Panitch v. Wisconsin

76 F.R.D. 608, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13952
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedSeptember 19, 1977
DocketNo. 72-C-461
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 76 F.R.D. 608 (Panitch v. Wisconsin) 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
Panitch v. Wisconsin, 76 F.R.D. 608, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13952 (E.D. Wis. 1977).

Opinion

DECISION and ORDER

The case is presently before us on motions filed by the plaintiff, the defendant Joint City School District, city of Glendale and village of River Hills (Joint School District), and the defendant state of Wisconsin, the state superintendent of public instruction and the state department of public instruction (the state defendants). Each party proposes a different method for disposing of this action.

The plaintiff’s motion seeks five separate orders. First, it requests this court to vacate the stay of proceedings in effect pursuant to the decision and order of this court dated February 26, 1976. Secondly, the plaintiff’s motion seeks an order finding that the plaintiff class is constitutionally entitled to an education at public expense. Third, we are asked to find that the plaintiff class will suffer irreparable harm unless the court orders full implementation of sub-chapter IV of Chapter 115, Wis.Stats. (sub-chapter IV). Fourth, the plaintiff’s motion requests a finding that the defendants have failed to implement subchapter IV with reasonable speed and an order that full implementation occur no later than September 1, 1977. Fifth, the motion asks us to appoint a special master to supervise implementation on a state-wide basis and to provide periodic reports to the court.

The defendant Joint School District filed a motion to dismiss or for summary judgment, seeking alternatively a dismissal of the entire action or a dismissal only as to the Joint School District.

The state defendants’ motions seek: (1) summary judgment dismissing the action as against the state defendants, (2) an order creating a subclass of Wisconsin public elementary-secondary school districts that have not complied with subchapter IV, and (3) an order appointing a master with authority to enforce compliance by the proposed subclass members. On August 3, 1977, the state defendants filed an amended motion for appointment of a master.

By letter dated August 9, 1977, counsel for the Joint School District requested that [610]*610its motion to dismiss be considered prior to the court’s reaching the other pending motions, On August 11,1977, the parties were advised that the court would first resolve the Joint School District’s motion to dismiss and the state defendants’ motion for creation of a subclass. In this decision and order, we do indeed resolve these two motions. Having done so, however, we deem it appropriate to discuss and resolve some of the remaining motions.

We have determined that the defendants’ motions should be denied, and the plaintiff’s motion to vacate the stay of proceedings should be granted. The remaining portion of the plaintiff’s motion, requesting various orders that reach the merits, will be treated as a motion for summary judgment and be disposed of in accordance with a schedule for briefing and oral argument specified herein.

THE JOINT SCHOOL DISTRICT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

The defendant Joint School District contends that the plaintiff’s entire action should be dismissed for failure to state a claim. The movant bases its contention on Snowden v. Hughes, 321 U.S. 1, 64 S.Ct. 397, 88 L.Ed. 497 (1944). In Snowden, the plaintiff claimed that the defendant state election officials failed to follow a state law requiring that a successful primary election candidate be certified for inclusion on the general election ballot. The defendants’ conduct was claimed to constitute “an unequal, unjust and oppressive administration” of state law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment equal protection clause. The trial court dismissed the complaint and the Supreme Court affirmed, holding that:

“The unlawful administration by state officers of a state statute, fair on its face, resulting in its unequal application to those who are entitled to be treated alike, is not a denial of equal protection unless there is shown to be an element of intentional or purposeful discrimination.” 321 U.S. at 8, 64 S.Ct. at 401.

Joint School District urges that subchap-ter IV is constitutionally adequate on its face and that the plaintiff has not alleged intentional or purposeful discrimination. Thus, it is argued, a claim that the state of Wisconsin officials have not complied with subchapter IV fails to establish an equal protection violation.

We are not persuaded that Snowden controls the instant case. Snowden holds that an equal protection question is not raised every time that a state official fails to comply with state law. Accord, Beck v. Washington, 369 U.S. 541, 555, 82 S.Ct. 955, 8 L.Ed.2d 98 (1962).

The case at bar raises a very different equal protection question. The plaintiff commenced this action because the state statutes then in force and the policies of the Wisconsin department of public instruction were claimed to deprive the plaintiff class of their right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. The plaintiff class demands the same opportunity for an education at public expense enjoyed by other children in Wisconsin.

After the commencement of this action, Chapter 89 of the Wisconsin Laws of 1973 became effective, facially satisfying the demands of the plaintiff’s complaint. In a ruling dated February 19, 1974, we held that this action was not mooted by the passage of such legislation; only effective implementation would moot the case. Panitch v. State, 371 F.Supp. 955, 959 (E.D.Wis.1974). The plaintiff class has continued to urge that actual implementation of the statute is constitutionally required. Thus, the plaintiff class claims that the failure to implement subchapter IV constitutes a failure to provide the class with that to which they are constitutionally entitled—an education at public expense. In Snowden, on the other hand, the plaintiff did not claim that he was constitutionally entitled to his place on the election ballot. We therefore find that Snowden does not govern the case at bar.

The defendant Joint School District seeks its dismissal from this action on two other grounds: (1) the case has become moot as to it because it has totally implemented [611]*611subchapter IV and (2) Joint School District is no longer representative of the class of defendants because it has fully implemented the statute.

The plaintiff has conceded that the Joint School District “has probably totally implemented” the pertinent provisions of the statute, stating that “[w]hile there may be individual controversies in specific cases, plaintiffs are unable to demonstrate that the District is not in compliance” with the statute. For this reason, the plaintiff has not opposed the Joint School District’s motion to be dismissed from this action on the ground that it is no longer representative of the class. However, the plaintiff’s agreement in this regard is contingent upon the court’s granting the state defendants’ motions. Since we are rejecting the state defendants’ motions, we assume that the plaintiff’s nonopposition to the Joint School District’s dismissal is withdrawn.

In accordance with our decision herein to reach the constitutional issue, we do not believe that the Joint School District’s compliance provides a basis for its dismissal or for a finding that they are no longer representative of the class of defendant school districts.

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Related

Panitch v. State of Wis.
451 F. Supp. 132 (E.D. Wisconsin, 1978)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
76 F.R.D. 608, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13952, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/panitch-v-wisconsin-wied-1977.