Babies Right Start, Inc. v. Georgia Department of Public Health, 293 Ga. 553

Babies Right Start, Inc. (BRS) was a Georgia WIC vendor under a state vendor agreement; Department investigators found alleged WIC violations in 2010 and the Department issued a one-year disqualification on November 9, 2010.
BRS appealed administratively under the Georgia APA; an ALJ reversed the one-year disqualification and ordered six months probation, but the Agency Appeals Reviewer reversed the ALJ and reinstated the one-year disqualification.
BRS sued in Fulton Superior Court challenging federal preemption of Georgia’s further administrative review and the Reviewer’s sanction determination; the trial court denied relief on October 17, 2011.
BRS did not obtain an injunction pending appeal, so the one-year disqualification went into effect; BRS sought discretionary appellate review and the case ultimately reached the Georgia Supreme Court.
The Department filed a Suggestion of Mootness after the disqualification expired; BRS did not plead damages in the trial court or move to amend to add damages after entry of judgment.
The Georgia Supreme Court held the case moot, declined to apply the capable-of-repetition-yet-evading-review exception, vacated the trial-court judgment, and remanded with direction to dismiss.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Mootness of claims for mandamus/injunction/declaratory relief	BRS: Relief still warranted to overturn disqualification	Dept: Disqualification period expired; relief would have no effect	Moot; claims for prospective relief are moot because disqualification ended
Whether complaint’s general prayer preserves a damages claim to avoid mootness	BRS: Broad prayer and potential post-judgment damages preserve jurisdiction	Dept: No specific prayer or ruling for damages; no amendment sought below	Held for Dept; general prayer without specific damages cannot save the case from mootness
Whether the capable-of-repetition-yet-evading-review exception applies	BRS: Administrative action could recur and evade review	Dept: No evidence recurrence likely; BRS did not seek injunction to prevent review	Exception not met; BRS did not show likelihood of repetition nor that the dispute would evade review if properly litigated
Appropriate relief when case becomes moot on appeal due to passage of time	BRS: (implicit) seek merits review	Dept: Vacate judgment and dismiss to avoid unreviewable judgment consequences	Court vacated trial-court judgment and remanded with direction to dismiss (Munsingwear practice)

Citizens to Save Paulding County v. City of Atlanta, 236 Ga. 125 (1976) (injunctive relief denial may become moot if the challenged act is consummated)
Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona, 520 U.S. 43 (1997) (caution on extracting nominal damages from a general prayer to avoid mootness)
United States v. Munsingwear, Inc., 340 U.S. 36 (1950) (vacatur of lower-court judgment when case becomes moot on appeal)
WMW, Inc. v. American Honda Motor Co., 291 Ga. 683 (2012) (discussing vacatur practice to prevent unreviewable judgments from spawning legal consequences)
Lillbask ex rel. Mauclaire v. Conn. Dept. of Education, 397 F.3d 77 (2d Cir. 2005) (general prayer for relief does not avoid mootness where no specific damages claim was pleaded)
Seven Words LLC v. Network Solutions, 260 F.3d 1089 (9th Cir. 2001) (collecting cases refusing to allow general prayers to circumvent mootness)
Thomas R.W. v. Mass. Dept. of Education, 130 F.3d 477 (1st Cir. 1997) (post-judgment harms alleged too late to prevent mootness)