Opinion

Sanders v. United States

  • 594 F.2d 804
  • 219 Ct. Cl. 285
  • 1979 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 66
Court
United States Court of Claims
Filed
Feb 21, 1979
Status
Published
Author
Friedman
On the bench
Bennett, Davis, Friedman, Kashiwa, Kunzig, Nichols, Smith
Cited by
431 cases

Superseded by statute, as recognized in Stephen W. Richey v. United States

holding that even if a court disagrees with a correction board’s conclusion “about whether or not a specific situation was unjust, [it] will not substitute [its] judgment for the board’s when reasonable minds could reach differing conclusions.”

How later courts described this case

  • holding that even if a court disagrees with a correction board’s conclusion “about whether or not a specific situation was unjust, [it] will not substitute [its] judgment for the board’s when reasonable minds could reach differing conclusions.”
  • concluding that OERs challenged by the officer did not fairly portray his record and stating that "upon his corrected record,” the officer should be given restoration to active duty and reconsideration for promotion by a selection board
  • stating that § 204 "confers on an officer the right to the pay of the rank he was appointed to up until he is properly separated from the service" and serves as the basis for Tucker Act jurisdiction where a discharge is wrongful
  • stating that § 204 “confers on an officer the right to pay of the rank he was appointed to up until he is properly separated from the service” and serves as the basis for Tucker Act jurisdiction where a discharge is wrongful

Written by the judges who cited it.

Later courts went against this

  • Superseded by statute, as recognized in Stephen W. Richey v. United States

    ” Clayton v. United States, 225 Ct.Cl. 593, 595 (1980) (citing Sanders v. United States, 219 Ct.Cl. 285, 594 F.2d 804, 810 (1979) (en banc), superseded by statute as stated in Richey v. United States, 322 F.3d 1317 (Fed.Cir.2003)).
    Court of Appeals for the Federal CircuitMar 11, 2003by statutemedium confidenceRead it

Distinguished

  • Distinguished by Cohn v. United States, 15 Cl. Ct. 778 (1988)

    However, Sanders is readily distinguishable.
    United States Court of ClaimsNov 21, 1988Read it
  • Distinguished by Horn v. United States, 671 F.2d 1328 (1982)

    The "harmless error” rule of Sanders v. United States, 219 Ct. Cl. 285, 309-10, 594 F.2d 804, 818 (1979), is inapplicable to this defect in the composition of the STAB.
    United States Court of ClaimsFeb 24, 1982Read it
  • Distinguished by Evensen v. United States, 654 F.2d 68 (1981)

    The "harmless error” rule of Sanders v. United States, 219 Ct. Cl. 285, 309-10, 594 F.2d 804, 818 (1979), is inapplicable to this defect in the composition of the STAB.
    United States Court of ClaimsJul 1, 1981Read it

The opinion

FRIEDMAN, Chief Judge,

concurring.

I join in Parts I, II and III of the court’s opinion. I join in Part IV on my understanding that the court is holding only that on the particular facts of this case, the Correction Board committed legal error by not removing plaintiffs three passovers for promotion to temporary major from his file. The significant facts in this case for me are that the two permanent major selection boards that passed over petitioner rated him at the very cutoff point for selection, that the invalidated OERs constituted a significant number of the total OERs the Correction Boards had before them (four out of 21, or almost 20 percent), and that when the three subsequent selection boards considered but rejected plaintiff for promotion there was no explanation in his file of the absence of the eliminated OERs. As I understand its opinion, the court is not deciding that in other circumstances the refusal or the failure of a Correction Board to void passovers where the officer’s file contains one or more invalidated OERs would constitute legal error that the court should correct.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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