Doctor John's, Inc. v. City of Sioux City, Iowa

389 F. Supp. 2d 1096, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22271, 2005 WL 2401865
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Iowa
DecidedSeptember 28, 2005
DocketC 03-4121-MWB
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 389 F. Supp. 2d 1096 (Doctor John's, Inc. v. City of Sioux City, Iowa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doctor John's, Inc. v. City of Sioux City, Iowa, 389 F. Supp. 2d 1096, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22271, 2005 WL 2401865 (N.D. Iowa 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER REGARDING CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON OCTOBER 2003 AND JANUARY 2004 ORDINANCES

BENNETT, Chief Judge.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND .1100

A. Procedural Background.1100

1. Claims by Doctor John’s.1100

2. The motion for a preliminary injunction.1100

3. The cross-motions for summary judgment and the motion to strike .... 1101

4. Subsequent amendments and motions .1102

5. Oral arguments.1102

B. Factual Background.1102

1. The Doctor John’s store in Sioux City.1103

2. Sioux City zoning ordinances and amendments.1105

a. Pre-existing ordinances.1105

b. The series of amendments.1106

i.The “Moratorium” Amendments.1106

ii. The January 2004 Amendments.1107

iii. The December 2004 Amendments.1111

II. LEGAL ANALYSIS.1111

A. Standards For Summary Judgment.1111

B. Mootness And Standing.1112

1. Arguments of the parties .1112

2. Analysis .1113

C. Nature Of The Constitutional Challenges.1115

D. The “Combination” Definition Of A “Sex Shop”.1115

1. The provision in question.1115

2. Arguments of the parties .1116

3. Analysis .1117

a. Applicable law.1117

b. Application of the law.1118

i. Time, place, and manner regulation.1118

ii. Content neutrality.1118

iii. Strict scrutiny .1121

iv. Intermediate scrutiny.1125

v. Non-media provisions.1127

E. The Two “Sex Toys” Definitions Of “Sex Shop”.1128

*1100 1. The provisions in question.1128

2. Arguments of the parties .1128

3. Analysis .1128

F. The Motion To Strike.1129

III. CONCLUSION. .1130

Several months after this court enjoined enforcement of amendments to city zoning ordinances regulating the location of “adult entertainment businesses” in Sioux City, Iowa — which were passed just in time to bar the plaintiffs new store, a putative “adult entertainment business,” from opening- — the plaintiff moved for summary judgment to make the preliminary injunction permanent. The plaintiff contends that nothing has changed and that the court should, therefore, confirm that the amended zoning ordinances violate First Amendment guarantees of free speech, leaving the only issue for trial the amount of damages to the plaintiff for the delay in opening its business caused by the unconstitutional amendments to the pertinent ordinances. In response, the defendant city filed its own motion for summary judgment, asserting that another round of amendments has “mooted” the plaintiffs claims and that, in any event, the plaintiffs sale of “sex toys,” for which no First Amendment protection is available, would have brought it within the purview of the first round of amended ordinances and would have constitutionally barred it from opening in its chosen location. The court must decide whether either party is entitled to summary judgment or whether this matter will, instead, proceed to trial on issues pertaining to the first round of ordinance amendments.

I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

A. Procedural Background
1. Claims by Doctor John’s

Plaintiff Doctor John’s, Inc. (Doctor John’s), a putative “adult entertainment business,” filed its original Complaint in this action on December 9, 2003, against the City of Sioux City, Iowa (the City), and Paul Eckert, in his official capacity as Sioux City’s City Manager, challenging Sioux City’s municipal ordinances imposing a moratorium on new “adult entertainment businesses” enacted in October and amended in November 2003. On January 20, 2004, Doctor John’s filed an Amended Complaint, and on February 10, 2004, filed a Second Amended Complaint challenging further amendments to Sioux City’s zoning ordinances concerning “adult entertainment businesses,” enacted in January 2004. In its Second Amended Complaint, Doctor John’s alleged that these ordinances violated its right to free expression protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and constituted prior restraints on free expression; failed to allow reasonable alternative means of expression; resulted in a taking of its business property without due process of law; infringed First Amendment freedoms in a manner greater than necessary to further any valid interests of the City; lacked adequate procedural safeguards and failed to provide for prompt judicial review; and denied equal protection. The City denied these claims.

2. The motion for a preliminary injunction

On January 5, 2004, Doctor John’s filed a Motion For Preliminary Injunction in which it requested that the court enjoin the City from enforcing the temporary moratorium on adult entertainment businesses enacted in October 2003. However, that moratorium had expired by the time of the evidentiary hearing on the motion *1101 for preliminary injunction on February 20, 2004. At the evidentiary hearing, the court allowed Doctor John’s to amend orally its Motion For Preliminary Injunction to seek an injunction against enforcement of the amended “adult entertainment business” ordinances enacted at the expiration of the moratorium in January 2004 (the January 2004 Amendments).

In a published ruling, Doctor John’s, Inc. v. City of Sioux City, Iowa, 305 F.Supp.2d 1022 (N.D.Iowa 2004), filed February 26, 2004, the court entered a preliminary injunction enjoining the City from pursuing, instituting, continuing, or completing any and all enforcement actions pursuant to the municipal code employing the definition of “adult entertainment business” in the January 2004 Amendments, until such time as the preliminary injunction was dissolved or vacated, by this court or a reviewing court. The preliminary injunction has remained in effect until this time.

3. The cross-motions for summary judgment and the motion to strike

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Bluebook (online)
389 F. Supp. 2d 1096, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22271, 2005 WL 2401865, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doctor-johns-inc-v-city-of-sioux-city-iowa-iand-2005.