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Keywords

plaintiffdefendantjurisdictionhearingsovereign immunity
plaintiffdefendantjurisdictiondamagessovereign immunity

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Schaeuble v. Reno

Facts

Plaintiff Marco Schaeuble, a West German citizen and lawful permanent resident of the U.S. for over thirty years, was convicted in 1985 for delivery of a controlled substance. After his conviction was vacated in 1999 due to not being advised of immigration consequences, he sought to have the INS and FBI amend their records to reflect this change. Despite attempts to negotiate with the agencies, they refused to amend the records, prompting Schaeuble to file a complaint in court.

Plaintiff Marco Schaeuble is a West German citizen who has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States for over thirty years. About fifteen years ago, on March 27, 1985, while a senior at the University of Wisconsin, Plaintiff was convicted in the Circuit Court of Wisconsin of delivery of a controlled substance in violation of Wisconsin Penal Code 101.41(1)(b).

Issue

Whether the court has subject matter jurisdiction over the plaintiff's claims and whether the plaintiff was required to exhaust administrative remedies before filing suit.

Defendants move to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) and for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).

Rule

The Privacy Act allows individuals to sue federal agencies for failure to amend records, and while exhaustion of administrative remedies is generally required, it is not a jurisdictional prerequisite.

Sovereign immunity does not apply, however, to suits seeking solely declaratory and injunctive relief. The APA, 5 U.S.C. 702, provides in part: An action in a court of the United States seeking relief other than money damages and stating a claim that an agency or an officer or employee thereof acted or failed to act in an official capacity or under color of legal authority shall not be dismissed nor relief therein be denied on the ground that it is against the United States or that the United States is an indispensable party.

Analysis

The court found that the Privacy Act provides a limited waiver of sovereign immunity, allowing the plaintiff to bring his claims against the federal agencies. Although the defendants argued that the plaintiff failed to exhaust administrative remedies, the court noted that this requirement is not jurisdictional and does not bar the court from hearing the case.

The Third Circuit, recognizing that the Privacy Act sets forth detailed procedures by which an agency must permit an individual to request amendment of his records, concluded that the plaintiff seeking to amend records must exhaust administrative remedies before filing suit.

Conclusion

The court granted the plaintiff's order to show cause in part, ordering the defendants to amend their records to reflect the vacation of the conviction, but denied the request to expunge the records without proper judicial authorization.

Plaintiff's order to show cause was granted in part, denied in part. Defendants were ordered to amend records to reflect vacation of plaintiff's 1985 conviction, but were not required to expunge records which required authorization from appropriate judicial authority.

Who won?

The plaintiff prevailed in part, as the court ordered the defendants to amend their records to reflect the vacation of his conviction, acknowledging the potential immigration consequences of the unamended records.

The court found that the Privacy Act provides a limited waiver of sovereign immunity, allowing the plaintiff to bring his claims against the federal agencies.

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