Petition for Writ of Certiorari — International Primate Protection League v. Administrators of Tulane Ed. Fund
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90-8 9 '
NO.
In the ) maa
Supreme Court of the United States
OCTOBER TERM, 1990
INTERNATIONAL PRIMATE PROTECTION
LEAGUE AND ITS MEMBERS, PEOPLE FOR THE
ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS AND ITS
MEMBERS, ALEX PACHECO, AND LOUISIANA IN
SUPPORT OF ANIMALS AND ITS MEMBERS
Petitioners
V.
ADMINISTRATORS OF TULANE EDUCATIONAL
FUND, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH AND
THE INSTITUTES FOR
BEHAVIOR RESOURCES, INC.
Respondents
PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
MARGARET E. WOODWARD
BAR NO. 13677
610 Poydras St., Suite 318
New Orleans, LA 70130
Phone: 504-525-9538
Attorney For Petitioners Interna-
tional Primate Protection League
and its Members, People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals
and its Members, Alex Pacheco,
and Louisiana in Support of
Animals and its Members
A B Letter Service, Inc., 327 Chartres St., New Orleans, La. (504) 581-5555
-~ sf
i
QUESTIONS PRESENTED FOR REVIEW
Whether the Fifth Circuit properly ruled that a
federal agency may remove to federal court a non-
federal action brought against it in state court.
28 U.S.C. Sec. 1442 provides that an action
against an officer is removable and there are con-
flicting decisions from other circuits that a suit
against a government agency, as distinguished
from a suit against a federal official, is not
removable under this section.
Whether the Fifth Circuit properly ruled that the
National Institutes of Health had sufficient in-
terest in this action to remove it to federal court,
based on the NIH’s untested assertions of in-
terest and without allowing the discovery ordered
by the district court on this issue to proceed.
Whether the Fifth Circuit properly ruled that
animal protection groups lacked standing to pro-
ceed with their state law claims without con-
sideration of the nature and sources of the claims
asserted.
ii
LIST OF PARTIES
International Primate Protection League and
Its Members - Petitioner
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
and Its Members - Petitioner
Alex Pacheco - Petitioner
Louisiana in Support of Animals and Its
Members - Petitioner
Administrators to Tulane Educational Fund -
Respondent
National Institutes of Health - Respondent
Institutes for Behavior Resources, Inc.
Respondent
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Questions Presented for Review..................... i
Nee ee te eeeeeees ee
Table of Contents... .......................... iii
Table of Authorities..... ......................... Vv
Sas osc vcccccccceccccccscces: 2
Statement of Jurisdiction. ...................... 2
EE I 2
Statement of the Case............................. 3
Reasons for Granting the Writ ..................... 6
I. The Fifth Circuit’s Ruling That NIH, A
Federal Agency, Could Remove This
Nonfederal Action to Federal Court Expands
Federal Jurisdiction Beyond The Plain
Language of the Removal Statute, Creates A
Conflict in the Circuits, and Does Violence to
State Court Enforcement of State Law......__. 6
A. The Removal Statute Did Not
Authorize the Exercise of Federal Jurisdic-
ccs web eedsccccces: 6
B. The Fifth Circuit Has Created a Split in
EE 9
C. This Action Presents Issues of State
Law That Are Within The Peculiar Province
of Louisiana State Courts to Resolve....... ll
D. The Fifth Circuit Improperly Usurped
the Role of the District Court and Engaged
in Fact-Finding in Ruling That NIH Had
Sufficient Interest in This Action to
Authorize the Exercise of Federal
EE 13
Il. The Fifth Circuit Erred In Finding That Plain-
tiffe Lacked Standing ....................«. 18
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
A. The Court Has Not Adequately Ad-
dressed the Issues Presented.............. 18
B. The Fifth Circuit Erred in Finding That
Plaintiffs Lacked Standing to Maintain Ali
Their Claims Against NIH................ 21
ES a ent ueresdeeeenees 25
ET ERT LDR MM Ree Ae 26
APPENDIX
A. Decision of Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals,
ea ont cae eeaa see eae Sane ss A-1
B. Temporary Restraining Order of Federal
District Court, January 6,1989.............. A-16
C. Order Denying Motion to Remand and Motion
to Dismiss, February 2,1989................ A-17
D. Order Denying Second Motion to Dismiss,
eee ee eee, ee A-18
E. Order Denying Motion for Stay and Motion for
Indicative Ruling, May 3,1989.......... ..A-19
F. Order Denying Motion to Compel ‘Magistrate),
pS ere re re A-20
G. Order Denying Motion to Dismiss poner
August 9, 1990.......... oe ee a eR eee A-22
H. Order Denying Motion to Compel (District
Court), September 13,1989... A-24
I. Order Denying Petition for Rehearing, April
rr ee. ee re ia Ses eae 66 i A-24
J. Order Denying Motion for Stay, May 2, 1990. A-26
K. First Notice of Appeal by NIH, _ 17,
Cisne deka a esacee aahe ie _... A-29
L. Second Notice of Appeal by NIH A-29
cas oo vad bee wie ehaea ks ) _.A-30
Vv
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
CASE Page
Bazley v. Tortorich, 397 So.2d 475 (La. 1981)........ 19
Brewer v. Department of Housing & Urban Dev.,
508 F.Supp. 72, 74 (S.D. Ohio 1980).......... 10
C. H. v. American Red Cross, 684 F.Supp. 1018
IN Sins Vawsecdees sadawncs ay cas rote
California v. Bozarth, 356 F.Supp. 667 (N.D. Cal.
Peo aede corded nwiaawesd ech kane aakibe see's 10
City of Alma v. Bell, Galyardt & Wells, Inc., 606
F.Supp. 686, 689-690 (D. Neb. 1985) ....._... 7,10
Dozier v. Ford Motor Company, 702 F.2d 11839,
1194 (D.C. Cir. 1983)(Scalia, J.).......... —
Garden District Property Owners Association v. Ci-
ty of New Orleans, 98 So.2d 922 (Orl. App. 1957),
SD Ge is ED hn vine coc wntcccncincosers: 19
Gensplit Finance Corp. v. Foreign Credit Ins.
Ass'n., 616 F.Supp. 1504, 1509 (E.D. Wis. 1985) _. 10
Harlem River Produce Co. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co.,
257 F. Supp. 160 (S.D.N.Y. 1965)............... 8,10
Humane Society of Rochester v. Lyng, 633 a
480 (W.D.N.Y. 1980) ........
IMFC Professional Servs. v. Latin Am. Home
Health, Inc., 676 F.2d 152, 155-56 (5th Cir. Unit
I Ae tee es glo ce eee eee oe ery Le 2 10
International Primate Protection League v. Ad-
ministrators of Tulane Educational Fund, et al,
rendered on March 8, 1990, is reported at 895
eri. Von tees Cua ea one eu au awe veks 2
International Primate Protection League v. In-
stitute for Behavioral Research, Inc., 799 F.2d
934 (4th Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1004,
107 S.Ct. 1624 (1967) .............. ee FF
vi
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (continued)
CASE Page
James River Apts. v. FHA, 136 F.Supp. 241 (D.Md.
rare tee ee nod oie cw es 10
KCPO Employees Credit Union v. Mitchell, 421
f © ff § 9 Beer rere 10
Lance International Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co.,
264 F.Supp 349 (S.D.N.Y. 1967)................ 8,10
Lejeune v. Rayne Branch Hospital, 556 So.2d 559
FRR SY Ee Ee 19
Lowe v. Norfolk & Western Railraod Company, 529
OE ED wh vcs cow vca bewecces ene. 10
Lovell Mfg., Div. of Patterson — Erie Corp. v. Ex-
port — Import Bank of United States, 843 F.2d
a rr ee 7,9,10
M-V Enterprises, Inc. v. North Kansas Savings
Ass'n, 628 F.Supp. 1261 (D-Kan. 1986) ............ 9
Michigan v. Banning, 88 F.Supp. 449, 450 (E.D.
a ethan een kab e awk ws ee
Mitchell v. Maurer, 293 U.S. 237, 244, 55 S.Ct.
a re Lalas sei wla we ® ee
Monal Construction Co. v. Brookside limited Part-
nership, 539 F.Supp. 478 (W.D.D.C. 1982)... . ..10
New Jersey v. Moriarity, 268 F.Supp. 546 (D. N.J.
el eee es ae eee ai 4} 6.4 9 6 8
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, et
al. v. Louis D. Sullivan, in his official capacity of
Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al,
lea ktmaeeees bees 5
Ramsey River Road Property Owners v. Reeves,
396 So.2d 873 (La. 1981)........ yo. eee eee 19
Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727, 92 S.Ct. 1361
ee aaa ans 4s eee,
vii
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (continued)
CASE
Smith v. City of Picayune, 795 F.2d 482 (5th Cir.
i nh deena haeenehdweid das 665.60 ONa Rae oo 4,
Stewart Sec. Corp. v. Guaranty Trust Company, 597
F.2d 240, 241 (10th Cir. 1979) ................
Taub v. State of Maryland, 296 Md. 439, 482A. 2d
Pa Retard ha he ee ee al
The Humane Society of the United States v. Black,
No. 81-2691 on the docket of the United States
District Court for the District of Columbia. .. _.
Thermtron Products, Inc. v. Hermansdorfer, 423
U.S. 336, 352-53, 96 S.Ct. 584, 593-94 (1976). _.
Township of Middletown v. N/E Regional Office
USPS, 601 F.Supp. 124 (D.N.J. 1985)..........
United States v. SCRAP, 412 U.S. 669, 93 S.Ct.
ae cee etre Do. we
Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United
for Separation of Church and State, 454 U.S. 464,
472, 102 S.Ct. 752, 758 (1962).................
Voisin's Oyster House, Inc. v. Guidry, 799 F.2d at
ARS cee aki ob a nednd oows bub eeubvaecces
Warth v. Seldin, 422 U. S. 490, 500, 95 S.Ct. 2197,
a ee cies dtd OY uae k beeen +e O,
Willingham v. Morgan, 395 U.S. 402, 406-407, 89
S.Ct. 1813, 1815-1816 (1969)................
Woodward v. Turnage, 646 PF. Supp. 219, 221 (E.D.
Es co odd bb a Peale d hae deed 6 ke neeee es
Zenith Radio Corp. v. Mesdbins Research, Inc., 395
U.S. 100, 123, 89 S.Ct. 1562, 1576 (19969) ...
Page
..10
l
IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
OCTOBER TERM, 1990
INTERNATIONAL PRIMATE PROTECTION
LEAGUE AND ITS MEMBERS, PEOPLE FOR THE
ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS AND
ITS MEMBERS, ALEX PACHECO, AND LOUISIANA
IN SUPPORT OF ANIMALS AND ITS MEMBERS
Peti: ers
Vs
ADMINISTRATORS OF TULANE EDUCATIONAL
FUND, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
AND THE INSTITUTES FOR BEHAVIOR
RESOURCES, INC.
Respondents
PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
The petitioners, International Primate Protection
League and its Members, People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals and its Members, Alex Pacheco, and Louisiana
in Support of Animals and its Members, respectfully pray
that a writ of certiorari issue to review the judgment and
opinion of the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth
Circuit, entered in the above-entitled proceeding on March
8, 1990. '
2
OPINION BELOW
The opiniow of the United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit in International Primate Protection
League v. Administrators of Tulane Educational Fund, et
al, rendered on March 8, 1990, is reported at 895 F.2d 1056,
and is set forth in the Appendix at A-1 through 16.
STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION
The judgment of the Court of Appeals was entered
on March 8, 1990. (A-1). The order denying a petition for
rehearing was entered on April 13, 1990 (A-24). This
Court’s jurisdiction is invoked under 28 U.S.C. Sec.
1254(1). However, because the jurisdiction of the lower
courts is subject to question, See Issue J. infra, this
Court’s jurisdiction (except to decide the jurisdictional
question) is necessarily at issue as well. cf, Mitchell v.
Maurer, 293 U.S. 237, 244, 55 S.Ct. 162, 165 (1934).
STATUTE INVOLVED
28 U.S.C. Sec. 1442(a)(1) provides in pertinent part:
(a) A civil action or criminal prosecution com-
menced in a state court against any of the follow-
ing persons may be removed by them. . .
(1) any officer of the United States or any
agency thereof, or person acting under him,
for any act under color of such office or on ac-
count of any right, title or authority claimed
under any act of Congress for the apprehen-
sion or punishment of criminals or the collec-
tion of the revenue.
3
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This case arises out of the spirited debate surroun-
ding the “Silver Spring Monkeys’’, former research
animals whose release the animal protection community
has sought since 1981, when the experiments to which they
had been subjected were terminated for unjust 'fiable cruel-
ty. The expeiments had been conducted by a private
research facility, the Institute for Behavioral Research
(“IBR’’), under a grant from the National Institutes of
Health (‘‘NIH’’). Maryland police raided the laboratory,
seized the monkeys, and instituted a criminal prosecution
of Dr. Taub, the principal investigator conducting the
experiments.! The monkeys were initially turned over to
some of the plaintiffs for safe-keeping, and later were
‘ delivered by them to NIH, pursuant to a court order
vesting temporary custody of the animals in NIH during
the prosecution of Dr. Taub. Long after the order expired,
NIH retained custody of the monkeys with the consent of
their owners, IBR.
From the time the animals were seized, the humane
community sought to insure that they would not be further
abused or needlessly destroyed. Animal protection groups
sued to protect the monkeys’ interests under the federal
Animal Welfare Act, but were found not to have standing
to enforce that statute. /nternational Primate Protection
League v. Institute for Behavioral Research, 799 F.2d 934
(4th Cir. 1986).
|. Dr. Taub was convicted of multiple counts of animal cruelty. His con-
victions were later set aside because of questions concerning the ap-
plicability of the anti-cruelty statute to scientific research. Taub v. State
of Maryland, 296 Md. 439, 482 A. 2d 819 (1983). The Maryland
legislature later amended the statute to provide clearly for application
to researchers. Md. Code, Art. 27, Sec. 59 (amended 1984).
4
In 1986, IBR and NIH revealed they had no scien-
tific use for the animals, present or planned; and their
release seemed imminent. More than 300 members of Con-
gress petitioned NIH to turn the Silver Spring Monkeys
over to an animal sanctuary. NIH promised members of
Congress that the animals would never be experimented
upon, that they would be resocialized, that their crippled
arms would be amputated, and that they would not even be
moved without advance warning. Shortly thereafter, NIH
had the monkeys secretly transferred to the Delta Regional
Primate Research Center, a branch of Tulane University of
Louisiana. Within a year of the monkeys’ transfer, column-
ist Jack Anderson exposed a plan to silence the ongoing
controversy by killing the monkeys after transferring title
to Tulane to spare NIH political embarrassment. In the
uproar following this expose, five of the primates were
moved to the San Diego Zoo. This litigation involves the
four surviving Silver Spring Monkeys housed at Delta.”
From the outset, NIH’s resistance to releasing the
monkeys was predicated upon its aversion to strengthen-
ing the animal protection community, whose interests
were, according to the NIH, inimical to those of the scien-
tific community. NIH had difficulty maintaining its self-
proclaimed role as defender of Science, however, because
the Silver Spring Monkeys, by NIH’s own admission, had
no scientific utility. To cure this defect in its position, NIH
declared in 1988 that it had unearthed a scientific experi-
ment for which the monkeys were uniquely suited and from
which important information allegedly could be gained. In
December of 1988 NIH announced its intention to
2. When the litigation began, nine Silver Spring Monkeys remained.
Five have died during the pendency of the suit. Three were subjected to
NIH'’s lethal experiment on July 6, 1990 after courts denied petitions for
emergency injunctive relief. See footnote 3, infra.
a
5
‘euthanize’ three of the monkeys and perform its planned
experiments immediately.
The instant action followed close on the heels of
NIH’s announcement. Named as defendants were NIH;
IBR, the monkeys’ owner; and the Administrators of the
Tulane Educational Fund (‘‘Tulane”’), the monkeys’ custo-
dian. Suit was filed in state court, asserting that there was
no legitimate research interest to be pursued 3, that the
plaintiff animal protection groups and their members
would be seriously aggrieved by the destruction of the
primates, that their destruction for improper purposes con-
stituted a public nuisance, an intentional infliction of emo-
tional distress, and a violation of public policy, all under
Louisiana law; injunctive relief was sought to prevent the
animals’ killing and to transfer custody to the plairtiffs or
members of Congress. (See Petition A-30ff.).
A temporary restraining order blocking the killings
was issued immediately by the state court. Relying upon
28 U.S.C. Sec. 1442(a)(1), authorizing removal of an action
against a federal officer, NIH promptly removed the case
to federal court, whence a second TRO issued (A-16). Plain-
tiffs’ motion to remand was denied (A-17), and defendants’
successive motions to dismiss, on grounds of res judicata,
sovereign immunity, federal preemption, and lack of stan-
ding were also denied, (A-17, A-18). Defendants appealed
from the denial of their second motion to dismiss, and the
3. An action has been filed in the district court for the District o! Colum-
bia charging NIH with scientific misconduct in connection with the
planned experimentation on the Silver Spring Monkeys. The court
recently declined to issue a temporary restraining order prohibiting the
euthanasia of three Silver Spring Monkeys. Physicians Committee for
Responsible Medicine, et al. v. Louis D. Sullivan, Secretary of Health
and Human Services, et al, case number 90-0084 (on the docket of the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia).
6
Fifth Circuit, holding that plaintiffs lacked standing,
ordered the case dismissed.
REASONS FOR GRANTING THE WRIT
1. THE FIFTH CIRCUIT‘S RULING THAT NTH,
A FEDERAL AGENCY, COULD REMOVE THIS
NONFEDERAL ACTION TO FEDERAL COURT EX-
PANDS FEDERAL JURISDICTION BEYOND THE
PLAIN LANGUAGE OF THE REMOVAL STATUTE,
CREATES A CONFLICT IN THE CIRCUITS, AND
DOES VIOLENCE TO STATE COURT ENFORCE-
MENT OF STATE LAW.
A. The Removal Statute Did Not Authorize the
Exercise of Federal Jurisdiction in This Case.
The statute upon which defendant NIH predicates
its petition for removal, entitled ‘‘Federal Officers Sued Or
Prosecuted”’, provides in relevant part as follows:
(a) A civil action or criminal prosecution com-
menced in a state court against any of the follow-
ing persons may be removed by them. . .
(1) any officer of the United States or any agency
thereof, or person acting under him, for any act
under color of such office or on account of any
right, title or authority claimed under any act of
Congress for the apprehension or punishment of
criminals or the collection of the revenue.
28 U.3.C. Sec. 1442 (emphasis added).
By its terms, the statute applies to suits against
natural persons, not entities of the federal government. In
subsection (a), the statute specifically states that an action
7
against any of the following listed ‘‘persons’’ may be
removed. Further, in paragraph (1) the listed person is ‘‘any
officer” of the United States or any agency thereof. The
person may be an officer of the United States or of a United
States agency; the right to remove is not given in--
dependently to “‘any agency”. See City of Alma v. Bell,
Galyardt and Wells, Inc., 606 F.Supp. 686, 689-690 (D.
Neb. 1985). That the statue refers to natural persons is em-
phasized by its statement that removal also may be ac-
complished by a “‘person acting under him,”’ i.e. any officer.
In Lovell Mfg. v. Export-Import Bank of United States,
843 F.2d 725, 733(3d Cir. 1988), the court said of this
provision:
We cannot read a statute to say what it does not
say, and we think it plain from the punctuation of
the sentence, and the use and placement of the
word “him” that this statute merely allows
removal by any officer. . . or person acting under
Lovell’s reading, true to the statute’s language, is also true
to its purpose: to protect federal officers from being sued
in state court for actions undertaken as part of their federal
duties. As Justice Marshall explained in Willingham v.
Morgan, 395 U.S. 402, 406-407, 89 S.Ct. 1813, 1815-1816
(1969):
The federal officer removal statute has had a long
history . . . The first such removal provision was
included in an 1815 customs statute. It was part
of an attempt to enforce an embargo on trade
with England over the opposition of the New
England States, where the War of 1812 was quite
unpopular.
8
It allowed federal officials involved in the enforce-
ment of the customs statute to remove to the
federal courts any suit or prosecution commenced
because of any act ‘under color’ of the statute.
Obviously, the removal provision was an attempt
to protect federal officers from interference by
hostile state courts.
This provision, however, was not permanent, it
was by its terms to expire at the end of the war.
While the present law broadens coverage to include
federal officers other than those involved in the enforce-
ment of the revenue laws‘, it was broadened to include on-
ly additional types of federal employees, not non-natural
persons or entities. Cf. Michigan v. Banning, 88 F.Supp.
449, 450 (E.D. Mich. 1950). According to Professor Moore
the 1948 revision made no change in the theory or basis for
removal that the civil suit or the criminal prosecution must
be against the officer or employee, and based upon an act
or acts done under color of office. 1A Moore’s Federal Prac-
tice Par. 0.164[1] at 382-384. Significantly, as stated by
Moore, ‘‘a suit against a government corporation, as
distinguished from a suit against a federal official or one
acting under him, is not removable under Sec. 1442(a)(1).’’
Id. See also Lance International Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur.
Co., 264 F.Supp. 349 (S.D.N.Y. 1967); Harlem River Pro-
duce Co. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. 257 F.Supp. 160
(S.D.N.Y. 1965). In addition, a proceeding that is wholly in
rem also is not removable. Jd. See also, New Jersey v.
4. Significantly, the predecessor to paragraph 1 of Sec. 1442(a) was
limited to revenue officers engaged in the enforcement of the criminal or
revenue laws and those acting under or by their authority. 1A Moore's
Federal Practice, 0.164[1] at 380-381.
9
Moriarity, 268 F.Supp. 546 (D. N.J. 1967).5
In Willingham v. Morgan this Court said that the
amended statute was to be broadly construed ‘‘to cover all
cases where federal officers can raise a colorable defense
arising out of their duty to enforce federal law.’’ 395 U.S.
402, 406-407, 89 S.Ct. 1813, 1815-1816 (1969) (emphasis
supplied). In broadening the statute to include the right of
removal by federal agencies, where, as here, no federal of-
ficers have been sued, the Fifth Circuit has gone too far. Its
interpretation is in conflict with the statutory |
and with the sound reasoning of the majority of periedio
tions that have taken the position that only federal officers
can remove a nonfederal action.
