Legal Servs. of N. Cal. V. Arnett

No. 95-17358 (9th Cir. May 28, 1997) ; Clearinghouse Number: 52212

Description

Legal Services Program That Lost Older Americans Act Grant to Rival Has No Right to Enforce Act’s Provisions Under Section 1983

Abstract

The Ninth Circuit has held that plaintiff legal services provider was not deprived of federal statutory rights under the Older Americans Act (OAA) when defendant state agency awarded OAA funds to a rival applicant. Plaintiff Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC) alleged that defendant’s decision to deny LSNC’s application for funding violated the OAA because LSNC was "best able" to provide legal services to the elderly and because its proposal included the provision of services to low-income minority elders "to the maximum extent feasible." The district court held that the OAA did not create any enforceable federal rights in unsuccessful applicants for grants, and LSNC appealed. Rejecting LSNC’s argument that the scope of intended beneficiaries of the OAA includes potential service providers who have been rejected from inclusion in the program, the court of appeals held that Congress intended the OAA to benefit elders in need of services. The court also rejected LSNC’s argument that the statutory and regulatory provisions it sought to enforce under section 1983 provide sufficient guidance to allow judicial enforcement. The court held that OAA provisions requiring services to the needy to the "maximum extent feasible" by the applicant "best able to provide" them describe obligations to be imposed on the chosen service providers, not criteria that courts may employ to determine as a matter of law which applicant for a grant is "best." Finally, the court held that, because LSNC is not among the intended beneficiaries of the OAA and because the terms it sought to enforce are vague and amorphous, the court held that the OAA creates no rights enforceable by LSNC under section 1983.

Additional Information

Docket Date
1997-05-28 00:00:00+00:00

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