Wydra v. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration

722 F.2d 834, 232 U.S. App. D.C. 348
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit·Decided December 2, 1983·No. No. 83-1287·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge WALD.

WALD, Circuit Judge:

This is an appeal from a denial of benefits under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Act (PSOBA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 3796-3796e, by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA). We must first determine whether we have jurisdiction to review the LEAA’s decision. Two courts of appeals have previously determined that they did not have jurisdiction to review decisions under the PSOBA, see Russell v. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, 637 F.2d 354 (5th Cir.1981) [hereinafter cited as Elaine Russell]; Lankford v. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, 620 F.2d 35 (4th Cir.1980), while one court has come to the opposite conclusion. See Russell v. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, 637 F.2d 1255 (9th Cir.1980) [hereinafter cited as Donna Sue Russell]. Since these three decisions, Congress has made minor revisions in the sections' construed. We conclude that under the statute as it now stands we do not have jurisdiction to hear this appeal. However, because the United States Claims Court does have jurisdiction, we will transfer this action to the Claims Court.

I. Background

William Wydra, a member of the MetroDade County, Florida, Public Safety Department, accidentally shot and killed himself on or about September 4, 1981, in the course of an overnight trip made in order to accompany an extradited prisoner from New Jersey to Florida. His widow filed a claim with the LEAA for death benefits pursuant to the Public Safety Officer’s Benefits Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3796-3796c.1 The claim was initially denied on April 29, 1982, on the basis of a determination that the injury did not occur “in the line of duty” as required by the statute.2 This determination was reversed by a hearing officer after a hearing conducted pursuant to agency regulations.3 However, on January 24, 1983, the Acting Administrator of the LEAA rendered a final agency decision against the claimant, finding that Officer Wydra’s death did not occur in the line of duty.4 The petitioner then filed an action in this court for judicial review of the LEAA’s denial of benefits.

[350]*350II. Jurisdiction

The LEAA contends that this court is without jurisdiction to review its decision. It argues that no provision for judicial review appears in the PSOBA and that the legislative history indicates no congressional intent to provide for judicial review in this court. It argues further that section 3785, relied on by the petitioner, establishes jurisdiction in the court of appeals only to review decisions concerning the various law enforcement grants administered pursuant to subchapters I through VII, and not decisions concerning benefits under the PSO-BA, contained in subchapter XII. We agree.

This court has only the jurisdiction conferred upon it by Congress. See, e.g., American Federation of Labor v. NLRB, 308 U.S. 401, 404, 60 S.Ct. 300, 302, 84 L.Ed. 347 (1940); Elaine Russell, 637 F.2d at 355. There is nothing in the language or legislative history of the PSOBA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3796-3796c, concerning judicial review or the forum in which it shall be granted. The claimant therefore relies on 42 U.S.C. § 3785,5 the provision governing appellate review under certain sections of chapter 46, concerning “Justice System Improvements,” in which the PSOBA is codified. Although section 3785 does not explicitly apply to benefits decisions under section 3796, the claimant argues that it may reasonably be construed to extend to those decisions.

Under the predecessor of section 3785, 42 U.S.C. § 3759,6 the circuits were divided on the question of whether its provisions for judicial review applied to final LEAA decisions denying benefits under the PSOBA sections of chapter 46. The Fourth Circuit decided in Lankford, 620 F.2d 35, that neither section 3759 nor any other section of chapter 46 conferred jurisdiction on the circuit courts to review decisions under the PSOBA.

The Ninth Circuit reached a contrary conclusion, however, in Donna Sue Russell, 537 F.2d 1255. The court assumed that if it were without jurisdiction then no court would have jurisdiction. Id. at 1259. Relying heavily upon the presumption against the wholesale preclusion of review of agency action,7 the court construed what it read as the ambiguous language and inconclusive legislative history of section'3759 to confer jurisdiction on the circuit courts to review decisions under the PSOBA. See id. at 1259-60.

Shortly thereafter, the Fifth Circuit decided Elaine RuSsell, 637 F.2d 354, in which it agreed with the Fourth Circuit decision in Lankford that it had no jurisdiction. Id. at 356-57. Although the court in Elaine Russell did not take note of the Donna Sue Russell decision, it noted, contrary to that decision, that the case could be heard by the United States Court of Claims; it was thus unencumbered by the presumption against precluding judicial review. The court accordingly transferred the action to the Court of Claims.8

[351]*351We are faced with a slightly different statutory scheme than that which gave rise to this split among the circuits. On December 27, 1979, Congress enacted the Judicial System Improvement Act, which revised and reorganized statutes governing the LEAA and related federal agencies. Pub.L. No. 96-157, 93 Stat. 1167-1223, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3701-3797. This enactment did not change PSOBA sections 3796 through 3796c. However, it did reorganize the sections to which the Fourth, Fifth and Ninth Circuits looked to determine whether the circuit courts had jurisdiction.

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Wydra v. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, 722 F.2d 834, 232 U.S. App. D.C. 348 (D.C. Cir. 1983).

722 F.2d 834 (Wydra v. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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