Cleary v. Commissioner of Public Welfare

The plaintiff, who had applied for food stamps in September, 1974, had appealed in January, 1975, from the failure of the Department of Public Welfare to take action on her application, and had waited for more than four months for the Department to schedule a hearing on her appeal, commenced this action on May 2, 1975, claiming a denial of her rights under Federal and State law to a speedy disposition of her appeal. She sought certification as representative of a class of persons similarly situated. The class was defined in her complaint as “those [flood [s]tamp applicants and recipients who…