B. The Fifth Circuit Has Created a Split in the
Circuits.
A split of authority has arisen in the circuits concern-
ing the proper interpretation of Sec. 1442(a)(1). The great
weight of authority, citing the clear language of the statute
and its legisiative history, holds that a nonfederal action
may be removed only by a federal officer, not by a federal
agency, and would accordingly disallow the removal by
NIH in the instant case. See, Lovell Mfg., Div. of Patterson
- Erie Corp. v. Export - Import Bank of United States, 843
F.2d 725 (3d Cir. 1988); C. H. v. American Red Cross, 684
F. Supp. 1018 (E.D. Mo. 1987); W-V Enterprises, Inc. v.
North Kansas Savings Ass'n, 628 F.Supp. 1261 (D.Kan.
1986); C.H. v. American Red Cross, 684 F.Supp. 1018, 1023
(E.D. Mo. 1987); Woodward v. Turnage, 646 F.Supp. 219,
5. intiffe’ petition for ini ; : _
Plain | junctive relief to prevent the senseless killin
of the Silver Spring Monkeys closely resembles an in rem asoadinn by
asmuch as the petition raises questions and issues pertaining to the
cu-tody of the animals.
10
221 (E.D. Mo. 1986). Gensplit Finance Corp. v. Foreign
Credit Ins. Ass'n. 616 F.Supp. 1504, 1509 (E.D. Wis. 1985).
Harlem River Produce Co. v. Aetna Casualty and Sur. ,
Co., 257 F.S. 160 (S.D. N.Y. 1960). City of Alma v. bew,
Galyardt & Wells, Inc., 606 F.Supp. 686, 689-690 (D. Neb.
1985), citing Brewer v. Department of Housing & Urban
Dev., 508 F. Supp. 72, 74 (S.D. Ohio 1980); Lowe v. Norfolk
& Western Railroad Company, 529 F Supp. 491 (D.
111.1982); KCPO Employees Credit Union v. Mitchells, 421
F.Supp. 1327 (D. Mo. 1976); California v. Bozarth, 356
F.Supp. 667 (N.D. Cal. 1973); Lance Int'l Inc. v. Aetna Cas.
& Sur. Co., 264 F. Supp. 349 (S.D. N.Y. 1967).
A small minority, led by the Fifth Circuit, holds that
Sec. 1442(a)(1) is applicable to federal agencies. See decision
below and cases cited therein; Township of Middletown v.
N/E Regional Office USPS, 601 F.Supp. 124 (D.N.J. 1985);
Monal Construction Co. v. Brookside limited Partnership,
539 F.Supp. 478 (W.D.D.C. 1982); James River Apts. v.
FHA, 136 F.Supp. 241 (D.Md. 1955).
Because the majority view compels remand of ac-
tions removed by federal agencies, and because remand
orders are not considered final orders reviewable by appeal,
Thermtron Products, Inc. v. Hermansdorfer, 423 U.S. 336,
352-53, 96 S.Ct. 584, 593-94 (1976); 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291, it
is not surprising that the majority view is expressed prin-
cipally by district court decisions. Lovell Mfg., supra, the
only Circuit Court decision espousing the majority view,
contains a thoughtful analysis of the statute's language
and history, militating in favor of its application to federal
officers alone. By contrast, the Fifth Circuit, the only cir-
cuit court subscribing to the minority view, adopted its
position without articulating any basis for its decision. See
ruling below, (A-12); Smith v. City of Picayune, 795 F.2d
482 (5th Cir. 1986); IMFC Professional Servs. v. Latin Am.
11
Home Health, Inc., 676 F.2d 152, 155-56 (5th Cir. Unit B
1982)
A writ should be granted to clarify whether 28 U.S.C.
Sec. 1442(a) means what it says, and to eliminate the divi-
sion among the circuits on this important jurisdictional
issue.
r)
C. This Action Presents Issues of State Law That
State Courts to Resolve.
In International Primate Protection League v. In-
stitute for Behavioral Research, 799 F.2d 934 (4th Cir.
1986), the plaintiffs, including some of the plaintiffs here,
sued IBR, NIH and others in state court, seeking custody
of the monkeys under Maryland law and seeking to enforce
the federal Animal Welfare Act, 7 U.S.C. Secs. 2131 et seq.
Presenting a federal question, the case was removed to
federal court. The Fourth Circuit held that enforcement of
the Animal Welfare Act was entrusted to the Department
of Argiculture and that the plaintiffs had no standing to
sue under that statue. Having thus dispensed with the
plaintiffs’ federal claims, the court declined to exercise pen-
dent jurisdiction over the state law claims. Implicit in the
court's ruling was its determination that 28 U.S.C. Sec.
1442(a) does not establish federal jurisdiction over any ac-
tion brought against a federal , becau
the Department of Health ad feo Sioches day
fendants. As noted above, in making such a determination
the Fourth Circuit was in the majority.
Anomalously, when plaintiffs reinstituted the purely
state law claims the Fourth Circuit had referred to state
court, NIH again removed to federal court. But because the
monkeys had by then been transferred to Louisiana, plaint-
12
iffs filed suit in a Louisiana state court and the removal oc-
curred within the Jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit, one of
the few in the country where such removal would be
tolerated. Consequently, the claims that had been dismiss-
ed by the Fourth Circuit for want of jurisdiction were found
to provide jurisdiction in the Fifth Circuit.
Plaintiffs argued below that the Fourth Circuit's rul-
ing was res judicata as to the jurisdictional issue. While
dismissals for lack of subject matter jurisdiction do not
operate as adjudications upon the merits and thus do not
preclude a second action on the same claim, at the same
time, ‘“‘such dismissals do generally preclude relitigation of
the underlying issue of jurisdiction.” Wright and Miller,
Federal Practice and Procedure: Jurisdiction Sec. 4436. (em-
phasis supplied). Hence, the Fourth Circuit’s judgment
that plaintiffs’ state law claims against NIH were not
cognizable in federal court “remainjed] effective to
preclude litigation of the precise issue of jurisdiction that
led to the initial dismissal’. Jd. For example, in Voisin's
Oyster House, Inc. v. Guidry, 799 F.2d at 188, the Fifth
Circuit ruled that a dismissal on jurisdictional grounds
would not bar further proceedings on the substantive claim
in any court of competent jurisdiction but wouid preclude
relitigation of the issue of federal jurisdiction. To the same
effect is Dozier v. Ford Motor Company, 702 F.2d 1189,
1194 (D.C. Cir. 1983) (Scalia, J.), and Stewart Sec. Corp. v.
Guaranty Trust Company, 597 F.2d 240, 241 (10th Cir.
1979} (‘the principles of res judicata have been held to app-
ly to questions of jurisdiction.’’)
The Fifth Circuit did not address the argument. In-
stead it asserted jurisdiction over state law claims that had
been filed in what the Fourth Cifcuit had indicated was a
court of competent jurisdiction. (And the Fifth circuit exer-
cised jurisdiction for only long enough to dismiss plaintiffs’
nonfederal claims, with prejudice this time, for lack of Arti-
13
cle III standing, a requirement peculiar to the federal
courts).
The Fourth Circuit's implied ruling was the correct
one. The claims asserted here, grounded in Louisiana prin-
ciples of public nuisance, tort, and equity, presented issues
of state law. The primates at issue are privately owned and
housed in a local facility. As shown below, the federal agen-
cy’s interest is peripheral at best, raising further questions
about the federal intrusion into this purely local matter.
Moreover, as further shown below, plaintiffs would have
had standing in state court to air their state court claims.
The Fifth Circuit, acting contrary to the language of
the removal statute, the weight of authority and the ruling
of the Fourth Circuit, exercised jurisdiction over state
claims, only to dismiss those claims, which would have
been cognizable under state law.
D. The Fifth Circuit Improperly Usurped the Role of
the District Court and Engaged in Fact-Finding in Ruling
That NIH Had Sufficient Interest in This Action to
Authorize the Exercise of Federal Jurisdiction.
This court has admonished that ‘appellate courts
must constantly have in mind that their function is not to
decide factual issues de novo.” Zenith Radio Corp. v.
Hazeltime Research, Inc., 395 U.S. 100, 123, 89 S.Ct. 1562,
1576 (1969); Cf Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Pro-
cedure. In this case, confronted with a serious factual
dispute concerning NIH's interest in this matter, unresolv-
ed by the district court, which had ordered discovery on the
issue, the Fifth circuit discarded this Court’s admonition in
order to find, on a tenuous factual record, that NIH was a
proper party. In so doing, the Fifth Circuit trenched on the
authority of the district court and upheld jurisdiction
under extremely questionable circumstances.
14
When NIH announced the decision to ‘‘euthanize”
three of the Silver Spring Monkeys in December of 1988,
plaintiffs filed suit immediately. They named as defend-
ants IBR, the monkeys’ owner; Tulane, their custodian;
and NIH, only because NIH had claimed responsibility for
the decision. From the outset, however, plaintiffs question-
ed NIH’s role in the proceedings. When N1H removed the
case to federal court, plaintiffs moved to remand, both on
the ground that Sec. 1442(a)(1) is inapplicable to a suit
agains a federal agency, see preceding section, and on the
15
** *
I have denied the plaintiffs’ motion to remand
because nobody has advanced a reason to this
Court whether their custody has not expired by
some operating agreements or whatever
agreements. I just felt that this Court was put in
a position to attempt to rule on these motions
se nobody had advanced anything to the
ourt.
ground that NIH had insufficient interest in the case to (Hearing, May 3, 1989, pp. 5-6).
justify the presence of a nonfederal suit in federal court.
When counsel for the NIH made an unsubstantiated
On the interpretation of 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1442(a) the claim that NIH did have an interest, the Court responded:
district court felt bound to follow Fifth Circuit precedent.
On the question of NIH’s interest in the case, however, the
district court reacted with caution and concern. Interrup-
ting NIH’s benighted argument that plaintiffs had not pro-
ven jurisdiction (which plaintiffs were challenging), the
trial court observed:
_. .1 am not sure that I have jurisdiction either.
The problem that has been advanced to me con-
sistently is the failure of the plaintiffs to be per-
mitted to discover. We don’t know why the
government is in this suit, quite frankly. The
government intervened,® but there are serious
questions as to whether they even should have
custody of these monkeys.
6. As counsel pointed out subsequently, the NIH had not
formally intervened but had been named as defendant. However, at an
earlier hearing, plaintiffs’ counsel had proposed dropping NIH as a
defendant, to which the NIH responded that it would simply intervene.
The court's reference was to that discussion.
You know, you say that, but no one has shown me
one document that permits that. I mean, you
know, it’s sort of like working in a vacuum. The
government has not given me one document. The
only documents we have ever seen have shown
that the Government's interest has long expired.
Now maybe there were some subsequent
documents, I have never seen those. The govern-
ment has refused — I shouldn't say refused, but
they certainly have not done anything to show me
that they have an interest in this case, and from
what I can understand from Ms. Woodward, she
has been attempting to get that information for a
long time, even in other previous times, and has
been unable to do so, so we have received nothing
where this Court can definitely say that, sure,
this document shows that the government does
have an interest. We don’t have anything. It has
never been produced, never, to this Court.
