Richard Stogsdill et al v. Sebelius et al

Filing 147

ORDER granting 143 MOTION to Strike Jury Demand, striking Levin's jury demand and notifying parties the case will be tried via a bench trial beginning 01/12/2015. Signed by Honorable Joseph F. Anderson, Jr. on 12/16/2014.(bshr, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
COLUMBIA DIVISION
Richard Stogsdill, Nancy Stogsdill, Mother of
Richard Stogsdill, Robert Levin, and Mary Self,
Mother of Robert Levin,

C/A No. 3:12-cv-0007-JFA

Plaintiffs,

vs.

ORDER

Anthony Keck and the South Carolina
Department of Health and Human Services,
Defendants.

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant South Carolina Department of Health and
Human Services’ (“SCDHHS”) motion to strike Plaintiff Robert Levin’s (“Levin”) jury demand.
(ECF No. 143). SCDHHS has moved for an Order striking the jury demand in this case pursuant to
Fed. R. Civ. P. 39(a)(2), which provides that all issues upon which a jury trial have been demanded
must be tried by a jury, unless “the court, on motion or its own, finds that on some or all of those
issues there is no federal right to a jury trial.”
Levin’s three remaining causes of action seek only prospective declaratory relief and
injunctive relief, not monetary damages.1 Such equitable claims are not the kind contemplated by the
Seventh Amendment as preserved for a jury. As the Supreme Court has aptly stated, “The Seventh

Amendment provides: ‘In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed

1

Levin’s Complaint is entitled, “Second Amended Complaint for Injunctive Relief.” (ECF No. 72).

1

twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved . . .’ We have consistently interpreted
the phrase ‘Suits at common law’ to refer to ‘suits in which legal rights were to be ascertained
and determined, in contradistinction to those where equitable rights alone were recognized, and
equitable remedies were administered.” Granfinanciera, S.A. v. Nordberg, 492 U.S. 33, 40-41,
(1989) (citing Parsons v. Bedford, 3 Pet. 433, 447, 7 L.Ed. 732 (1830)) (emphasis in original).
Accordingly, because all of Levin’s claims sound in equity, he is not entitled to a jury trial.
Therefore, the Court hereby GRANTS SCDHHS’s motion, and Levin’s jury demand is
stricken. This case will be tried via a bench trial beginning Monday, January 12, 2015.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

December 16, 2014
Columbia, South Carolina

Joseph F. Anderson, Jr.
United States District Judge

2