Baby Tam & Co., Inc., a Nevada Corporation v. City of Las Vegas

199 F.3d 1111, 2000 Daily Journal DAR 509, 2000 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 383, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 477, 2000 WL 20919
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 14, 2000
Docket99-16809
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 199 F.3d 1111 (Baby Tam & Co., Inc., a Nevada Corporation v. City of Las Vegas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baby Tam & Co., Inc., a Nevada Corporation v. City of Las Vegas, 199 F.3d 1111, 2000 Daily Journal DAR 509, 2000 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 383, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 477, 2000 WL 20919 (9th Cir. 2000).

Opinions

Opinion by Judge NOONAN; Dissent by Judge DAVID R. THOMPSON.

NOONAN, Circuit Judge:

Baby Tam & Co., Inc., (Baby Tam) appeals the dissolution of the permanent injunction of the district court enjoining the City of Las Vegas (the City) from enforcing Chapter 6.06A of the Las Vegas Municipal Code against Baby Tam. We hold that Chapter 6.06A is still on its face unconstitutional. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the district court and remand for re-entry of the permanent injunction.

PROCEEDINGS

This case is a sequel to Baby Tam & Co., Inc. v. City of Las Vegas, 154 F.3d 1097 (9th Cir.1998) (Baby Tam I). The proceedings prior to the decision are fully set out therein. In Baby Tam I we held that Chapter 6.06A failed to provide for prompt judicial review of a denial of a license to operate a bookstore and therefore was “on its face a prior restraint of speech which violates the First and Fourteenth amendments.” Id. at 1099. We stated: “Having resolved this issue, it is unnecessary for us to decide the other issues Baby Tam raises.” Id. at 1102. We remanded with instructions

enjoining the City from enforcing Chapter 6.06A of the Las Vegas Municipal [1113]*1113Code against Baby Tam to deny it a license to operate its adult bookstore at 5100 W. Charleston Boulevard in the City of Las Vegas, so long as the applicable bookstore licensing and zoning ordinance fails to provide for a prompt hearing and prompt decision by a judicial officer reviewing the City’s denial of an application for a bookstore licence.

The district court issued a permanent injunction in the terms set by the remand. The City then took steps to remedy the constitutional defect that the court had identified. The City amended section 6.06A.025 to add subsection D, which provides as follows:

(D) In the event that an application is denied, the applicant may file or cause to be filed in the district court a petition for judicial examination of the validity of the denial of the bookstore license as provided by Chapter 34 of NRS. If the district court has not decided the validity of the denial within thirty days after the petition is filed, the Director shall issue a temporary bookstore license. The temporary bookstore license shall remain in effect only until the district court has rendered its opinion concerning the validity of the denial.

The City also secured amendments to Chapter 34 of the Nevada Revised Statutes, as follows:

1. If the applicant is alleging an unconstitutional prior restraint of his rights pursuant to the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States or section 9 of article 1 of the constitution of the State of Nevada, the applicant shall insert the words “First Amendment Petition” in the caption of the application for the writ in at least 10-point type.
2. The court shall render judgment on an application for a writ described in subsection 1 not later than 30 days after the date on which the application for the writ is filed.
Sec. 2. NRS 34.180 is hereby amended to read as follows: 34.180 [The ] Except as otherwise provided in section 1 of this act, the writ of mandamus may, in the discretion of the court or judge issuing the writ, be made returnable and a hearing thereon be had at any time. Sec. 3. NRS 34.300 is hereby amended to read as follows:
34.300 Except as otherwise provided in NRS 34.150 to 34.290, inclusive, and section 1 of this act, the provisions of NRS and Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure relative to civil actions in the district court are applicable to and constitute the rules of practice in the proceedings mentioned in NRS 34.150 to 34.290, inclusive [.], and section 1 of this act. Sec. 4. This act becomes effective upon passage and approval.

The City also persuaded the Eighth Judicial District Court to change its rules of practice by adding Rule 2.17, which provides as follows:

(a) A petitioner seeking review of a claim of prior restraint under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution must label the extraordinary writ and points and authorities “First Amendment Writ.” Points and authorities in support of the writ must be served and filed concurrently with the writ, and petitioner must immediately deliver a courtesy copy of the writ and points and authorities to the assigned department.
(b) The respondent must serve and file a memorandum of points and authorities in opposition thereto within 15 days after service of petitioner’s points and authorities.
(c) Petitioner may serve and file reply points and authorities not later than 3 days after service of respondent’s opposition.
(d) Within 25 days after the writ and accompanying points and authorities are filed and a courtesy copy delivered to the assigned department, the court shall conduct a hearing. The court shall rule on the writ within 30 days after the writ and accompanying points and [1114]*1114authorities are filed and a courtesy copy delivered to the assigned department.

The City then applied to the district court for dissolution of the permanent injunction. On July 20, 1999, the district court held that “the deficiencies noted by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had been corrected” and dissolved the permanent injunction.

Baby Tam appeals.

ANALYSIS

In Baby Tam I this court decided the case on a narrow basis, explicitly noting that Baby Tam had raised other issues which it was not necessary to reach. By winning the case on the first appeal, Baby Tam did not abandon its other constitutional objections to the facial validity of the municipal ordinance. The City is mistaken in supposing that those issues are no longer part of this case and no longer before us.

The City, the legislature of the State of Nevada, and the Eighth Judicial District Court have cooperated magnificently to eliminate the constitutional defect identified by this court. Baby Tam objects that the form of judicial review provided — • mandamus — will not be constitutionally adequate. The Nevada mandamus procedure, however, appears to provide for a reasonable opportunity to obtain a determination of all constitutional issues. As we stated in Baby Tam I, “[t]he phrase [judicial review] necessarily has two elements' — (1) consideration of a dispute by a judicial officer, and (2) a decision.” 154 F.3d at 1101. Baby Tam may, of course, raise an objection if the ordinance is unconstitutionally applied. But on its face the judicial review appears to pass constitutional muster.

A Las Vegas council member or a Nevada legislator might think, we did what the courts said the Constitution required.

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199 F.3d 1111, 2000 Daily Journal DAR 509, 2000 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 383, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 477, 2000 WL 20919, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baby-tam-co-inc-a-nevada-corporation-v-city-of-las-vegas-ca9-2000.