(/d. at 15-16; emphasis supplied).
16
The court then ruled, and several times reiterated the
discovery must go forward on the jurisdictional issue, the
‘very issue’’ to be placed before the Fifth Circuit on appeal
and in case of remand, the ‘‘next issue before this Court.”
(Id. at 20, 25, 26, 27-28).
NIH refused to document its interest and refused to
respond to plaintiffs’ discovery requests relating to N IH's
interest in the case, despite the firm commands of the trial
judge. Instead, NIH appealed from the denial of its second
motion to dismiss. (A-27). When plaintiffs noted that that
was not an appealable order, NIH filed a aovel pleading,
styled a ‘‘motion for indicative ruling’’, in which it petition-
ed the district court to ‘‘indicate’’ whether it would grant
a preliminary injunction if the issue were before it. At the
hearing on this motion there was some question whether
the court had jurisdiction to consider the bizarre request,
in view of the pending appeal. However, NIH seized the op-
portunity to withdraw its prior consent to the extension of
the TRO. It then appealed from the denial of its motion for
indicative ruling, (A-29), arguing that the TRO had been
converted into a preliminary injunction by the length of its
duration, vesting in NIH the right to appeal from the is-
suance of a preliminary injunction. Contending that NIH
was improperly manipulating the proceedings to secure an
appeal on the merits of its procedural arguments without
responding to discovery aimed at determining whether the
federal courts had jurisdiction, plaintiffs filed a motion to
dismiss the appeal. The motion was denied by the Fifth Cir-
cuit. (A-22).
Because of the pendency of the appeal, the district
court opined that it had been stripped of jurisdiction to en-
force its earlier order that discovery proceed on the issue of
NIH'’s interest in the case. (See A-20, 23).
——
17
On appeal, then, there was nothing in the record to
establish NIH’s interest in the case apart from NIH’s own
untested assertions. Some of NIH’s allegations, such as its
reliance upon the expired court order for custody, have
been proven false; all were highly suspicious, considering
NIH’s political interest in preserving the falsehood and its
former disclaimers of any need or use for the monkeys.
Against this backdrop, the Fifth Circuit found as a
matter of fact that “the planned euthanasia on the
monkeys and accompanying research is in furtherance of
NIH’s statutory mission to donduct and fund biomedical
research. (A-14, 15). By adverting to NIH’s ‘‘statutory mis-
sion’, the Fifth Circuit sidestepped the more pressing
question of whether NIH has any real interest or authority
in this case.’ This was the central issue in dispute, the
issue vigorously contested by plaintiffs, the issue on which
the district court had made no finding, the issue on which
further discovery had been ordered, and the issue on which
the appellate court had no information other than NIH’s
self-serving and highly questionable statements. To engage
in such fact-finding on such an issue, at the heart of the
jurisdictional question, violated this Court’s admonition
that against de novo fact-finding. Zenith Radio Corp. v.
Hazeltime Research, Inc., supra.
Even if 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1442(a) is read to authorize
removal by a federal agency, this Court should grant cer-
tiorari to determine whether the Fifth Circuit properly
determined that the NIH has sufficient interest in the case,
as a matter of fact, to warrant the exercise of federal
7. In an earlier proceeding NIH had resisted efforts to block its return
of the Silver Spring Monkeys to IBR by stating that it lacked authority
to retain [BR's property. (NIH Memorandum in Support of Motion to
Dismiss, p. 18, The Humane Society of the United States v. Black, No.
81-2691 on the docket of the United States District Court for the
District of Columbia.
18
jurisdiction.
II. THE FIFTH CIRCUIT ERRED IN FINDING
THAT PLAINTIFFS LACKED STANDING.
A. The Court Has Not Adequately addressed the
Issues Presented.
In their petition, plaintiffs asserted four separate
state law claims, only one of which was addressed in the
Fifth Circuit’s decision. Plaintiffs’ first claim, for abate-
ment of a public nuisance; their second claim, for tortious
negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress;
and their third claim for equitable relief, were overlooked
by the circuit court which, relying upon the truncated
listing of claims recited by defendants, reviewed only the
fourth claim praying for the issuance of an injunction. In
ruling that the asserted irreparable injuries were insuffi-
cient to support Article III standing, however, the circuit
court did not confine its decision to the claim for injunctive
relief. Instead, it ordered the entire case dismissed, in-
cluding the three claims whose substance had completely
escaped the court’s notice. Thus, the Fifth Circuit issued a
broad ruling based on an impermissibly narrow analysis, in
violation of the essential rule that the existence of Article
III injury “often turns on the nature and source of the
claim asserted.”’ Warth v. Seldin, 422 U. S. 490, 500, 95
S.Ct. 2197, 2206(1975). Moreover, while any case in federal
court must unquestionably meet Article III requirements,
it was improper for the federal court to assert jurisdiction
ove. nonfederal case in which local interests predominate,
only to impose the more restrictive standing requirements
of Article III and dismiss the action that state courts
would have maintained.
Under Louisiana's liberal standing doctrine, plaint-
19
iffs would have easily cieared the standing hurdle in state
court. Cf, Ramsey River Road Property Owners v. Reeves,
396 So.2d 873 (La. 1981); Garden District Property Owners
Association v. City of New Orleans, 98 So.2d 922 (Orl. App.
1957), writs denied (La. 1958). The Louisiana Supreme
Court, in a recently published decision, has determined
that mental pain and anguish sustained by a person not
directly injured, becauses of the negligent infliction of in-
jury on a third person, is actionable. Lejeune v. Rayne
Branch Hospital, 556 So.2d 559 (La. 1990). The intentional
infliction of emotional distress asserted here works an even
more direct injury on the plaintiffs. Cf, Bazley v. Tortorich,
397 So.2d 475 (La. 1981).
The Fifth Circuit analyzed the entire suit as though
it were a citizen’s or taxpayer's suit challenging some
governmental action. Whatever the merits of that ap-
proach to the generalized assertions of the injunction and
other equitable claim, see section B below, it is completely
illogical to apply it to the first two counts of plaintiffs’ peti-
tion which assert precise legal claims under state law.
These tort and public nuisance claims are premised upon
private disputes with defendants, rather than the sort of
public interest claims that have traditionally awakened
standing concerns. No other decision of which we are aware
holds that the victim of a tort lacks standing to sue the
tortfeasor for that wrong. However, in dismissing plain-
tiffs’ entire action, including the tort claim, this is precisely
what the Court ruled; and it did so without even
acknowledging that the tort claim existed. To recognize
and address plaintiffs’ tort and public nuisance claims
would be to broaden the inquiry undertaken by the court;
and such broadening would necessarily vitiate the ultimate
ruling of the court.
The Supreme Court explained in Valley Forge that
the Article III requirement of injury in fact stems from a
20
‘necessity to adjudge the legal rights of litigants in actual
controversies.” 454 U.S. 471, 102 S.Ct. 758. This Court em-
phasized its earlier pronouncement that:
the power to declare the rights of individuals and
to measure the authority of governments. . . ‘‘is
legitimate only in the last resort, and as a necessi-
ty in the determination of a real, earnest and vital
controversy.”’
Id.
This tension between the rights of individuals and
the authority of governments may be central to a citizen's
challenge to governmental conduct, but not to a private
tort or nuisance action against private parties and the
government. Defendants here recognized as much when
they raised arguments of failure to state a claim under
Louisiana law and Supremacy Clause protection against
alleged interference with governmental action; defendants
did not rely upon their standing argument alone to defeat
plaintiffs’ claims, and certainly not to defeat their claims
against the private defendants, Tulane and IBR. Not hav-
ing addressed those additional defense arguments, the
Fifth Circuit offered no reasons for its dismissal of two of
the claims against NIH, nor any of the claims against
Tulane and IBR. Thus, the Court’s finding with respect to
standing was not ‘dispositive’ in the sense of offering
some explanation for the court’s ordered dismissal of the
entire action.
While plaintiffs disagree with the arguments advanc-
ed by defendants concerning plaintiffs’ right of action and
the Supremacy Clause, they agree that those arguments
musts be reached and decided in defendants’ favor in order
to justify a dismissal of this action. Otherwise, there is no
justification for dismissing plaintiffs’ tort and public
21
nuisance claims against NIH and all of their claims against
the other defendants.
B. The Fifth Circuit erred in finding that plain-
tiffs lacked standing to maintain all their claims
against NTH.
Even in its treatment of this action as a citizens’ suit
against NIH, the Fifth Circuit improperly ruled that plain-
tiffs lacked standing. Central to the court’s ruling was the
finding, imported from the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Jn-
ternational Primate Protection League v. Institute for
Behavioral Research, Inc., 799 F.2d 934 (4th Cir. 1986),
cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1004, 107 S.Ct. 1624 (1987), that
“even if the defendants were to comply with the laws
putatively violated, the plaintiffs would still lack any right
to continue their personal relationships with the
monkeys.”’ Decision at 2577. That finding was correct in
Primate Protection but not here. In Primate Protection the
plaintiffs were seeking enforcement of the provisions of the
Animal Welfare Act within the laboratory, and were fur-
ther seeking to prevent NIH’s release of the animals to
IBR, neither of which remedies would have re-acquainted
the plaintiffs with the animals. Here, plaintiffs are seeking
custody of the animals or transfer to a sanctuary where ac-
cess would be restored. Therefore, even assuming that a
right of future contact is essential to a showing of injury in
fact, plaintiffs have asserted such a right. Moreover,
nothing could do greater violence to that right than the
planned euthanasia of the monkeys.
Plaintiffs have demonstrated that their prior con-
tacts with the monkeys uniquely position them to suffer in-
jury in fact from the killings. Some plaintiffs have per-
sonally cared for these animals in the past; others, humane
officers, are personally charged by Louisiana law with in-
suring humane treatment for these animals. The Fifth
22
Circuit’s statement that “plaintiffs neither allege facts
which demonstrate that they have any aesthetic, conserva-
tional, or environmental interests in the laboratory
monkeys. . .”’, (A-9, 10), disregards the very plain allega-
tions to the contrary in the petition. The court’s further
statement ‘nor (do plaintiffs] allege facts which would
demonstrate that the destruction of the laboratory
monkeys would impair the plaintiffs’ interests in monkeys
living in the wild’, Jd., is completely beside the point. This
action never purported to safeguard an allegedly en-
dangered species, but rather to secure protection for the
discrete group of animals known as the Silver Spring
Monkeys, whose senseless destruction is at the heart of
this controversy. The court’s suggestion that concern for
an endangered species might make the claims of injury
more cognizable erects an artificial barrier with no founda-
tion in standing law. Surely in Humane Society of
Rochester v. Lyng, 633 F.Supp. 480 (W.D.N.Y. 1980), cited
by the court, there was no suggestion that the animals at
issue — cows — were an endangered species. Yet the plain-
tiffs, having shown sufficient interest in the cows’
mistreatment, were permitted to maintain their action. An
interest in privately owned animals may be a rarer cir-
cumstance than environmental or conservational concerns,
but there is nothing in the jurisprudence to indicate that
such an interest, where it exists, provides a weaker founda-
tion for standing than an interest in wild animals.
