Robert E. Devine, and All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs v. Max Cleland, Etc., Robert E. Devine v. Max Cleland, Etc.

The successful class before the district court was made up of student-veterans whose educational allowance assistance benefits were suspended, and in some cases terminated, by the Veterans’ Administration (VA). The district court enjoined the Administrator of Veterans’ Affairs from “any termination” of these educational benefits unless certain specified procedural requisites were met. The Administrator appeals on two grounds: first, that 38 U.S.C. § 211 (a) precludes judicial review of the VA’s benefit termination procedures; and second, that the procedural safeguards mandated by the district court unduly exceed the minimum requirements of procedural due process. We conclude that section 211(a) does not foreclose jurisdiction and that the district court’s decree was proper. We thus affirm.

I

Pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1681 (a), “eligible veterans,” as defined in 38 U.S.C. § 1652 (a)(1), are entitled to receive from the VA “an educational assistance allowance to meet, in part, the expenses of the veteran’s subsistence, tuition, fees, supplies, books, equipment, and other educational costs.” On or about December 10, 1975, the VA notified approximately 1,000 such veterans attending…