Pasquier v. Tarr

318 F. Supp. 1350, 14 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1250, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9869
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedOctober 14, 1970
DocketCiv. A. 70-2056
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 318 F. Supp. 1350 (Pasquier v. Tarr) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pasquier v. Tarr, 318 F. Supp. 1350, 14 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1250, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9869 (E.D. La. 1970).

Opinion

COMISKEY, District Judge.

The plaintiff is a father who received a II-S graduate student deferment from November of 1967 to December of 1968, during which period he was attending a school of law. It is undisputed that the plaintiff has not received a II-S undergraduate student deferment subsequent to June 30, 1967. The defendants are Curtis W. Tarr, Director of Selective Service, James J. O’Donnell, State Director of Selective Service for Louisiana, and the Members of Local Board No. 10 of Selective Service System for Caddo Parish, Louisiana. The plaintiff now seeks to compel the Selective Service Board to give him a III-A fatherhood deferment. The Board has refused to grant him such a classification, basing its denial upon Selective Service Regulation 1622.30(a), 32 C.F.R. § 1622.30 (a), which provides in pertinent part:

“In Class III-A shall be placed any registrant who has a child or children with whom he maintains a bona fide family relationship in their home * * * except that a registrant who is classified in Class II-S after the date of enactment of the Military Selective Service Act of 1967 shall not be eligible for classification in Class III-A under the provisions of this paragraph.”

The validity of this regulation has been called into question by the filing of this suit and by cross-motions for summary judgment which have been brought by the plaintiff and the defendants. Several points have been raised by the parties to this litigation, and a number of these arguments deserve careful consideration.

The plaintiff first argues that we need not reach the merits of this case because he is part of the class defined in Gregory v. Hershey, 311 F.Supp. 1 (E.D.Mich.1969), which case is currently pending on appeal before the Sixth Circuit. 1 In that case, the plaintiffs brought a class action, and the class was defined by the court as “consist [ing] of all Selective Service registrants who have a child or children with whom they maintain a bona fide family relationship in their homes, who are not physicians, dentists or veterinarians or in an allied specialist category as defined by Selective Service Regulations 1622.30(a) (32 C.F.R. § 1622.30(a)), and who have not received an undergraduate II-S deferment under Section 6(h) (l)of the Military Selective Service Act of 1967 (50 U.S.C. App. § 456(h) (1)), but who have received a graduate II-S deferment under Section *1352 6(h) (1) of said Act.” 2 The Court rendered judgment in favor of the above-defined class, holding that Regulation 1622.30(a) is illegal and void.

It is the plaintiff’s contention that he is a member of the class defined in Gregory v. Hershey, and that consequently this court is bound by the Gregory decision under the principle of res judicata. 3 However, it is the holding of this Court that notice was not given to the members of the Gregory class and that such failure to notify constitutes a violation of due process.

First, let us make clear what is not involved here. The court in Gregory held that this was a proper class action under Rule 23(b) (1) and 23(b) (2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 4 Because of this ruling, Rule 23(c) (2), 5 which sets down the notice requirement for Rule 23(b) <3) 6 class actions, is not involved in this case. Rather, the pertinent provision here is Rule 23(d) (2), which provides:

“In the conduct of actions to which this rule applies, the court may make appropriate orders * * * requir *1353 ing, for the protection of the members of the class or otherwise for the fair conduct of the action, that notice be given in such manner as the court may direct to some or all of the members of any step in the action, or of the proposed extent of the judgment, or of the opportunity of members to signify whether they consider the representation fair and adequate, to intervene and present claims or defenses, or otherwise to come into the action * * *»

Evidently, the court in the Gregory case felt that no notice whatsoever was required in this case because of the permissive language of Rule 23(d) (2). The court therefore ruled that “ [notification of members of the class is impractical because of the number of members and the absence of any reasonable way of identifying them * * 7

Whether there should be some kind of notice under Rule 23(d) (2) is a close question. There are authorities who hold the opinion that notice is not required as a matter of due process when the class action is under Rule 23(b) (1) or 23(b) (2) and consequently governed by the notice provisions of Rule 23(d) (2). Rather, these authorities say, “the essential requisite of due process as to absent members of the class is not notice, but the adequacy of representation of their interests by [the] named parties.” Northern Natural Gas Co. v. Grounds, 292 F.Supp. 619, 636 (D.Kan.1968); 3B Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 23.72 at 23-1421-23-1422. However, the one Circuit Court of Appeals which has ruled on this question has decided the point differently from the above authorities. In Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 391 F.2d 555 (2d Cir. 1968), the plaintiff sought to qualify his cause of action under either Rule 23(b) (1) or 23(b) (2) because, according to the court, of the theory that notice is not mandatory under these sections, but only discretionary. The Second Circuit went on to say that the plaintiff’s effort to avoid having the class defined as a Rule 23(b) (3) class action was a futile one because “we hold that notice is required as a matter of due process in all representative actions, and 23(c) (2) merely requires a particularized form of notice in 23(b) (3) actions. Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 70 S.Ct. 652, 94 L.Ed. 865 (1950). Advisory Committee’s Note at 107.” 391 F.2d at 564-565. Later in the opinion, while discussing the notice requirements of Rule 23(c) (2), the court nevertheless made some general observations about the notice in class actions in general which is required by due process:

“While the Supreme Court has recognized that class actions represent an exception to the general rule under which only parties are bound by a judgment, the procedure adopted must conform to the requirements of due process and fairly insure the protection of absent parties who are to be bound. Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32, 42, 61 S.Ct. 115, 85 L.Ed. 22 (1940).

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Bluebook (online)
318 F. Supp. 1350, 14 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1250, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9869, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pasquier-v-tarr-laed-1970.