In holding plaintiffs’ interest inadequate the Fifth
Circuit has analogized to Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S.
727, 92 S.Ct. 1361 (1972), in which organizational commit-
ment to protecting the environment was found insufficient
to distinguish the plaintiff's interests from the inadequate
concerns of the public in general. But in Sierra Club, the
plaintiffs failed to plead that they had used the park they
sought to protect. A year after deciding Sierra Club, this
23
court held in United States v. SCRAP, 412 U.S. 669, 93
S.Ct. 2405 (1973), that an environmental organization had
standing to challenge federal actions allegedly causing
pollution of certain parks. The only distinction between the
two cases is that the SCRAP plaintiffs specifically pleaded
that they were users of the park. This allegation, the Court
found, established a personal injury instead of the
generalized grievance stated by the Sierra Club plaintiffs.
Here, as in SCRAP, plaintiffs have alleged personal in-
juries that distinguish the action from Sierra Club and
others expressing generalized grievances. The allegations
that plaintiffs have personally cared for the Silver Spring
Monkeys, expending time and money in that effort with
defendants’ consent, have negotiated with defendants for
their release, have dedicated themselves to the preserva-
tion of the animals, have developed emotional ties with
them, and are prepared to accept custody demonstrate
close personal ties to the animals that greatly exceed the
mere abstract concern the Fifth Circuit attributes to them.
Viewing the case from another angle, reflecting the
objective of the standing requirement to insure a concrete
“case or controversy’’, see e.g., Valley Forge, supra, this
case hardly presents an abstract question of policy. Rather
than airing “generalized grievances about the conduct of
government’’, See, Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83, 106 (1968),
plaintiffs have alleged concrete injuries involving a specific
set of facts capable of precise resolution. Precise legal and
factual questions have arisen concerning defendant's need,
use, and interest in the monkeys, and these questions are
susceptible of judicial determination without speculation.
If plaintiffs make out their case of unjustified curelty ° to
8. The court erroneously stated that plaintiffs rely on La. R.S. 14:102.1
for their definition of cruelty to animals. Decision at n. 4, A-8. Plaintiffs
24
the animals, the injury they have suffered is susceptible of
concrete redress.
Plaintiffs have alleged injury in fact that is likely to
be redressed by a favorable decision. Article III standing
requirements have been met, and if federal jurisdiction is
present, the entire case should be permitted to proceed in
the trial court.
Footnote 8 continued.
referred to the criminal statute only to support their assertion of a state
policy against inhumane treatment of animals. Under the civil law, en-
forcement of anti-cruelty laws reposes with local humane officers, La.
R.S. 3:2391. In this case, jurisdiction lies with the local humane officers,
who would enforce a local ordinance that does not exempt scientific
research. Code of Ordinances of St. Tammany Parish, Section 4-16.52.
In any event plaintiffs contend that defendants have no legitimate
research interest in the animals.
25
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, the Writ of Certiorari
should be granted.
Respectfully Submitted,
!
MARGARET E. WOODWARD
Bar No. 13677
610 Poydras St., Suite 318
New Orleans, La. 70130
Phone: 504-525-9538
Attorney For Petitioners
International Primate Protection
League and its Members,
People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals and its Members,
Alex Pacheco, and Louisiana
in Support of Animals
and its members
26
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that a copy of the above and forego-
ing has been forwarded to all counsel of record, as listed
below, and to the Solicitor General of the United States, in
accordance with Rule 29.5(b) of the Rules of the Supreme
Court, by depositing same in the U.S. mail, postage
prepaid, this ____ day of ___., 1990.
By: ;
MARGARET E. WOODWARD
STUART E. SCHIFFER
Acting Assistant Attorney General
JOHN VOLZ
United States Attorney
JOHN F. CORDES
(202/fts) 633-3427
Attorneys, Appellate Staff
Civil Division, Room 3631
Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
(Attorneys for National Institutes of Health)
GREGORY C. WEISS
Blue, Williams & Buckley
3431 N. Causeway Blvd.
Metairie, Louisiana 70002
(Attorney for Administrators of Tulane Educational Fund)
SOLICITOR GENERAL
Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20530
THOMAS P. POWERS
Powers & Lewis
4201 Connecticut Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
(Attorneys for Institutes for Behavior Resources)
A-1
APPENDIX A
INTERNATIONAL PRIMATE
PROTECTION LEAGUE, et al.,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
Vv.
ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE
EDUCATIONAL FUND, and National Institute of
Health, Defendants-Appellants.
No. 89-3288
United States Court of Appeals,
Fifth Circuit.
March 8, 1990.
Animal rights groups brought suit in state court
seeking to bar a University and the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) from euthanizing certain monkeys which had
been subjected to neurological damage and from conduc-
ting subsequent autopsy research. The NIH removed to
federal court and the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Louisiana, Veronica D. Wicker, J.,
issued an injunction prohibiting disposal of the animals.
Appeal was taken. The Court of Appeals, Gee, Circuit
Judge, held that: (1) animal rights groups lacked standing
under Article III to maintain action; (2) dismissal of suit
was required rather than remand to state court; and (3)
NIH had sufficient interest in rponkeys to support removal
of case to federal court.
Injunction vacated and case dismissed.
A-2
Appeals from the United States District Court for
the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Before GEE, REAVLEY and GARWOOD, Circuit
Judges.
GEE, Circuit Judge:
In today’s case we address the issue whether a
preliminary injunction which prevents the National In-
stitutes of Health from carrying out the euthanizing of
three macaque monkeys in order to conduct medical
research was properly granted. Having determined that
the National Institutes of Health, a federal agency, has a
sufficient interest in the euthanizing of the monkeys to
allow it te defend that interest in federal court, and con-
cluding further that the plaintiffs have not alleged any in-
jury sufficient to meet the standing requirements of Article
III, we vacate the order of the district court granting the
injunction and dismiss the case.
I. FACTS
In 1981, Dr. Edward Taub, the chief of the
Behavioral Biology Center of the Institute of Behavioral
Research, Inc. (‘‘IBR’’),! had been conducting experiments
at IBR’s Silver Spring, Maryland, facility concerning the
ability of macaque monkeys to recover use of a limb after
nerves in it had been severed. The project had been funded
by the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) and was
undertaken in a pursuit of benefits for the rehabilitation of
human patients suffering from neurological damage.
1 Prior to the present suit, [BR changed its name to the Institutes for
Behavior Resources.
A-3
In September of 1981, Maryland police officers ex-
ecuted a warrant at the facility pursuant to their investiga-
tion into the alleged mistreatment of monkeys involved in
the experiments. The search resulted in the seizure of 17
macaque monkeys and the arrest and conviction of Dr.
Taub on multiple counts of animal cruelty under Article 27,
§ 59 of the Maryland’s Code.” Pursuant to a court order,
NIH was given temporary charge of the monkeys.
Following Dr. Taub’s conviction, People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals, Inc. (‘“‘“PETA”’), along with
the International Primate Protection League (‘‘IPPL’’), the
Animal Law Enforcement Association and several named
individuals brought suit in Montgomery County, Maryland
seeking, inter alia, ‘‘custody”’ of the monkeys seized from
the facility. The defendants removed to the United States
District Court for the District of Maryland, which dismiss-
ed the case, finding that none of the claims of the plaintiffs
alleged injury sufficient to give them standing to seek
possession of the animals. The dismissal was affirmed by
the Fourth Circuit. See International Primate Protection
League v. Institute for Behavioral Research, Inc., 799 F.2d
934 (4th Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1004, 107 S.Ct.
1624, 95 L.Ed.2d 198 (1987) [hereinafter Primate
Protection].
Although the state court order granting temporary
possession to NIH terminated in 1983, NIH has continued
to act as keeper of the monkeys with the consent and
2 Under this section, cruelty to animals is a criminal misdemeanor which
carries a maximum imprisonment of ninety days and a maximum fine
of $1,000 for each offense. Dr. Taub's convictions were later set aside
because the Maryland statute was found not to apply to scientific
research. Taub v. State of Maryland, 296 Md. 439, 463 A.2d 819 (1983),
The statute has since been amended_to apply to researches. Md.Code,
Art. 27, § 59 (amended 1984).
A-4
cooperation of IBR, the monkey 3’ owners. In response to
public clamor and to pressure from members of Congress.
NIH transfered a number of the monkeys to Tulane’s Delta
Regional Primate Center. In December of 1988, NIH an-
nounced that they intended to euthanize three of these
animals immediately. NIH hopes to gain, through the pro-
cedure and subsequent autopsy, knowledge that may lead
to improvements in rehabilitation therapy for individuals
who have suffered brain or spinal cord damage.
When NIH announced its decision, the present suit
was filed in Louisiana Civil District Court asserting
various state law claims and seeking possession of the
monkeys. The plaintifts in this suit are IPPL, PETA, Loui-
siana in Support of Animals and PETA’s founder, Alex
Pacheco. Named as defendants are NIH, IBR and Tulane.
In December of 1989, the court issued a temporary
restraining order prohibiting the euthanizing of any of the
monkeys.
NIH removed the case, under the authority of 28
U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1), to the United States District Court for
the Eastern District of Louisiana. The district court con-
tinued the state court’s temporary restraining order, fin-
ding the equities of the case to favor the plaintiffs. As the
district court extended the temporary restraining order
beyond the 20 days permitted by Rule 65(b), the extended
TRO became the functional equivalent of a preliminary in-
junction, appealable under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1). See
Fernandez-Rogue v. Smith, 671 F.2d 426 (5th Cir. 1982}.
Il. DISCUSSION
NIH contends that the district court erred in exten-
ding the TRO as the plaintiff's have no likelihood of
prevailing on the merits. In support of its contention, NIH
oo
A-5
relies upon three theories. First, NIH asserts that the
plaintifis lack standing to seek possession of the mondeys.
Second, NIH alleges that the Supremacy Clause bars the
plaintiffs’ from interfering with the planned euthanization
and subsequent autopsy. Third, NIH alleges that Loui-
siana Law contains no provision permitting private per-
sons to bring civil suits to redress alleged ‘‘animal rights”
violations. Finding the issue of standing dispositive, we do
not address the other two contentions in defendants’ brief.
A. Standing
[1) To meet standing requirements under Article III,
the plaintiff must demonstrate two things: First ‘‘that he
personally has suffered some actual or threatened injury as
a result of the putatively illegal conduct of the defendant,”’
Gladstone, Realtors v. Village of Bellwood, 441 U.S. 91, 99,
99 S.Ct. 1601, °607, 60 L.Ed.2d 66 (1979); and sec-
ond, a causal connection between the injury and the con-
duct such that the injury is ‘‘likely to be redressed by a
favorable decision."’ Simon v. Eastern Kentucky Welfare
Rights Organization, 426, U.S. 26, 38. 96 S.Ct. 1917, 1924,
48 L.Ed.2d 450 (1976). The Supreme Court has recognized
that injuries to a plaintiff's ‘‘aesthetic, conservational, and
recreational interests are sufficient to meet the first re-
quirement of Article III standing. Association of Data Pro-
cessing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150,
153, 90 S.Ct. 827, 829, 25 L.Ed.2d 184 (1970). The Court
has likewise noted tiiat some interests are ‘‘too abstract, or
otherwise not appropriate, to be considered judicially
cognizable.”’ Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 752, 104 S.Ct.
