Case: 12-2117

Document: 00116431863

Page: 1

Date Filed: 09/17/2012

Entry ID: 5675271

United States Court of Appeals

For the First Circuit
No. 12-2117 SINDICATO PUERTORRIQUENODE TRABAJADORES, SEIU LOCAL 1996, ET AL., Plaintiffs, Appellants, ________________________ MUNICIPALITY OF SAN JUAN, Plaintiff, v. LUIS FORTUNO, in his official capacity as Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, ET. AL., Defendants, Appellees. ________________________ Before Lynch, Chief Judge, Howard and Thompson, Circuit Judges.

JUDGMENT Entered: September 17, 2012 Appellant labor unions seek review of the district court's September 7, 2012 order sua sponte certifying certain questions of law to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico "insofar as such Order refuses to issue a preliminary injunction." This court has jurisdiction to review an interlocutory order denying a preliminary injunction. Waldron v. George Weston Bakeries Inc., 570 F.3d 5, 8 (1st Cir. 2009) (citing 28 U.S.C. 1292(a)(1)). However, we do not read the district court's September 7 order as ruling on the motion for preliminary injunction to any extent. Nonetheless, we have construed Appellants' notice of appeal as an application for supervisory mandamus relief as to the district court's certification of questions of law, and we GRANT such relief for the reasons set out below. This court possesses supervisory mandamus authority to the extent necessary to safeguard appellate jurisdiction, and that authority extends to both appeals perfected and appeals to be perfected. See Roche v. Evaporated Milk Ass'n, 319 U.S. 21, 25 (1943) ("As the jurisdiction of the circuit court of appeals is exclusively appellate, its authority to issue writs

Case: 12-2117

Document: 00116431863

Page: 2

Date Filed: 09/17/2012

Entry ID: 5675271

of mandamus is restricted by statute to those cases in which the writ is in aid of that jurisdiction. Its authority is not confined to the issuance of writs in aid of a jurisdiction already acquired by appeal but extends to those cases which are within its appellate jurisdiction although no appeal has been perfected."). It is clear that this court will be called upon at some point in the near future to review the district court's ruling on Appellants' motion for preliminary injunction. The district court's certification was in error and constitutes an obstacle that threatens this court's ability to conduct review in the prompt and orderly manner required under the circumstances. As explained below, the district court certified, not questions of Puerto Rico law, but questions of federal law to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, and we, therefore, reverse the certification ruling. Certification to a state's highest court, properly used, is a means of procuring clarification as to issues of state law, not federal law. Nieves v. Univ. of Puerto Rico, 7 F.3d 270, 274 (1st Cir. 1993) ("Absent controlling state-law precedent, a federal court sitting in diversity has the discretion to certify a state-law question to the state's highest court."). Appellants in this case have presented only claims arising under federal law, specifically the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Though their claims implicate Puerto Rico statutes, the claims do not arise under Puerto Rico law. Thus, with its certification order, the district court improperly has certified, not questions of Puerto Rico law, but the very questions of federal constitutional law at the heart of this case. Accordingly, we VACATE the district court's certification order and DIRECT the district court to rescind the certified questions. In light of the exigencies of the situation, the district court shall promptly rule on Appellants' motion for preliminary injunctive relief. In light of the foregoing, Appellants' motion for an injunction pending appeal is MOOT. By the Court: /s/ Margaret Carter, Clerk. cc: Hon. Juan M. Perez-Gimenez Frances Rios de Moran, Clerk. Carlos Enrique Cardona-Fernandez Jeremiah A. Collins Eliezer Aldarondo-Ortiz Pedro R. Vazquez, III Eric R. Ronda-Del Toro Claudio Aliff-Ortiz Nora Vargas-Acosta Manuel A. Rodriguez Banchs Michael C. McCall Eliezer Alberto Aldarondo-Lopez Mark D. Schneider John M. West Kimberly M. Sanchez Alvin Velazquez