Ark Encounter, LLC v. Stewart

311 F.R.D. 414, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1353, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147650, 2015 WL 6680837
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Kentucky
DecidedOctober 30, 2015
DocketCiv. No: 15-13-GFVT
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 311 F.R.D. 414 (Ark Encounter, LLC v. Stewart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ark Encounter, LLC v. Stewart, 311 F.R.D. 414, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1353, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147650, 2015 WL 6680837 (E.D. Ky. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER

Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Ark Encounter, LLC is a limited liability company whose sole purpose “is to manage a multi-acre, paid-admission complex consisting of buildings, exhibits and other amenities... centered on factually presenting the historical truth of Noah and the Ark, the Genesis Flood, and other historical accounts recorded in the Bible.” [R. 1 at ¶ 11.] The sole member of Ark Encounter is Plaintiff Crosswater Canyon, Inc., a 501(c)(3) religious non-profit whose purpose is to support the ministry of Answers in Genesis. [R. 1 at ¶ 12.] Plaintiff Answers in Genesis, Inc., (AG) is a “Christian non-profit ministry endeavoring to proclaim the absolute truth and authority of the Bible.” [R. 1 at ¶¶ 13, 16.] Together, these Plaintiffs (collectively referred to as “Ark Encounter”) now sue Defendants (collectively referred to as “the Commonwealth”) for excluding them from participation in a tourism incentives program created under the Kentucky Tourism Development Act (KTDA), KRS 148.850, et. seq,

Four Kentucky taxpayers seek to intervene as Defendants. Like many taxpayers these four have an interest in the resolution of this case. But, as explained below, that generalized interest is not sufficient to support intervention. Consequently, the Kentucky taxpayers’ motion to intervene will be DENIED.

I

For almost five years, Ak Encounter has been in conversations with the Commonwealth about receiving state tax incentives to support the construction of a full-size replica of Noah’s ark. [R. 1 at ¶¶ 84, 197.] From its inception, Ak Encounter has “envisioned a replica of Noah’s Ak made out of wood and set to full-scale dimensions — as specifically described in the book of Genesis — that would be a sign to the world that the Bible is true and that its message of salvation is to be heeded.” [R. 1 at ¶ 32.] Instead of housing animals, Ak Encounter anticipates hundreds of thousands of people from all around America will visit the Ak every year. [R. 1 at ¶ 76.]

In December 2014, after years of promising negotiations, the Commonwealth confirmed that it would “take no further action on Ak Encounter’s application [for tax incentives].”1 [R. 1 at ¶ 197.] Ak Encounter [418]*418now sues the Commonwealth for excluding them from participating in this tourism incentive program. [R. 1.]

Dr, Christopher M. Caldwell, Linda Allewalt, Reverend Dr. Paul D. Simmons, and Phillip J. Tamplin, Jr. now seek to intervene as Defendants in this action. [R. 19.] They portray themselves as “four Kentucky taxpayers who oppose the use of their tax dollars to promote a religious ministry” and claim that the Kentucky Constitution gives them a “specifically enforceable legal interest in preventing the use of their tax dollars” in that way. [Id, at 1, 7.] They contend that the tax rebates at issue in this case would “effectively compel” each of them “as a Kentucky taxpayer, to subsidize a religious ministry against [their] will,” and they wish to intervene in order “to protect their rights, granted by the Kentucky Constitution.” [Id. at 7-8.]

II

A

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2) provides that a non-party may intervene who “claims an interest relating to the property or transaction that is the subject of the action, and is so situated that disposing of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede the movant’s ability to protect its interest, unless existing parties adequately represent that interest.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a)(2). The parties agree that the standard within the Sixth Circuit for determining whether intervention as a matter of right is proper was correctly enunciated in Jansen v. City of Cincinnati:

...the proposed intervenors [must] demonstrate that the following four criteria have been met: (1) the motion to intervene is timely; (2) the proposed intervenors have a significant legal interest in the subject matter of the pending litigation; (3) the disposition of the action may impair or impede the proposed intervenors’ ability to protect their legal interest; and (4) the parties to the litigation cannot adequately protect the proposed intervenors’ interest.

904 F.2d 336, 340 (6th Cir.1990) (citing Triax Co. v. TRW, Inc., 724 F.2d 1224, 1227 (6th Cir.1984); see also Grutter v. Bollinger, 188 F.3d 394 (6th Cir.1999); Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a). “The proposed intervenor must prove each of the four factors; failure to meet one of the criteria will require that the motion to intervene be denied.” United States v. Michigan, 424 F.3d 438, 443 (6th Cir.2005) (quoting Grubbs v. Norris, 870 F.2d 343, 345 (6th Cir.1989)).

First, there is no question that the proposed intervenors’ motion is timely. It was filed only one business day after the Commonwealth responded to Ark Encounters’ complaint with the filing of their Motion to Dismiss. Ark Encounter does not dispute this point.

Second, the proposed intervenors must demonstrate that they have a “significant legal interest in the subject matter of the pending litigation.” Jansen, 904 F.2d at 340. Although the Sixth Circuit “subscribe^] to a rather expansive notion of the interest sufficient to invoke intervention of right,” Grutter, 188 F.3d at 398 (citation omitted), this “does not mean that any articulated interest will do.” Coal. To Defend Affirmative Action v. Granholm, 501 F.3d 775, 780 (6th Cir.2007) (citations omitted); see also Stupak-Thrall v. Glickman, 226 F.3d 467, 472 (6th Cir.2000) (“[T]his does not mean that Rule 24 poses no barrier to intervention at all.”). To the contrary, the proposed intervenors must show “a direct, significant legally protectable interest” in the subject matter of the litigation, United States v. Detroit Int’l Bridge Co., 7 F.3d 497, 501 (6th Cm.1993), sufficient “to make it a real party in interest in the transaction which is the subject of the proceeding.” Providence Baptist Church v. Hillandale Committee, Ltd., 425 F.3d 309, 317 (6th Cir.2005) (citation omitted). Thus, the “inquiry into the substantiality of the claimed interest is necessarily fact-specific.” Michigan State AFL-CIO v. Miller, 103 F.3d 1240, 1245 (6th Cir.1997).

[419]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
311 F.R.D. 414, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1353, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147650, 2015 WL 6680837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ark-encounter-llc-v-stewart-kyed-2015.