3315, 3325, 82 L.Ed.2d 556 (1984). In the present case, the
plaintiffs have advanced three separate claims of injury.
1. Personal relationships
The plaintiffs’ first claim is that:
A-6
Plaintiffs, plaintiff organizations and _ in-
dividual members thereof would suffer a perma-
nent disruption of their personal relationships
with the monkeys, relationships which were
established prior to any previous litigation in
related matters and which continued during such
litigation.
This claim of injury to the plaintiffs’ ‘‘personal relation-
ships with the monkeys”’ is one which, within the context
of this case, is insufficient to meet Article III re-
quirements. At the outset, we recognize that the Fourth
Circuit has previously rejected the virtually identical
allegation by APPL and BETA in Primate Protection. 799
F.2d at 938. That Court reasoned that, even if the defen-
dants were to comply with the laws putatively violated, the
plaintiffs would still lack any right to continue their per-
sonal relationships with the monkeys.
The reasoning of the Fourth Circuit in Primate Pro-
tection, which we adopt today, is in accord with that of the
Ninth Circuit in Animal Lovers Volunteer Ass'n uv.
Weinberger, 765 F.2d 937 (9th Cir. 1985), in which the
plaintiffs in that case sought to enjoin the killing of goats
in a federal enclave. The court held that the plaintiffs failed
to allege sufficient injury to confer standing, finding that
the Government’s goat control measures ‘‘would produce
no ‘‘direct sensory impact’ on [the plaintiff's] own environ-
ment or on any environment to which [its] member{[s] would
have access.”’ Id. at 939. The court noted that if the plain-
tiff could show that the killing of the goats ‘“‘would affect
its members’ aesthetic or ecological surroundings’”’ that the
plaintiff's position might have been different. Jd. at 938.
The cases cited by the plaintiffs, in which courts
have found animal rights groups to have met the Article
II! injury requirement, provide scant support to their
A-7
claim of injury. Unlike the privately-owned laboratory
animals involved in the present situation, the animals in
the majority of those cases were feral ones which, were the
challenged conduct of the defendants to be enjoined, the
members of the plaintiff organizations could freely enjoy.
For example in Japan Whaling Assoc. v. American Ceta-
cean Soc’y, 478 U.S. 221, 106 S.Ct. 2860, 92 L.Ed.2d 166
(1986), the Supreme Court held that the plaintiffs in that
case had ‘‘alleged a sufficient “injury in fact’ in that the
whale watching the studying of their members [would] be
adversely affected by continued whale harvesting.’’
Similarly, in Animal Welfare Institute v. Kreps, 561 F.2d
1002 (D.C.Cir.1977), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1013, 98 S.Ct.
726, 54 L.Ed.2d 756 (1978), the court held that the plain-
tiffs had standing because the defendants’ action “‘im--
pair[ed] the ability of the members of the Plaintiff organiza-
tions to see, photograph, and enjoy Cape fur seals alive in
their natural habitat under conditions in which the animals
are not subject to excessive harvesting, inhumane treat-
ment and slaughter.’’ Also, in Alaska Fish & Wildlife
Federation v. Dunkle, 829 F.2d 933, 937 (9th Cir.1987),
cert. denied, 485 U.S. 988, 108 S.Ct. 1290, 99 L.Ed.2d 501
(1988), the court held sufficient the plaintiffs’ allegation
that the defendants’ actions would injure ‘‘those who wish
to hunt, photograph, observe, or carry out scientific studies
on the migratory birds.’’ In American Horse Protection
Association v. Frizzell, 403 F.Supp. 1206, 1214
(D.Nev.1975), the court likewise found sufficient the allega-
tion that ‘‘[aJmong the plaintiff's individual members are
persons residing in the State of Nevada and the District of
_ Columbia and other states who have in the past and have
the right in the future to be users and enjoyers of the lands
and wildlife which is the subject of this suit.”’
The plaintiffs do cite one case in which an-animal
rights group was held to have standing to protest the treat-
A-8
ment of privately-owned animals. In Humane Soc'y v.
Lyng, 633 F.Supp. 480 (W.D.N.Y.1980), a local humane
society challenged a federal regulation requiring dairy
farmers admitted to the Dairy Termination Program to hot
brand their cows.? The court held the humane society to
have standing because New York State law specifically
authorized it to prosecute violations of animal cruelty laws.
Id. at 485.
The plaintiffs maintain that among their numbers
are humane officers authorized under Louisiana law to
remove animals’ being’ treated cruelly. See
La.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 3:2431, and fails to allege that any of
statutory prerequisites to animal removal have been met.
See Id. at §§ 3:2432-38.
2. Long standing, sincere commitment
The plainfiffs’ second claim of injury is that:
Plaintiffs, plaintiff organizations and _in-
dividual members thereof maintain a _ long-
standing, sincere commitment to preventing in-
humane treatment of animals, especially as con-
cerns the monkeys now at Delta, and their
3. See U.S. Department of Agriculture Notice LD-248; see also H.R.Rep.
No. 99-271(I), 99th cong, 2st Sess. 20-21, reprinted in 1985 U.S.Code
Cong. and Admin.News 1103, 1124-25; 7 U.S.C. § 1446(d)(3).
4. We note that even if these hurdles were overcome, a finding that the
euthanasia of the monkeys would constitute cruelty under § 3:2431 is
unlikely. In their attempt to characterize the defendant: ' planned action
as cruelty, the plaintiffs rely on § 14:102.1, defining criminal cruelty to
animals. Although this section does hold guilty one who ‘‘[tjortures,
torments, cruelly beats or unjustifiably injures, maims, mutilates, or
kills any living animal,’ the section contains an express exemption for
scientific and medical research.
A-9
aesthetic, conservational and environmental in-
terests would be particularly, severely, and
detrimentally affected.
The plaintiffs’ ‘long-standing, sincere commitment’”’ is
likewise insufficient to support standing under Article III.
In Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727, 92 S.Ct. 1361, 31
L.Ed.2d 636 (1972), the Supreme Court rejected the Sierra
Club’s contention that its organizational commitment to
conservation was sufficient to meet the injury requirement,
stating:
The Sierra Club is a large and long-established
organization, with a historic commitment to the
cause of protecting our Nation’s natural heritage
from man’s depredations. But if a ‘special in-
terest’’ in this subject were enough to entitle the
Sierra Club to commence this litigation, there
would appear to be no objective basis upon which
to disallow a suit by any other bona fide ‘‘special
interest’ organization, however small or short-
lived. And if any group with a bona fide ‘’special
interest’’ could initiate such litigation, it is dif-
ficult to perceive why any individual citizen with
the same bona fide special interest would not also
be entitled to do so.
Id. at 739, 92 S.Ct. at 1368. Similarly, the plaintiffs’ sincere
commitment to the humane treatment of animals in the
present case is insufficient to distinguish them from other
members of the public.
The plaintiffs’ claim of harm to their ‘aesthetic, con-
servational and environmental interests”’ fails for the same
reason that their ‘“‘personal relationship”’ claim fails. The
plaintiffs neither allege facts which demonstrate that they
have any aesthetic, conservational or environmental in-
A-10
terests in the laboratory monkeys, nor allege facts which
would demonstrate that the destruction of the laboratory
monkeys would impair the plaintiffs’ interests in monkeys
living in the wild. Were the plaintiffs to allege, for example,
that the species of monkey here involved was endangered
and that the destruction of the laboratory monkeys would
therefore impair conservation efforts to preserve or restore
such an endangered species to its wild habitat, their claims
of injury might be more cognizable. As they have not (and
likely could not credibly) make such an allegation, the
plaintiffs second claim of injury is insufficient to confer
standing.
3. Advocates for the monkeys
The plaintiffs’ third claim of injury is that:
Plaintiffs’ mission as advocates for the rights
of the Silver Spring Monkeys, who have no means
of protecting themselves, would be severely
impaired.
As discussed above, the Supreme Court in Sierra
Club has ruled this kind of ‘special interest’’ insufficient to
confer standing. Implicit in the plaintiffs’ third claimed in-
jury, however, is the contention that the plaintiffs should
be allowed standing because to deny it would leave the
monkeys unprotected. The Supreme Court rejected a
similar contention in Valley Forge Christian College v.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State:
“*The assumption that if respondents have no
standing to sue, no one would have standing.’ This view
would convert standing into a requirement that must be
observed only when satisfied. Moreover, we are unwiling to
assume that injured parties are nonexistent simply because
A-11
they have not joined respondents in their suit.
The law of averages is not a substitute for
standing.”
454 U.S. 464, 489, 102 S.Ct. 752, 767, 70 L.Ed.2d 700 (1982)
(citation omitted). Accordingly, the mere fact that the
monkeys would be left without an advocate in court does
not create standing where it otherwise does not exist.
B. Removal
[2] The plaintiffs contend that even if they lack stan-
ding under Article III, they meet the requirements for
standing under state law; as they allege only state law
causes of action, the plaintiffs maintain, the more stringent
Article III requirements need not be met. Although stan-
ding requirements in state courts are often less stringent
than those of Article III, the issue lacks relevance here, as
standing in federal court is determined entirely by Article
III and depends in no degree on whether standing exists
under state law. Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shotts, 472 U.S.
797, 804, 105 S.Ct. 2965, 2970, 86 L.Ed.2d 628 (1985). This
rule applies as well to cases which arrive in federal court by
means of removal. See Associated General Contractors v.
Otter Tail Power Co., 611 F.2d 684, 687 (8th Cir.1979).
[3] The plaintiffs urge that, if they cannot properly
maintain suit in federal court, the case should be remanded
to Louisiana state court. The present case was removed by
NIH under the authority of 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1), which
permits removal by “‘[aJny officer of the United States or
any agency thereof, or person acting under him, for any act
under color of such office.’’ Unlike removal under § 1441,
where the discovery of a jurisdictional defect would require
remand to state court, a federal defendant’s right of
removal under § 1442(a)(1) is absolute. Arizona v.
A-12
Manypenny, 451 U.S. 232, 242, 101 S.Ct. 1657, 1664, 68
L.Ed.2d 58 (1981). If a case has been removed pursuant to
§ 1442(a)(1), a plaintiff's lack of Article III standing re-
quires dismissal of his claims against the federal defen-
dant, regardless of the plaintiff's previous standing in state
court. Maine Ass'n of Interdependent Neighborhoods, Inc.
uv. Petit, 644 F.Supp. 81, 84-85; see also Maine Ass'n of In-
terdependent Neighborhoods, Inc. v. Commissioner, Maine
Dept. of Human Services, 876 F.2d 1051, 1055 (1st
Cir.1989).
The plaintiffs contend, however, that removal of the
action by NIH under § 1442(a)(1) was improper. The plain-
tiffs urge two theories in support of their contention: First,
that as NIH is a federal agency, and not a federal officer,
§ 1442(a)(1) is inapplicable; second, that NIH has no legally
cognizable interest in the monkeys sufficient to support
removal under § 1442(a)(1).
1. Federal agencies
[4] Although the plaintiffs concede that we have
previously stated that § 1442(a)(1) applies to federal agen-
cies, they contend that such statements were merely dicta.
