after the filing of an application upon which the county department fails to act. Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 23 § 11-8.4 An appellant's case must be reviewed, and the applicant is statutorily entitled to appear in person, to be represented by counsel, and to present all relevant matter in support of a claim. Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 23 § 11-8.1. Generally, a decision on appeal must be rendered within 60 days from the date of the filing of the appeal. Ill.Rev.Stat. 1967, ch. 23 § 11-8.6. Judicial review of an adverse administrative appellate decision is then available in the Illinois courts pursuant to the Administrative Review Act. Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 110 § 264 et seq. Constitutional questions can be raised in a complaint for judicial review. E. g., Winston v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 407 Ill. 588, 95 N.E.2d 864 (1951); Gadlin v. Auditor of Public Accounts, 414 Ill. 89, 110 N.E.2d 234 (1953); Howard v. Lawton, 22 Ill.2d 331, 175 N.E.2d 556 (1961). A suit in mandamus is also available to compel the defendants to perform their duties as prescribed by the Public Aid Code. Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 87 § 1. This court finds the state administrative and judicial remedies available to the plaintiff wholly consistent with the requirements of due process.

The plaintiff contends that she need not exhaust the administrative remedies provided by Illinois law because she is asserting a violation of her civil and constitutional rights, and federal jurisdiction is invoked under 28 U.S.C. § 1343. It is the plaintiff's contention that in all cases where federally protected rights are allegedly violated by a state administrative agency, a complainant may bypass the orderly procedures established by that agency, the procedures for review of the agency’s actions established by state law, and sue its cf. ficers in a federal court at any stage. This court does not agree.

The rule that administrative proceedings must be exhausted prior to resort to judicial relief has been consistently recognized by the Supreme Court. E. g., Alabama Public Service Commission v. Southern Railway Co., 341 U.S. 341, 71 S.Ct. 762, 95 L.Ed. 1002 (1951); Aircraft & Diesel Equipment Corp. v. [789]*789Hirsch, 331 U.S. 752, 67 S.Ct. 1493, 91 L.Ed. 1796 (1947). Recently, the Supreme Court has exempted actions brought under the Civil Rights Act from the exhaustion requirement under certain conditions. McNeese v. Board of Education, 373 U.S. 668, 83 S.Ct. 1433, 10 L.Ed.2d 622 (1963); Damico v. California, 389 U.S. 416, 88 S.Ct. 526, 19 L.Ed.2d 647 (1967); Houghton v. Shafer, 392 U.S. 639, 88 S.Ct. 2119, 20 L.Ed.2d 1319 (1968); King v. Smith, 392 U.S. 309, 88 S.Ct. 2128, 20 L.Ed.2d 1118 (1968). However, this court does not read the foregoing decisions as giving civil rights plaintiffs the unqualified right to bypass state administrative remedies. Not one of the decisions relied upon by the plaintiff presented a situation where there was a speedy, viable state administrative remedy which the plaintiff could have pursued. Under the particular circumstances presented in each case, pursuance of administrative procedures would have been futile. Such is not the case here. The defendants administer a statute constitutional on its face. That statute has built in procedural safeguards, and provides for a speedy determination of administrative appeals. The plaintiff may pursue her administrative appeals without undergoing deprivation of the public assistance funds she presently receives.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
305 F. Supp. 785, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10074, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/metcalf-v-swank-ilnd-1969.