Last week, we published a short article concerning the Yale Veterans Clinic’s petition under the All Writs Act in Monk v. McDonald. In the ensuing week, numerous websites have published articles about this petition, to include the New York Times (accessible at April 7, 2015 New York Times Article).
In addition to press articles, a number of veterans (to include clients) have emailed me about the potential of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) to order class relief. Much to those veterans’ dismay, I expressed doubt over the potential that the CAVC would order relief for Mr. Monk or more broadly for a class of veterans identified in the petition. I did so, not because I believe the CAVC is not concerned about VA appeal processing time and lack of responsiveness, clearly the court expressed such concerns in an unpublished order in Hamblin v. Gibson. My doubt stems from the jurisdictional limitations of the All Writs Act and unavailability of “class relief” under Title 38.
A careful read from the petition from Yale (again accessible at Monk_v_McDonald_Mandamus_Petition_FINAL_150406) evidences a more nuanced legal argument then simply the jurisdictional confines of Title 38, the petition includes the concept that the CAVC has “[broader] equitable power[s]” as an Article I court to order relief. However, a recent unpublished decision from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Fed. Cir.), in ADEYI v. MCDONALD [OPINION], expresses some of my concerns with clarity: “The Veterans Court [CAVC] determined that it lacked jurisdiction over claims ‘brought by a single petitioner on behalf of a group of veterans.’ . . . . That determination reflects longstanding Veterans Court precedent. E.g., Am. Legio Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 1, 8 (2007) (“Congress has expressly limited our jurisdiction to addressing only appeals and petitions brought by individual claimants.”). The Veterans Court’s position is, at a minimum, not clearly incorrect. Cf. Spain v. Principi, 18 F. App’x 784, 785–86 (Fed. Cir. 2001) (‘We agree that the Veterans Court did not have the authority to . . . establish class action procedures . . . .’).”