In Smith v. City of Picayune, 795 F.2d 482 (5th Cir.1986),
we held that a federal district court did not abuse its discre-
tion by entertaining a plaintiff's state law claims because
the Farmers Home Administration, a federal agency, was
a defendant in the case and could have removed the case to
federal court under §1442(a)(1) had it been filed in state
court. Jd. at 485. In so holding, we noted a split of authori-
ty on the issue of whether 1442(a)(1) applies to federal
agencies” and accepted the view that it did. As we
5. See 14A Wright, Miller & Cooper, Federal Practice & Procedure §
3727 (2d ed. 1985).
A-13
expressly found state issues predominant in that litigation,
our determination that the agency could have removed
under § 1442 was crucial to our holding that the district
court had jurisdiction to hear the case. Jd. The plaintiffs’
attempt to characterize our holding in that case as
nonauthoritative is weak at best.
2. NIH'’s interest in the monkeys
[5] The plaintiffs maintain that although they named
NIH as a defendant in this action, NIH has had no interest
in the monkeys following the expiration of the court order
giving it temporary ‘“‘custody’’; if NIH has no interest, the
plaintiffs contend, then removal under § 1442 was
improper.
The plaintiffs fail to recognize that ‘‘the only prere-
quisite to removal of a civil action under § 1442 is that it
be brought against a federal officer or agency.’’ IMFC Pro-
fessional Servs. v. Latin Am. Home Health, Inc., 676 f.2d
152 (5th Cir. Unit B 1982). As NIH is named as a defendant
in the present action, the case was properly removed.
Although we find the case to have been properly
removed, we recognize that if NIH indeed has no interest
whatsoever in the monkeys, the dismissal of NIH from the
suit would require remand, rather than dismissal, of the
plaintiffs’ suit against Tulane and IBR. Cf. IMFC, 676 F.2d
at 158-59; Williams v. City of Atlanta, 794 F.2d 624, (11th
Cir.1986). The issue here then is whether NIH’s
possessory, financial and research interests in the monkeys
are sufficient to allow it the right to protect those interests
6. See also IMFC Professional Servs. v. Latin Am. Home Health Inc.,
676 F.2d 152, 155-56 (5th Cir. Unit B 1982).
A-14
in federal court.
In enacting 28 U.S.C. § 1442, Congress recognized
that
federal officers are entitled to, and the interest of
national supremacy requires, the protection of a
federal forum in those actions commemced in
state court that could arrest, restrict, impair, or
interfere with the exercise of federal authority by
federal officials.
Murray v. Murray, 621 F.2d 103, 106 (5th Cir.1980). In
Murray, the United States was named as a Garnishee in a
state court lawsuit by a woman against her ex-husband
seeking her husband’s Veterans’ Administration benefits
in satisfaction of unpaid alimony. The government remov-
ed under § 1442(a)(1) to federal district court, which denied
Mrs. Murray relief on summary judgment. We reversed the
judgment of the district court for want of jurisdiction,
reasoning that the United States was a ‘‘mere stakeholder”’
in the action. We held that because the government was
unable to identify how the disposition of the garnishment
action in state court could “arrest, restrict, impair, or in-
terfere with the actions of a federal official or the opera-
tions of the federal government,”’ the action fell beyond the
scope of protection afforded by § 1442(a)(1). Jd. at 107.
In the present case, NIH has demonstrated that its
interest goes beyond that of “‘mere stakeholder.’’ HIH
funded IBR’s original experimentation on the monkeys
and, with the owner’s consent, serves as the monkeys’
keeper. More important, however, is that the planned
euthanasia on the monkeys and accompanying research is
furtherance of NIH’s statutory mission to conduct and
A-15
and fund biomedical research. Because the injunctive relief
sought by the plaintiffs could interfere with NIH’s opera-
tions, it is entitled to protect its legitimate interests in a
federal forum. As federal court jurisdiction is limited by
the constitution, the plaintiffs’ failure to allege injury suffi-
cient to satisfy Article III standing requirements is fatal to
their suit. Accordingly, we VACATE the order of the
district court granting the preliminary injunction and
DISMISS the case.
A-16
APPENDIX B
International Primate Protection League, et al.
Vv.
Administrators of the Tulane Hducational Fund, et al.
United States District Court
Eastern District of Louisiana
TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER
Considering the verified petition for temporary
restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunc-
tion, and for good cause shown,
IT ISORDERED that a temporary restraining order
be and the same is hereby issued, enjoining the Ad-
ministrators of the Tulane Educational Fund, the National
Institutes of Health, and their agents, attorneys and ser-
vants, from inhumane treatment towards, or euthanasia or
other destruction of those macaque monkeys known as the
“Silver Spring Monkeys..”’
This order to remain in effect through midnight,
February 1, 1989, unless otherwise terminated.
THUS DONE AND SIGNED this 6th day of
January, 1989, New Orleans, Louisiana.
/s/ Veronica D. Wicker
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
A-17
APPENDIX C
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
NEW ORLEANS DIVISION
International Primate Protection League, et al.
Vv.
Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund, et al.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1989
10:00 A.M.
MOTION OF PLAINTIFFS TO REMAND.
DENIED
MOTION OF NAT'L INSTITUTE OF HEALTH TO
DISMISS.
DENIED. without prejudice to be reset by the
movers.
DATE OF ENTRY FEB 2 1989.
A-18
APPENDIX D
International Primate Protection League, et al.
v.
Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund et al.
United States District Court
Eastern Distsrict of Louisiana
WEDNESDAY, April 12, 1989
10:00 A.M.
MOTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO
DISMISS.
ARGUED
DENIED AT THIS TIME.
A-19
APPENDIX E
International Primate Protection League, et al.
Vv.
s
Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund, et al.
United States District Court
Eastern District of Louisiana
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1989
10:00 A.M.
MOTION OF THE UNITED STATES FOR STAY, PEN-
DING APPEAL.
MOTION ARGUED. MOTION DENIED INSOFAR AS
TO THE JURISDICTION ISSUE; GRANTED AS TO
ALL OTHER ISSUES.
MOTION OF THE UNITED STATES FOR _sIN-
DICATIVE RULING.
ARGUED DENIED. . T.R.O. NOT DISSOLVED AT
THIS TIME.
DATE OF ENTRY MAY 4 1989
A-20
APPENDIX F
MINUTE ENTRY
WYNNE, M.
August 16, 1989
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
INTERNATIONAL PRIMATE
PROTECTION LEAGUE, ET AL. CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS NUMBER:88-5713
ADMINISTRATORS OF THE SECTION “L”’ (2)
TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND, ET AL.
FILED AUG 17 89
HEARING ON MOTION
APPEARANCES:
MOTION: of the plaintiffs
(1) Motion to Compel
(2)
(3)
1: Opposition
ORDERED
1: DENIED The motion is denied because this
a
A-21
Court is divested of jurisdiction
over matters involved in the appeal
pending before the Fifth Circuit
Court of Appeals. Plaintiffs are
seeking discovery on the issues
which are presently pending before
the Fifth Circuit. Newball v. Off-
shore Logistics International, 803
F.2nd 821 (C.A. 5 1986), United
States v. Hitchmon, 602 F. 2nd
689, (C.A. 5 Cir. 1979, en banc)
MICHAELLE PITARD WYNNE
United States Magistrate
CLERK TO NOTIFY ALL COUNSEL
DATE OF ENTRY AUG 17 1989
A-22
APPENDIX G
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
NO. 89-3288
FILED AUG 9 1989
INTERNATIONAL PRIMATE PROTECTION ET AL.,
Plaintiffs-Appellees
versus
ADMINISTRATORS OF TULANE EDUCATIONAL
FUND and NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH,
Defendants-Appellants.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Louisiana
Before POLITZ, GARWOOD and JOLLY, Circuit Judges.
BY THE COURT:
IT IS ORDERED that the motion of appellee(s) to
dismiss the appeal is DENIED. There is no showing of con-
sent to extend the temporary restraining order beyond
February 1, 1989 - certainly not beyond April 12, 1989. See
Fernandez-Rogue v. Smith 671 F.2d 426, 429 (5th Cir.
1982).
—
ee ee eee ee
A-23
APPENDIX H
INTERNATIONAL PRIMATE
PROTECTION LEAGUE, ET AL.
Vv.
ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE
EDUCATIONAL FUND ET AL.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1989
10:00 A.M.
MOTION OF PLAINTIFFS INTERNATIONAL
PRIMATE PROTECTION LEAGUE AND ITS
MEMBERS, PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREAT-
MENT OF ANIMALS AND ITS MEMBERS, ETC. TO
REVIEW*MAGISTRATE’S ORDER DENYING MO-
TION TO COMPEL.
ARGUED. COURT UPHOLDS THE MAGISTRATE.
MOTION TO CERTIFY.
DENIED
A-24
APPENDIX I
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 89-3288
FILED APR 13 1990
INTERNATIONAL PRIMATE PROTECTION, ET AL.,
Plaintiff-Appellees,
versus
ADMINISTRATORS OF TULANE ED. FUND
and NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH,
Defendants-Appellants.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Louisiana
ON PETITION FOR REHEARING
( APRIL 13, 1990
Before GEE, REAVLEY and GARWOOD, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
IT IS ORDERED that the petition for rehearing fil-
ed in the above entitled and numbered cause be and the
same is hereby DENIED.
.
A-25
ENTERED FOR THE COURT:
/s/ illegible
United States Circuit Judge
A-26
APPENDIX J
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 89-3288
FILED MAY 2 1990
INTERNATIONAL PRIMATE PROTECTION, ET AL.,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
versus
ADMINISTRATORS OF TULANE EDUCATIONAL
FUND and NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH,
Defendants-Appellants.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Louisiana
ORDER:
xX The motion of appellees
for ‘X stay _) recall and stay of the issuance of the
mandate pending petition for writ of certiorari is
DENIED.
/s/ Thomas Gibbs Gee
UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE
THOMAS GIBBS GEE
:
'
:
a
A-27
APPENDIX K
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
INTERNATIONAL PRIMATE * CIVIL ACTION
PROTECTION LEAGUE,
ET AL
. NO. 88-5713
v. * SECTION: “L” (2)
ADMINISTRATORS OF THE
TULANE EDUCATIONAL
FUND, ET AL °
* *
NOTICE OF APPEAL
The United States of America, on behalf of its
agency the National Institutes of Health, hereby appeals
to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit,
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1292(a), from the order entered on
April 12, 1989.
A-28
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN VOLZ
r UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
/s/ Ruth Morris Force
RUTH MORRIS FORCE
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Hale Boggs Federal Building
500 Camp Street, Room 205
New Orleans, LA 70130
Telephone: (504) 589-3561
LA Bar Roll No.: 5683
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I certify that a copy of the foregoing has been served upon
counsel for all parties by mailing the same to each, properly
addressed and postage prepaid this 17 day of
April, 1989.
/s/ R M Force
Assistant U. S. Attorney
‘
:
.
