City of Detroit v. Franklin

800 F. Supp. 539, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12148, 1992 WL 195927
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedAugust 14, 1992
Docket2:91-cv-73672
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 800 F. Supp. 539 (City of Detroit v. Franklin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Detroit v. Franklin, 800 F. Supp. 539, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12148, 1992 WL 195927 (E.D. Mich. 1992).

Opinion

*540 MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ZATKOFF, District Judge.

In this suit challenging the results of the 1990 decennial census, the Court grants the defendants’ motions for summary judgment for three independent reasons. First, the plaintiffs lack standing to sue because there is no causal link between their claimed injuries and the challenged conduct. Second, the plaintiffs lack standing to sue because they fail to cite any constitutional right for the violation of which the Court may grant a remedy. Third, even if the plaintiffs could overcome the first two hurdles, they fail to cite enough evidence under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to support their claim.

I. FACTS

Plaintiffs, the City of Detroit and its mayor, Coleman A. Young, bring this suit against the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the United States Bureau of the Census (collectively: the Census Bureau), alleging that the Census Bureau violated Article I, section 2, clause 3 of the United States Constitution (the apportionment clause) by failing “to conduct the most accurate census that it is reasonably possible to conduct.” Plaintiffs’ Response to Defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment (Plaintiffs’ Response), at 20. Plaintiffs claim that the Census Bureau’s alleged constitutional violation has caused them to lose representation in the House of Representatives and a fair share of federal and state funds allocated on the basis of the census figures. In Count I of their complaint (the undercount claim), plaintiffs allege that the Census Bureau’s counting methods failed to account for significant numbers of Detroit residents. Hence, they ask the Court to order the Census Bureau to develop a plan to correct the alleged undercount. In Count II (the statistical adjustment claim), plaintiffs say that the Census Bureau’s allegedly flawed methods failed to account for a higher rate of blacks than of whites. Accordingly, they ask the Court to order the Census Bureau to adjust the population count throughout the state of Michigan to correct the disproportionate undercount of blacks.

The Census Bureau moves for summary judgment as to each count of plaintiffs’ complaint. Plaintiffs filed response briefs, to which defendants replied. In addition, the Court ordered plaintiffs and defendants to file supplemental briefs, and allowed defendants, as movants, to file a final supplemental reply brief. Pursuant to E.D.Mich. Local R. 7.1(e)(2), the Court orders that the motions be submitted and determined on the briefs without oral argument.

With regard to the undercount claim, the Census Bureau seeks summary judgment on two grounds, each of which implicate issues of standing. First, it asserts that plaintiffs do not have standing to bring this suit because they fail to cite sufficient evidence showing a fairly traceable causal connection between their alleged injuries and the Census Bureau’s counting methods. Second, the Census Bureau asserts that, if the Court orders it to recount the population of Detroit, the Court would also have to order it to recount the population of the entire United States so as not to prejudice other states and units of local government, for any increase in the number of Michigan’s seats in the House of Representatives would come at the expense of some other state, and any increase in federal funding for Detroit would come at the expense of other states and units of local government. Therefore, the Census Bureau argues that the Court must deny the injunctive relief plaintiffs seek — a recount — because such relief is so unrealistic that it defeats standing to litigate the case on the merits.

With regard to the statistical adjustment claim, the Census Bureau claims that the Court should grant summary judgment against plaintiffs for two reasons. First, the Census Bureau argues that plaintiffs simply fail to cite any constitutional right for the violation of which the federal courts may grant a remedy. Second, it asserts that, even if the Court holds that plaintiffs have identified some judicially enforceable federal right, the undisputed facts show *541 that the Census Bureau’s decision not to make a statistical adjustment to the population count was not arbitrary and capricious.

Although the parties treat each count of plaintiffs’ complaint as a separate claim, the Court notes that plaintiffs assert a single constitutional claim, yet seek two different forms of relief. Plaintiffs allege a violation of the apportionment clause, and ask the Court to order the Census Bureau to correct the violation, either by recounting or by statistically adjusting the population count. 1 Accordingly, the various parts of the Court’s analysis focus on, and apply equally to, the single alleged constitutional claim.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is appropriate where no genuine issue of material fact remains to be decided and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Blakeman v. Mead Containers, 779 F.2d 1146 (6th Cir.1985); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). “Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In applying this standard, the Court must view all materials offered in support of a motion for summary judgment, as well as all pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions properly on file in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); United States v. Diebold, 369 U.S. 654, 82 S.Ct. 993, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962); Cook v. Providence Hosp., 820 F.2d 176, 179 (6th Cir.1987); Smith v. Hudson, 600 F.2d 60 (6th Cir.1979), cert. dismissed, 444 U.S. 986, 100 S.Ct. 495, 62 L.Ed.2d 415 (1979).

III. DISCUSSION

Initially, the Court notes that plaintiffs do not contend that the Census Bureau set out to undercount Detroit residents or blacks or the poor or any identifiable group.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
800 F. Supp. 539, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12148, 1992 WL 195927, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-detroit-v-franklin-mied-1992.