Colorado Outfitters Ass'n v. Hickenlooper

823 F.3d 537, 2016 WL 1105363, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 5238
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedMarch 22, 2016
DocketNos. 14-1290, 14-1292
StatusPublished
Cited by96 cases

This text of 823 F.3d 537 (Colorado Outfitters Ass'n v. Hickenlooper) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Colorado Outfitters Ass'n v. Hickenlooper, 823 F.3d 537, 2016 WL 1105363, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 5238 (10th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

MORITZ, Circuit Judge.

The underlying issues in these appeals are significant and concern the extent to which the Second Amendment limits Colorado’s power to regulate firearms and large-capacity magazines. But preliminarily, we first grapple with a more fundamental question: the extent to which Article III of the United States Constitution limits our power — and the district court’s power — to hear the plaintiffs’2 claims at all. Because we conclude the plaintiffs [542]*542failed to establish Article III standing to bring any of their claims, we vacate the district court’s order granting judgment for the defendant3 and remand with directions to dismiss the action for lack of jurisdiction.

Background

Colo.Rev.Stat. § 18-12-112 and Colo. Rev.Stat. § 18-12-302 became effective on July 1, 2013. With some exceptions, § 18-12-112 requires background checks for private firearm transfers that exceed 72 hours, while § 18-12-302 generally prohibits the possession, sale, and transfer of large-capacity magazines (LCMs),4, again with some exceptions. In particular, § 18-12 — 302(3)(b)(II) exempts from the LCM ban those state and federal employees who carry firearms in the course of their official duties, while § 18-12-302(2)(a)’s grandfather clause allows individuals to possess LCMs they owned as of July 1, 2013, as long as they maintain continuous possession of the LCMs thereafter.

Several organizations, individuals, and businesses brought suit against Colorado’s governor, John Hickenlooper, arguing the statutes violate the Second Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But it was clear from this litigation’s inception that the plaintiffs’ standing to assert these claims was less than assured; the parties litigated the issue at every turn. As the result of one of these bouts of jurisdictional wrangling, the district court concluded several Colorado sheriffs lacked standing to bring their claims and dismissed them from the case.

After a nine-day bench trial, the district court expressed skepticism that any of the remaining plaintiffs had established standing to challenge § 18-12-112 and § 18-12-302. Nevertheless, “with the benefit of some generous assumptions,” it found that at least one plaintiff had standing to challenge each statute. App. at 1762. After winning the jurisdictional battle, however, the plaintiffs ultimately lost the war; the district court entered judgment in favor of the defendant on all claims.

The plaintiffs appeal, arguing the district court made both procedural and substantive errors in rejecting their claims. They insist the district court erred in, among other things, applying the incorrect level of scrutiny to the plaintiffs’ Second Amendment claims; concluding the statutes survive intermediate scrutiny; ruling [543]*543that § 18-12-302 isn’t unconstitutionally vague; dismissing the plaintiffs’ ADA claims; considering information that isn’t part of the legislative record; and failing to provide any analysis to support certain evidentiary rulings. The defendant disagrees, maintaining we should affirm the district court’s judgment in all respects.

Discussion

Under Article III of the United States Constitution, federal courts only have jurisdiction to hear certain “ ‘Cases’ and ‘Controversies.’” Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus, — U.S. —, 134 S.Ct. 2334, 2341, 189 L.Ed.2d 246 (2014) (quoting U.S. Const, art. III, § 2). To satisfy Article Ill’s case-or-controversy requirement, a plaintiff must demonstrate standing to sue by establishing “(1) an ‘injury in fact,’ (2) a sufficient ‘causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of,’ and (3) a ‘likelihood]’ that the injury “will be redressed by a favorable decision.’ ” Id. at 2341 (quoting Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992)).

Here, the district court expressed “profound reservations as to whether” any of the plaintiffs established standing to challenge § 18-12-112. App. at 1768. Nevertheless, “in the interests of providing a complete ruling,” the district court “assume[d]” that three plaintiffs had done so. Id. Likewise, “in an attempt to find standing” and “with the benefit of some generous assumptions,” the district court concluded that one plaintiff had standing to challenge § 18-12-302. Id. at 1761-62 and 1762 n. 11.

But a federal court can’t “assume” a plaintiff has demonstrated Article III standing in order to proceed to the merits of the underlying claim, regardless of the claim’s significance. See Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 523 U.S. 83, 94, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998) (explaining that “such an approach ... carries the courts beyond the bounds of authorized judicial action and thus offends fundamental principles of separation of powers”).5 Thus, our first task is to determine whether the district court’s assumptions about standing were correct.6 If not, [544]*544we may go no further. See id. at 110, 118 S.Ct. 1003 (vacating judgment and remanding to district court with directions to dismiss complaint because respondent lacked standing to maintain suit).

Before we begin this task, we note certain procedural ground rules. First, we have jurisdiction to determine the district court’s jurisdiction. See id. at 95, 118 S.Ct. 1003 (explaining that when a lower federal court lacks jurisdiction, a reviewing court nevertheless has jurisdiction to “correct [ ] the error of the lower court in entertaining the suit” in the first instance (quoting United States v. Corrick, 298 U.S. 435, 440, 56 S.Ct. 829, 80 L.Ed. 1263 (1936))). Second, the plaintiffs bear the burden of establishing standing. Raines v. Byrd, 521 U.S. 811, 818, 117 S.Ct. 2312, 138 L.Ed.2d 849 (1997). Third, we review questions of standing de novo. Wyoming ex rel. Crank v. United States, 539 F.3d 1236, 1241 (10th Cir.2008). Fourth, the elements of standing “are not mere pleading requirements but rather an indispensable part of the plaintiffs case.” Lujan, 504 U.S. at 561, 112 S.Ct. 2130. Thus, “each element must be supported in the same way as any other matter on which the plaintiff bears the burden of proof, i.e., with the manner and degree of evidence required at the successive stages of the litigation.” Id. Because this case proceeded to trial, we therefore look to the evidence presented there to determine whether the plaintiffs carried their burden of proving standing. See Glover River Org. v. U.S. Dep’t of Interior, 675 F.2d 251, 254 n. 3 (10th Cir.1982) (explaining that when a case proceeds to trial, “standing is evaluated not on the pleadings alone but on the basis of all the evidence in the record”).

Finally, while it’s hornbook law that the “lack of federal jurisdiction cannot be waived or be overcome by an agreement of the parties,” Wellness Int’l Network, Ltd. v. Sharif, — U.S. —, 135 S.Ct. 1932, 1956, 191 L.Ed.2d 911 (2015) (quoting Mitchell v. Maurer, 293 U.S. 237, 244, 55 S.Ct. 162, 79 L.Ed.

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823 F.3d 537, 2016 WL 1105363, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 5238, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/colorado-outfitters-assn-v-hickenlooper-ca10-2016.