:
}
|
A-29
APPENDIX L
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
INTERNATIONAL PRIMATE CIVIL ACTION
PROTECTION LEAGUE, ET AL
versus NO. 88-5713
ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE
EDUCATIONAL FUND, ET AL SECTION L (2)
NOTICE OF APPEAL
The United States of America, on behalf of its
agency the National Institutes of Health, hereby appeals
to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
the decision of the District Court on May 3, 1989, on the
Motion of the United States for an Indicative Ruling.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN VOLZ
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
/si/ Ruth Morris Force
RUTH MORRIS FORCE -5683
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Hale Boggs Federal! Building
500 Camp Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
Telephone: (504) 589-3561
A-30
APPENDIX M
CIVIL DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE PARISH OF ORLEANS
STATE OF LOUISIANA
NO. DIVISIGN” ” DOCKET NO.
FILED Dec 28
INTERNATIONAL PRIMATE
PROTECTION LEAGUE, ET AL
versus
ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE
EDUCATIONAL FUND, ET AL
FILED:
DY. CLERK
PETITION FOR DECLARATORY
AND/OR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
The petition of International Primate Protection
League and its members, People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals and its members, Alex Pacheco, and Louisiana
in Support of Animals and its members, respectfully
represents:
Made defendants herein are the Administrators of
the Tulane Educational fund, the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) and the Institutes for Behavior Resources,
Inc. (IBR).
‘h.
:
)
A-31
II.
Plaintiffs, International Primate Protection League
(IPPL), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA), and Louisiana in Support of Animals ( ),
are private organizations for the humane treatment of
animals, with their main offices in South Carolina,
Maryland, and Louisiana respectively. Plaintiff Alex
Pacheco is founder and chairman of PETA and is domiciled
in Maryland.
III.
Defendant the Administrators of the Tulane Educa-
tional Fund (Tulane) is a corporate body established by the
statutory law of Louisiana and based in New Orleans, Loui-
siana. It governs the Tulane Medical Center, one branch of
which is the Delta Regional Primate Research Center.
IV.
Defendant National Institutes of Health is a federal
agency in the Department of Health and Human Services,
whose main office is in Maryland, and which is doing
business in Louisiana.
V.
Defendant Institutes for Behavior Resources, Inc. is
a private research corporation in the District of Columbia,
which claims (contested) ownership of certain monkeys
that are being housed in Louisiana.
Vi.
Plaintiffs seek to enjoin defendants and any of their
A-32
agents, officers, representatives, empioyees and/or all
thoSe persons in concert with them from destroying or
otherwise disposing of or injuring any of the surviving
primates known as the ‘Silver Spring Monkeys’, and fur-
ther seeks judgment declaring that plaintiffs or members
of the U.S. Congress be made custodian of those monkeys.
VII.
In May, 1981, plaintiff Alex Pacheco was hired by
Edward Taub, PhD, head of the IBR’s warehouse
laboratory, to assist in primate experiments. In particular,
IBR was conducting experiments on a number of macaque
monkeys, highly intelligent and social animals. The ex-
periments, conducted pursuant to a grant funded by the
NIH, involved severing spinal nerves and observing the
animals’ capacity to learn to use their limbs. The survivors
of such experimentation have come to be known as ‘‘the
Silver Spring Monkeys.”
VILL.
In the course of his employment, Mr. Pacheco
discovered the Silver Spring Monkeys were receiving in-
adequate care, and that the experiments were needlessly
repetitive and cruel. The monkeys showed signs of extreme
distress. During the course of and as a result of faulty ex-
perimentation and neglect, many of the monkeys had not
only suffered crippled limbs, but also had torn or bitten off
their own fingers and performed other acts of self-
multilation; they had inflicted wounds on monkeys in ad-
joining cages; bones protruded through their flesh; muscle
tissue was exposed; the cages housing the animals were
tiny, rusted, broken and filthy; no one had properly band-
aged the animals and no veterinarian was ever used; and
the animals’ feeding was neglected, resulting in their going
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without food for days or eating food contaminated by fecal
matter.
IX.
As a consequence of his treatment of the animals, Dr.
Taub was charged with seventeen criminal violations. Pen-
ding those proceedings, the police and plaintiffs herein
PETA and Pacheco took temporary custody of the Silver
Spring Monkeys; the Circuit Court for Montgomery Coun-
ty later ordered them transferred to NIH tacilities in
Poolesville, Maryland. At that facility, the monkeys were
kept in isolation and provided no rehabilitation. Years
later, the monkeys were transferred by NIH, custodians of
the monkeys, to the Delta Regional Primate Research
Center, a component of Tulane University in New Orleans,
Louisiana.
X.
Defendants herein IBR and NIH represented orally
and in writing to plaintiffs, to the public, and to the United
States Congress that: 1) corrective surgery (amputation) to
crippled limbs of the animals would be carried out; 2) the
animals would be resocialized; 3) no invasive research
would take place; and 4) the animals would not be killed but
allowed to live out their natural lives.
XI.
In spite of their assurances and in complete violation
of their commitments to the plaintiffs, to the public and to
the U. S. Congress, defendants have made an express deter-
mination to exterminate the monkeys.
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XII.
On information and belief, the extermination of at
least three Silver Spring Monkeys is imminent.
XIII.
Plaintiffs have offered since 1981 to house, maintain
and resocialize the Silver Spring Monkeys at Primarily
Primates, a refuge specifically established for the care of
abused primates, in San Antonio, Texas. Over two hundred
members of Congress have signed a resolution stating that
this refuge is the most appropriate facility for resocializa-
tion of the monkeys, and still more have written letters re-
questing that the animals be transferred to that facility. As
an alternative, Moorpark College in California has offered
to care for the monkeys, which offer is also supported by
many members of Congress and by plaintiffs.
XIV.
Defendants have refused to transfer the monkeys to
either facility and they have: 1) not performed the needed
corrective (amputation) surgery, and 2) not resocialized the
animals.
XV.
Veterinarians who have viewed these monkeys have
expressed their opinions that euthanasia is not warranted
by the facts of this case, and that the monkeys could live
out their natural lives safely, humanely and comfortably if
transferred to a suitable facility.
XVI.
A number of respected scientists have also opined
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that the pasi abusive, inhumane and unscientific treatment
of the Silver Spring Monkeys would invalidate any further
research or experimentation on the animals. IBR and NIH
have previously expressed their disinterest in conducting
any further research or experimentation on these animals,
and neither Tulane nor Delta has expressed any desire or
intention to use them in connection with any research or
experimentation.
COUNT I
XVIII.
Louisiana has a strong public policy against in-
humane treatment of animals. That policy is expressed in
La. R.S. 14:102.1, which includes as an ‘‘offense affecting
the public sensibility’’ the unjustified killing of animals. Ti-
tle 3 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes at Sections 2431 et
seq., and 2391 et seq. also further the state’s polic. terest
in humane treatment of animals, including proper caie and
avoidance of unjustified euthanasia.
XVIII.
Defendants’ 1) refusal to transfer the monkeys, 2)
their decision to exterminate some of the animals, 3) their
decision to deprive the animals of needed surgery and 4)
their decision to continue to confine and isolate the animals
and deprive them of resocialization, are in violation of
Louisiana's public policy against inhumane treatment of
animals and constitute a public nuisance.
COUNT II
XIX
Defendants above-listed conduct has caused extreme
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emotional distress to plaintiff organizations and their
members, whose mission is to avoid and prevent such in-
humane treatment of animals. Members of plaintiff
organizations, including plaintiff Alex Pacheco, have had
personal contact with the Silver Spring Monkeys and have
developed longstanding relationships marked by deep af-
fection for the animals. Their present treatment and defen-
dants’ proposed killing of three of the animals has caused
plaintiffs mentai anguish and does violence to the missions
of the plaintiff organizations.
XX.
Defendants’ negligent treatment of the Silver
Springs Monkeys and their intentional infliction of emo-
tional distress and mental anguish on plaintiffs are
violative of La. C.C. Art. 2315.
COUNT IIL.
XXI.
Plaintiffs seek an order transferring custody of the
Silver Spring Monkeys from detundants, who have no fur-
ther need, use, or concern for them, to either plaintiffs or
members of Congress who have expressed willingness to
assume such custody.
XXII.
On information and - belief, the Silver Spring
Monkeys are financial burdens to IBR rather than a finan-
cial asset, because the monkeys are not the subjects of any
present experimentation, yet the annual expense of hous-
ing them is approximately $30,000.00 apiece.
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XXIII.
Legal remedies are inadequate to safeguard the
plaintiffs’ rights.
XXIV.
Article 4 of the Louisiana Civil Code provides ‘hat
‘‘[w]hen no rule for a particular situation can be derived
from legislation or custom, the court is bound to proceed
according to equity.” In this case, the highly intelligent
and socialized nature of the Silver Spring Monkeys, Loui-
siana’s public policy of humane treatment to animals,
plaintiffs’ profound concern for the monkeys, and defen-
dants’ disregard for and cruelty towards them dictate that
the only just and equitable solution is transfer of their
custody to plaintiffs or members of Congress.
COUNT IV.
XXV.
If defendants are not enjoined and restrained from
continuing to cruelly confine and deprive the animals of
needed surgery and from killing the monkeys plaintiffs will
suffer irreparable harm and loss in that:
a. Plaintiffs, plaintiff organizations and individual
members thereof would suffer a permanent disruption of
their personal relationships with the monkeys, relation-
ships which were established prior to any previous litiga-
tion in related matters and which continued during such
litigation.
b. Plaintiffs, plaintiff organizations and individual
meinbers thereof maintain a long-standing, sincere commit-
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ment to preventing inhumane treatment of animals,
especially as concerns the monkeys now at Delta, and their
aesthetic, conservational and environmental interests
would be particularly, severely and detrimentally affected.
c. Plaintiffs’ mission as advocates for the right of the
Silver Spring Monkeys, who have no means of protecting
themselves, would be severely impaired.
XXVII.
if defendants are restrained from cruelly confining
and killing the monkeys, their only burden will be to uphold
state statutes requiring humane treatment of animals.
XXVIII.
There are no adequate pecuniary standards for the
measurement of damages which have been and would be
sustained by the plaintiffs, who have suffered as a result of
the treatment of these animals and will suffer even more if
the defendants are not prohibited from needlessly killing
the monkeys.
WHEREFORE, plaintiffs pray that this Court:
A. Immediately grant a temporary restraining order en-
joining the defendants from in any way cruelly confining
and destroying the Silver Spring Monkeys during the
pendency of this proceeding;
B. Grant a preliminary injunction to the same effect as
paragraph A;
C. Grant a permanent injunction enjoining the above-
described conduct;
_ %
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D. Order that custody of the monkeys be given to the
plaintiffs or to members of the U. S. Congress; and
E. Grant whatever additional relief may be dictated by
law and equity together with costs and attorneys fees.
Rospectfully Submitted,
/s) Margaret E. Woodward
BAR No. 13677
610 POYDRAS ST., SUITE 318
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130
PHONE: 504-525-9538
ATTORNEY FOR PETA
PLEASE SERVE:
1. ADMINISTRATORS OF TULANE’ EDUCA-
TIONAL FUND
Through Ron Mason or Clarence Sheps
6823 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70118
2. INSTITUTE FOR BEHAVIOR... RESOURCES
(Please Hold Service)
* 3. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
(Please Hold Service)
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VERIFICATION
1, Alex Pacheco have read the foregoing Petition for
Declaratory and/or Injunctive Relief and duly swear that
all allegations contained therein are true to the best of my
knowledge and belief.
Washington, D.C., this 28th day of December, 1988.
/s/ Alex Pacheco
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.