Steenson v. Marsh

609 F. Supp. 800
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedMay 23, 1985
DocketCiv. A. No. CV85-PT-1150-S
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 609 F. Supp. 800 (Steenson v. Marsh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Steenson v. Marsh, 609 F. Supp. 800 (N.D. Ala. 1985).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

PROPST, District Judge.

This cause comes on to be heard on cross motions to dismiss, or in the alternative, for summary judgment and a trial on the merits. The plaintiff filed a complaint seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunctive relief on April 24, 1985, and on April 25, 1985, the court conducted a hearing, and denied plaintiff’s application for a temporary restraining order. By order of April 26, 1985, the court directed that the trial of the action on the merits be advanced and. consolidated with the hearing of the application for a preliminary injunction pursuant to Rule 65(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. On May 9, 1985, the cause was heard.

Both parties have agreed that the record reflects no genuine issue of material fact and that there can be no such issue. Plaintiff Morris R. Steenson served continuously on active duty with the United States Army for a period of 16 years, 11 months, and 25 [801]*801days, beginning October 9, I960.1 On October 3, 1977, plaintiff was relieved from active duty, and he subsequently received readjustment pay. By later performing periods of active duty for training (ADT) in the United States Army Reserve since his release, plaintiff has accrued more than 18 years of active federal service. As a result, plaintiff argues that he is protected by the following statute from being released from his current ADT tour of duty:

Under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary concerned, which shall be as uniform as practicable, a member of a reserve component who is on active duty and is within two years of becoming eligible for retired pay or retainer pay under a purely military retirement system,2 may not be involuntarily released from that duty before he becomes eligible for that pay, unless his release is approved by the Secretary.

10 U.S.C. § 1163(d). (footnote added).

Defendants initially assert that plaintiff has failed to exhaust available administrative remedies because he did not first seek relief with the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR). See 10 U.S.C. § 1552, 32 C.F.R. § 581.3.

The Supreme Court has identified the purposes of the exhaustion doctrine: (1) avoidance of premature interruption of the administrative process, (2) provision for the agency to apply its expertise and to develop a record, and (3) maintenance of judicial efficiency by elimination of many complaints as may be through the administrative process prior to judicial review. McKart v. United States, 395 U.S. 185, 193-95, 89 S.Ct. 1657, 1662-63, 23 L.Ed.2d 194 (1969).

Plaintiff argues that the instant case falls within an exception to the exhaustion doctrine. See Seepe v. Department of the Navy, 518 F.2d 760, 762. He submits that the question before the court is one of statutory construction, that there is no uncertainty about the facts, and that resort to the appropriate administrative agency would be futile.

“[Military personnel with grievances against the military establishment or its personnel must exhaust the administrative remedies provided by the military service before seeking relief in civilian courts.” Penagaricano v. Llenza, 747 F.2d 55, 61 (1st Cir.1984); see also, Linfors v. United States, 673 F.2d 332 (11th Cir.1982). As noted by several courts, where the gravamen of the complaint is that the service did not follow its regulations in arriving at the contested decision

whether this is viewed as a legal or a factual question, the Army ought to be the primary authority for the interpretation of its own regulations. A decision by the ABCMR that the Army should have followed [the regulation at issue] might completely obviate the need for judicial review. If on the other hand, the ABCMR concludes that [the regulation at issue] is inapplicable to the facts of this case and [the plaintiff serviceman] then seeks judicial review, the court will at least have a definitive interpretation of the regulation and an explication of the relevant facts from the highest administrative body in the Army’s own appellate system. See Nelson v. Miller, 3 Cir., 373 F.2d 474, 480, cert, denied, 1967, 387 U.S. 924, 87 S.Ct. 2042, 18 L.Ed.2d 980; Sohm v. Fowler, 1966, 124 U.S.App.D.C. 382, 365 F.2d 915, 918-919.

Navas v. Vales, 752 F.2d 765, 770-71 (1st Cir.1985) quoting Hodges v. Callaway, 499 F.2d 417, 422 (5th Cir.1974).

Plaintiff argues that appeal to the ABCMR would be an exercise in futility because the Army has already made its [802]*802position clear on 10 U.S.C. § 1163(d). However, as the Hodges court noted:

Hodges would synonomize pessimism with futility, but courts must — at least initially — indulge the optimistic presumption that the military will afford its members the protection vouchsafed by the Constitution, by the statuté and by its own regulations.

499 F.2d at 424. Further, plaintiff is not alleging that the administrative system itself is unlawful, unconstitutional, or incapable of redressing his injury. See Porter v. Schweiker, 692 F.2d 740, 742-44 (11th Cir.-1982).

Courts are generally loath to interfere in military affairs because of concerns for efficiency and agency expertise. Sanders v. McGrady, 537 F.2d 1199, 1201 (4th Cir. 1976). Hence, because of the foregoing, the court finds that plaintiffs failure to exhaust his administrative remedies is fatal to his claim.3

Defendant additionally urges that Mindes v. Seaman, 453 F.2d 197 (5th Cir. 1971) requires the conclusion that this action is non-reviewable.4 The Mindes court adopted a test for determining the reviewability of military matters:

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Related

Ltc. Oliver Donovan Ulmet v. The United States
822 F.2d 1079 (Federal Circuit, 1987)
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10 Cl. Ct. 522 (Court of Claims, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
609 F. Supp. 800, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/steenson-v-marsh-alnd-1985.