Santiago Collazo v. Franqui Acosta

721 F. Supp. 385, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10447, 1989 WL 101083
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedAugust 28, 1989
DocketCiv. 89-363 (JP)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 721 F. Supp. 385 (Santiago Collazo v. Franqui Acosta) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Santiago Collazo v. Franqui Acosta, 721 F. Supp. 385, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10447, 1989 WL 101083 (prd 1989).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

PIERAS, District Judge.

Plaintiffs, the Municipality of Vieques, Puerto Rico, and its mayor (in both her personal and official capacities) brought this action against various officials of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico alleging basically that:

It has been the policy of the Municipal Services Administration and its Administrator and Director of Federal Programs to give preference in assignment of funds [under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5301-5320] to members of the Popular Democratic Party and to discriminate against members of other political parties in violation of Plaintiffs Constitutional rights, laws and regulations. Plaintiff Manuela Santiago Collazo is a member of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico, and the Municipality of Vie-ques is administered by members of the New Progressive Party who won in the 1984 and 1988 municipal elections.

Complaint, paragraph 5.

Plaintiffs base their action on 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983, the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5301-5320 (the HCDA), and the first, fifth, and fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution. They also allege pendent claims arising under the laws of Puerto Rico.

Defendants have filed a motion to dismiss on several grounds. They first summarily contend that § 1981 only applies to racial discrimination, that this Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the pendent claims, and that the complaint fails to allege any sort of claim against Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Justice.

Defendants further contend that the HCDA does not grant plaintiffs a private cause of action enforceable under § 1983, that plaintiff lacks standing in her individual capacity, and that the Municipality of Vieques is not a "person” entitled to sue under § 1983.

Subsequent to the filing of the motion to dismiss, two motions to intervene as plain *388 tiffs were filed (by the same attorneys who represent plaintiffs) on behalf of two low-income residents of Vieques who are “in great need of housing and or economic development” and on behalf of Mayor Santiago in her capacity as President of the New Progressive Party in the Municipality of Vieques. These were also opposed by defendants on the basis that both the original plaintiffs and the intervenors lack standing.

The Court will first address the threshold issue of standing, both of the plaintiffs and the proposed intervenors, and will then consider the other alleged grounds for dismissal.

I. Standing

The doctrine of standing to sue arises out of the requirement in Article III of the constitution for a “case or controversy” to underlie any assertion of federal court jurisdiction. Each plaintiff must allege a sufficient personal stake in the outcome of the controversy. Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 204, 82 S.Ct. 691, 703, 7 L.Ed.2d 663 (1.962). “A federal court’s jurisdiction ... can be invoked only when the plaintiff himself has suffered ‘some threatened or actual injury resulting from the putatively illegal action.’ ” Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 499, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 2205, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975), quoting Linda R.S. v. Richard D., 410 U.S. 614, 617, 93 S.Ct. 1146, 1148, 35 L.Ed.2d 536 (1973). The injury must be such that it “fairly can be traced to the challenged action,” Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 454 U.S. 464, 472, 102 S.Ct. 752, 758, 70 L.Ed.2d 700 (1982), and the injury must be of the kind “likely to be redressed by a favorable decision.” Id. See Playboy Enterprises, Inc., v. Public Serv. Comm’n, 698 F.Supp. 401, 414-15 (D.P.R.1988).

At least three additional requirements for standing, while not constitutionally based, have been imposed by the Supreme Court. First, “generalized grievances” shared by substantially the whole population do not normally warrant the exercise of jurisdiction. Schlesinger v. Reservists to Stop the War, 418 U.S. 208, 217-28, 94 S.Ct. 2925, 2930-35, 41 L.Ed.2d 706 (1974); Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83, 106, 88 S.Ct. 1942, 1955, 20 L.Ed.2d 947 (1968); Warth, 422 U.S. at 499, 95 S.Ct. at 2205. Second, even when an injury sufficient to satisfy the constitutional requirement is alleged, the Court has held that “the plaintiff generally must assert his own legal rights and interests, and cannot rest his claim to relief on the legal rights or interests of third parties.” Warth, 422 U.S. at 499, 95 S.Ct. at 2205. “Finally, the Court has required that the plaintiff's complaint fall within ‘the zone of interests to be protected or regulated by the statute or constitutional guarantee in question.’ ” Valley Forge, 454 U.S. at 475, 102 S.Ct. at 760, quoting Association of Data Processing Serv. Orgs. v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150, 153, 90 S.Ct. 827, 830, 25 L.Ed.2d 184 (1970).

As stated in Warth, 422 U.S. at 501, 95 S.Ct. at 2206; “[o]ne further preliminary matter requires discussion. For purposes of ruling on a motion to dismiss for want of standing, [the Court] must accept as true all material allegations of the complaint, and must construe the complaint in favor of the complaining party.” Moreover, “standing in no way depends on the merits of the plaintiff’s contention that particular conduct is illegal.” Id. at 500, 95 S.Ct. at 2206.

With this framework in mind, we proceed to consider each plaintiff and proposed in-tervenor.

A. Municipality of Vieques

The complaint in this case alleges that, between program years 1985-88, the Municipality of Vieques, under a New Progressive Party (NPP) administration, has received less money under the HCDA than other comparable municipalities administered by the Popular Democratic Party (PDP). This alleged economic loss clearly constitutes a “threatened or actual injury.” “These palpable economic injuries have long been recognized as sufficient to lay the basis for standing.” Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727, 733, 92 S.Ct. 1361, 1365, 31 L.Ed.2d 636 (1972). Discrimina *389

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Bluebook (online)
721 F. Supp. 385, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10447, 1989 WL 101083, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/santiago-collazo-v-franqui-acosta-prd-1989.