# Mathis v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

> Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · December 20, 1989 · 891 F.2d 1429

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8976060

## Case

- **Full name:** James MATHIS Ronald Hassard Allen Schofield Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 1464 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 639 v. PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY Nuclear Regulatory Commission, an Agency of the United States of America
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- **Decided:** December 20, 1989
- **Citations:** 891 F.2d 1429; 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 19092
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurring in part by Scannlain
- **Judges:** Canby, Scannlain, Wiggins
- **Cited by:** 18 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8976060

## Opinion text

O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge,
concurring and dissenting:
I generally concur in the court’s opinion, but I respectfully dissent from that portion which reverses the district court’s order dismissing Mathis’s claim for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
In my view, the dismissal was proper because Mathis has not shown that the NRC “is responsible for the specific conduct of which [he] complains.” Blum v. Yaretsky, 457 U.S. 991, 1004 , 102 S.Ct. 2777, 2786 , 73 L.Ed.2d 534 (1982) (emphasis in original). Mathis relies upon an NRC policy statement which was published one year after he was denied access to Diablo Canyon. While Mathis has alleged pressures from the NRC prior to publication, such pressures, even if proven, do not rise to the level of governmental “coercion” or “responsibility” which is required under established Supreme Court precedents. See id.; Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co., 419 U.S. 345 , 95 S.Ct. 449 , 42 L.Ed.2d 477 (1974). Because I find no governmental *1436 action, I believe the district court was correct in dismissing Mathis’s claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8976060. Public record. Not legal advice.