Pangilinan v. Castro

2 N. Mar. I. Commw. 366
CourtDistrict Court, Northern Mariana Islands
DecidedNovember 4, 1985
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 79-0006
StatusPublished

This text of 2 N. Mar. I. Commw. 366 (Pangilinan v. Castro) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, Northern Mariana Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pangilinan v. Castro, 2 N. Mar. I. Commw. 366 (nmid 1985).

Opinion

DECISION GRANTING PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

I. Background

The pertinent history of this case has been adequately set forth by the Ninth Circuit in Smith v. Pangilinan, 651 F.2d 1320 (9th Cir. 1981) and in Pangilinan v. Castro, 688 F.2d 610 (9th Cir. 1982). The facts as they are relevant to this motion •will be briefly reNiewed here.

The named plaintiffs, represent a class of eighty-fiNe individuals who renounced their Filipino citizenship In order to qualify for citizenship in the new Commonwealth. These indiwid-[369]*369uals were certified eligible to vote in the first election of the officers of the new Commonwealth government by the Board of Elections which was established under the Election Act of 1977. The Election Act set standards for eligibility to vote by incorporating by reference the requirements for "interim United States citizenship" set forth in Section 8 of the Schedule on Transitional Matters 'in the Commonwealth Constitution. These eligibility requirements were substantively identical to those of United Spates citizenship set forth in the Covenant. Pangilinan v. Castro, 688 F.2d at 612. Section 301 of the Covenant provides:

Section 301. The following persons and their children under the age of 18 years on the effective date of this Section, who are not citizens or nationals of the United States under any other provision of law, and who on that date do not owe allegiance to any foreign state, are declared to be citizens of the 'United States, except as otherwise provided in Section 302:
(a) all persons born in the Northern Mariana Islands who are citizens of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands on the day preceding the effective date of this Section, and who on that date are domiciled in the Northern Mariana Islands or in the United States or any territory or possession thereof;
(b) all persons who are citizens of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands on the day preceding the effective date of this Section, who have been domiciled continuously in the Northern Mariana Islands for at least five years immediately prior to that date, and who, unless under age, registered to vqte in elections for the Mariana Islands District Legislature or for any municipal election in the Northern Mariana Islands prior to January 1, 1975; and
[370]*370(c) all persons domiciled in the Northern Mariana Islands on the day preceding the effective date of this Section, who, although not citizens of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, on that date have been domiciled continuously in the Northern Mariana Islands beginning prior to January 1, 1974.1

The plaintiffs qualified under the section of the Election Act which duplicates the standards of Section 301(c), the Election Board having certified that the plaintiffs had satisfied the eligibility requirements.

In 1978, the newly elected Commonwealth legislature adopted the "Certificate of Identity Act of 1978" which, according to the title of the Act, was intented to

"establish a procedure for the issuance of a Certificate of Identity to all persons in the Northern Mariana Islands who will derive citizenship of the United States of America upon termination of the Trusteeship Agreement and who are entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in, ,the several states of the United States.” — ' [emphasis added]

Smith v. Pangilinan, 651 F.2d at 1322.

The plaintiffs' applications for Certificates of Identity were denied based on .the determination of Francisco C. Castro, then Chief of the Immigration Division, that the plaintiffs did not meet the domicile requirements of the Identity Act, notwithstanding the previous determination of the Board of [371]*371Elections to the contrary. This action followed.

On .September 20, 1982, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the summary judgment decision of this Court which held that the Division of Immigration is effectively the successor agency to the Board of Elections and as such is barred by the doctrine of administrative res judicata from attempting to redetermine the issue of domicile. Pangilinar v. Castro, supra. The Certificates have been issued. The question now before the Court is whether the United States should be estopped from attempting to readjudicate the issue of the plaintiffs' domicile before granting the plaintiff Certificate holders the rights of United States citizenship.

II. Standard of Review

Summary judgment is appropriate only if it is demonstrated that there exists no genuine dispute as to any material fact and movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. U.S. v. First National Bank of Circle., 652 F.2d 882, 887 (9th Cir. 1981). The Court must construe the pleadings, other record evidence and its attendant inferences most favorably to the party opposing the motion. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 816, n.26, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2737, n.26., 73 L.Ed.2d 396, 409 n.26 (1982). A genuine factual issue may .exist only if a viable legal theory would entitle plaintiffs to judgment if they prove their asserted version of the facts. Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo v. Fiat Distributors. 637 F.2d 1376, 1381 (9th Cir. 1981), cert, denied, 454 U.S. 831, 102 S.Ct. 128, 70 L.Ed.2d 109 (1981).

[372]*372III. Equitable Estoppel

"Estoppel is an equitable doctrine designed to protect the legitimate expectations of those who have relied to their detriment upon the conduct of another." Russell v. Texas Co., 283 F.2d 636, 640 (9th Cir. 1956), cert. denied. 354 U.S. 938, 77 S.Ct. 1400, L.Ed.2d 1537 (1957). Though traditionally estoppel 2/ was not available against the government,2 Utah Power and Light Co. v. United States. 243 U.S. 389, 37 S.Ct. 387, 61 L.Ed. 791 (1917), the modern trend is to ignore the distinction between government and private person and permit estoppel against the government where justice and fair play require it. United States v. Lazy FC Ranch. 481 F.2d 985, 988 (9th Cir. 1973); Hansen v. Harris, 619 F.2d 942 (2nd Cir. 1980); Becker's Motor Transportation Inc. v. IRS, 632 F.2d 242 (3rd Cir. 1980); United States v. Fox Lake State Bank, 366 F.2d 962 (7th Cir. 1966).

The Ninth Circuit adopted the California test for estoppel in California State Board, of Equalization v. Coast Radio Products, 228 F.2d 520 (9th Cir. 1955).

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