Citing Supreme Court precedent on statutory entitlements, a federal judge has found that a Saipan resident’s due‑process claim against the Nutrition Assistance Program is sufficiently pleaded to survive initial screening.
The ruling allows Joshua Lawrence Robert Hughes’s lawsuit to proceed, alleging that NAP violated CNMI regulations and the Fourteenth Amendment by failing to provide a required fair hearing on his food‑benefit calculation.
Last week, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona granted Hughes’s request to proceed without paying fees and directed him to submit mailing addresses for DCCA Secretary Francisco M. Rabauliman and NAP Administrator Margarita Torres‑Aldan so summons can be issued.
Hughes argues that NAP miscalculated his monthly benefit and then ignored his July 2025 request for a fair hearing, despite regulations requiring a decision within 60 days. The court found his allegations sufficient to show a protected property interest in NAP benefits and a potential deprivation of due process.
Hughes seeks a declaration that the agencies violated his constitutional rights and an injunction requiring NAP to promptly conduct the hearing.
