Opinion

International Workers Order, Inc. v. Clark

  • 88 F. Supp. 873
  • 1949 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1935
Court
District Court, District of Columbia
Filed
Apr 12, 1949
Status
Published
Author
McGuire
On the bench
McGuire
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 15.3%

The opinion

McGUIRE, District Judge.

Motion to dismiss granted.

Plaintiff has no standing to sue. It is hornbook law that in order to maintain an action of an equitable character, plaintiff must show unlawful invasion of some legally protected right. Stark v. Wickard, 1944, 321 U.S. 288 , 64 S.Ct. 559 , 88 L.Ed. 733 . And it is equally true that not all governmental action, harmful though it admittedly may be to particular individuals, is susceptible of judicial review. Perkins v. Lukens Steel Co., 310 U.S. 113, 125 , 60 S.Ct. 869 , 84 L.Ed. 1108 ; Tennessee Electric Power Company v. T.V.A., 306 U.S. 118, 137 , 59 S.Ct. 366 , 83 L.Ed. 543 , and see particularly Standard Computing Scale Company v. Farrell, 249 U.S. 571 , 39 S.Ct. 380 , 63 L.Ed. 780 .

Columbia Broadcasting System v. U.S., 316 U.S. 407 , 62 S.Ct. 1194 , 86 L.Ed. 1563 , relied upon heavily by the plaintiff is distinguishable. There the Court held that the administrative exercise of rule-making power which purports to establish controlling (italics supplied) criteria for future administrative action is present regulation and reviewable as such under the Urgent Deficiencies Act. The Attorney General’s action here establishes no such criteria. It merely sets up an evidentiary rule. See generally, Employers Group v. National War Labor Board, 1944, 79 U.S.App. D.C. 105, 143 F.2d 145 , the language on page 151 being particularly pertinent-: “Appellants’ demand that we annul and enjoin the Board’s order therefore amounts to a demand that we prevent the Board from giving the President advice which appellants contend would be erroneous. A court might as well be asked to prevent the Secretary of State or the Attorney General from giving alleged erroneous advice. * * *” See also, United States v. Los Angeles & S. L. Railroad Co., 273 U.S. 299, 310, 311, 312 , 47 S.Ct. 413 , 71 L.Ed. 651 .

The motion for leave to intervene and to add defendants is denied.

Counsel will prepare proper Order.

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.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.