Isobel Moore v. Donald E. Johnson

This case nicely illustrates the constitutional procedural due process screen through which tolerably plain and straightforward statutory provisions sometimes must pass in order to discover their meaning as intended by Congress and as compelled by the Constitution, as interpreted by the courts. The principal statutes are 38 U.S.C. §§ 211 and 610 and the screen is derived from the Fifth Amendment. Whether the screen is necessary in this case depends, as will appear, on how the plaintiffs’ complaint is characterized.

The district court dismissed the complaint on the grounds that the court lacked jurisdiction and that the complaint failed to state a cause of action. We affirm.

I.

District Court’s Disposition of Plaintiffs’ Complaint.

The complaint alleges that the plaintiffs are eligible recipients of domiciliary care within Veterans Administration facilities pursuant to 38 U.S.C. §§ 601-628 and 38 C.F.R. § 17.47 . On January 14, 1972, plaintiffs were informed by defendant Donald E. Johnson, then Administrator of the Veterans Administration, that it was necessary to relocate them because the buildings in which they received care had irremediable structural deficiencies. On or…