In this case filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, we argue that FEMA has violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the Administrative Procedure Act, by terminating housing assistance benefits to hurricane survivors without adequate explanation of its decision. Federal law provides evacuees from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with up to 18 months of housing assistance, but FEMA notified thousands of evacuees that they would become ineligible for assistance as of August 31, 2006. The FEMA letters contain a cryptic computer code or generic phrase to explain the reason for termination of housing benefits. The letters do not explain what steps, if any, the evacuees may take to correct any errors that produced FEMA's termination of benefits. FEMA's refusal to clearly state its decision, the basis for its decision, and the available means of challenging its decision will result in the termination of FEMA assistance for many evacuees not because they are ineligible, but because they are uncertain of what the problem is and how to correct it.
Whether by neglect or a deliberate attempt to withhold benefits, FEMA's actions run headlong into a half-century of case law holding that the Constitution requires agencies to provide "timely and adequate notice detailing the reasons for a proposed termination" of government benefits, Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254, 267-68 (1970), and that "when notice is a person's due . . . [t]he means employed must be such as one desirous of actually informing the [evacuee] might reasonably adopt to accomplish it." Jones v. Flowers, 126 S.Ct. 1708, 1715 (2006) (quoting Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 315 (1950)).
We seek preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to ensure that all housing assistance termination notices contain a complete and intelligible explanation for the termination and adequate instructions so that each beneficiary may attempt to address any concerns with the proposed termination. We also seek a declaration that FEMA has violated the Due Process Clause and an order continuing current assistance to Katrina and Rita evacuees until FEMA provides sufficient notice and opportunity for hearing in response to any proposed termination of benefits. |
