United States v. William B. Mandell Co.

242 F. Supp. 873, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6815
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 19, 1965
DocketCiv. A. No. 37441
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 242 F. Supp. 873 (United States v. William B. Mandell Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. William B. Mandell Co., 242 F. Supp. 873, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6815 (E.D. Pa. 1965).

Opinion

HIGGINBOTHAM, District Judge.

Plaintiff has filed this action against the defendant pursuant to Section 3 of 8(d) of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act of 1930, as amended (7 U.S.C. §§ 499c, 499h(d).) In substance it is alleged that although subject to the requirement that it have a Department of Agriculture license pursuant to the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act of 1930, supra, defendant, William B. Man-dell Company, has nevertheless been operating this business without a license since March 1964. In fact, on the record, defendant’s present counsel admitted Mandell’s continuous violation of the Act, in that defendant still daily operates without a license.1

Defendant’s sole defense was predicated on the ground that this wilful violation should not be subject to an injunction because the District Court has discretion to “balance the convenience of the parties and the possible injuries to them as they may be effected by the granting or withholding of the injunction.” (Defendant’s Memorandum of Law, p. 11.) Defendant cites as controlling authority Hecht Company v. Bowles, 321 U.S. 321, 64 S.Ct. 587, 88 L.Ed. 754 (1944), and other cases pertaining to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the National Labor Relations Act, the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, and the Civil Rights Act. I find none of these cases controlling in the instant situation.2

In contrast to defendant’s position that the Court has discretion in this situation, the plaintiff strongly urges that as a matter of law the Court can never refuse to issue an injunction under Section 499h (d) once a continuing violation has been found. Plaintiff’s argument is based on the statutory language which provides that “no person shall” operate without a license, and that “if the court shall find that the defendant is continuing to engage in such business without a valid and effective license, the court shall issue an injunction to restrain such defendant from continuing to engage in or to operate such business without such license.”3 All parties agree that there are no reported cases construing Section 499h(d) as to whether there is any ambit of discretion permitting a District Court to refuse to issue an injunction when there are continuing violations of the statute. But as I view the evidence, the issuance of an injunction here need not be contingent upon whether my obligation is mandatory. Even assuming arguendo, that there is discretion to refuse an injunction, I would nevertheless issue one based [875]*875on the evidence in this case; there are no compelling factors which would persuade me, as a matter of discretion, to not issue an injunction. But to the contrary, the equities favor injunctive relief.

In several cases cited by defendant such as Hecht v. Bowles, supra, the defendants had long since ceased their former violation of the statute; but infractions continue here as certain as night follows day, since defendant still has no license. Thus, the “equity” relied on by defendant is that there is a possibility that the Department of Agriculture’s present refusal to issue him a license may be reversed. But Courts cannot create a presumption of error against the administrative process, and defendant’s situation is no more unusual than that of any other person when an administrative agency on the base line level and the hearing examiner have both made determinations adverse to his claims.

Since, admittedly, the decisions of administrative agencies are sometimes reversed, there is always the possibility that a court may later decide that a specific decision of an executive department or an administrative agency was in error. Under such circumstances, the individual applicant may have sustained an acute or irrevocable financial hardship. Under a perfect system of justice the administrative agency would always be right and thus would always be affirmed on appeal, but even though there is not always perfect justice at the administrative level, defendant’s preference for judicial inaction until the Court of Appeals has decided the administrative matters need not be adopted; for that preference would lead to total chaos in law enforcement in place of the mere possibility of some hardship inherent in the present statutory scheme.

If my ruling sanctions a tough administrative enforcement policy, Congress made that choice inevitable:

“The Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act is admittedly and intentionally a 'tough’ law. It was enacted in 1930 for the purpose of providing a measure of control and regulation over a branch of industry which is engaged almost exclusively in interstate commerce, which is highly competitive, and in which the opportunities for sharp practices, irresponsible business conduct and unfair methods are numerous. The law was designed primarily for the protection of the producers of perishable agricultural products—most of whom must entrust their products to a buyer or commission merchant who may be thousands of miles away, and depend for their payment upon his business acumen and fair dealing—and for the protection of consumers who frequently have no more than the oral representation of the dealer that the product they buy is of the grade and quality they are paying for.”4

Finally, it must be noted that it could take years before a Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court would make the final determination on an administrative denial of a license; if during this interim injunctions were not issued because of the possibility of error at the administrative level, the injunctive provision would become a nullity in terms of meaningful law enforcement. This conclusion seems particularly manifest in the instant case: when the statute was originally passed, the District Court had only the authority to assess fines for the violation of the statute;5 and thus there was the inference that Congress had originally thought that fines would be a sufficient deterrent to eliminate the violations of the statute. This Congressional hope was apparently not found within the reality of enforcement, and thus Congress in 1934 added the alternative injunctive remedy and offered a clear guide to its intention :

“The question has frequently been asked, What action could be taken [876]*876against a licensee whose license was suspended or revoked and who refused to obey the order of suspension or revocation? The act provides a penalty of $500 and $25 a day to be collected through civil suit for operating without a license. Such proceedings might be accompanied by long delays which could tend to defeat the purpose of the act and, moreover, some licensees might elect to pay the penalty rather than suspend business. It is believed, therefore, there should be specific authority to proceed by injunction in such cases.” 6

Defendant further implies that there is an aspect of injustice because defendant is alone being prosecuted by requests for an injunction while the former partners of William B. Mandell have as yet not been prosecuted in the District Court. I do not read the Statute as requiring a District Court Judge to become involved in the delicate administrative decision as to whether the Department of Agriculture should initiate injunctive action against all

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
242 F. Supp. 873, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6815, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-william-b-mandell-co-paed-1965.