Doe v. City of San Diego

313 F. Supp. 3d 1212
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedMarch 16, 2018
DocketCase No.: 14cv1941–L(AGS); Case No.: 14cv1942–L(AGS)
StatusPublished

This text of 313 F. Supp. 3d 1212 (Doe v. City of San Diego) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doe v. City of San Diego, 313 F. Supp. 3d 1212 (S.D. Cal. 2018).

Opinion

Hon M. James Lorenz, United States District Judge

Pending before the Court are Plaintiffs' motions for partial judgment on the *1216pleadings. The motions, filed in the above-captioned related cases, are identical. Defendants filed oppositions and Plaintiffs replied. The Court decides this matter on the briefs without oral argument. See Civ. L. R. 7.1(d.1). For the reasons stated below, Plaintiffs' motions are granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs were entertainers at Cheetahs and Expose, adult entertainment establishments in San Diego. Adult entertainment establishments are regulated by the San Diego Police Department. San Diego Municipal Code ("SDMC") § 33.3601.1 A police permit is required to operate an adult entertainment establishment or perform as an adult entertainer. (SDMC §§ 33.3603 & 33.3604.) Section 33.0103 (the "Inspection Provision") confers authority on police officers to inspect police-regulated businesses, including adult entertainment establishments. (See also First Am. Compl., 14cv1941, doc. no. 21 ("Doe Compl.") at 5-6; Second Am. Compl., 14cv1942, doc. no. 24 ("Tanya A. Compl.") at 6.)

According to Plaintiffs, ostensibly based on the Inspection Provision, on July 15, 2013 and March 6, 2014, armed police officers wearing bullet proof vests raided Cheetahs and Expose. (Doe Compl. at 3; Tanya A. Compl. at 4.) The officers interrogated the entertainers and photographed each in a nearly nude state claiming they had to document their tattoos. (Doe Compl. at 3-4; Tanya A. Compl. at 4-5.) The entertainers who objected to detention or photographs were threatened with arrest, and armed officers were posted at the doors to prevent the entertainers from leaving. (Doe Compl. at 3-4; Tanya A. Compl. at 4-5.) They were detained for one hour or more. (Doe Compl. at 4; Tanya A. Compl. at 5.)

Based on these incidents, two nearly identical actions2 were filed in state court alleging violation of federal constitutional rights, as well as other causes of action. Defendants removed both actions to this Court based on federal question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1441. The actions were coordinated for pretrial proceedings.

Pending before the Court are Plaintiffs' motions for partial judgment on the pleadings. Plaintiffs seek judgment on their claims that the Inspection Provision on its face violates the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution.3

II. DISCUSSION

"After the pleadings are closed-but early enough not to delay trial-a party may move for judgment on the pleadings." Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 12(c). "Judgment on the pleadings is properly granted when *1217... there is no issue of material fact in dispute, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Chavez v. United States , 683 F.3d 1102, 1108 (9th Cir. 2012) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). However, "a plaintiff is not entitled to judgment on the pleadings if the defendant's answer raises issues of fact or affirmative defenses." Pit River Tribe v. Bureau of Land Mgmt., 793 F.3d 1147, 1159 (9th Cir. 2015) (citation omitted); see also Gen. Conf. Corp. of Seventh-Day Adventists v. Seventh-Day Adventist Congregational Church, 887 F.2d 228, 230 (9th Cir. 1989) ("[A] plaintiff is not entitled to judgment on the pleadings when the answer raises issues of fact that, if proved, would defeat recovery. Similarly, if the defendant raises an affirmative defense in his answer it will usually bar judgment on the pleadings.") (citations omitted).

Analysis of the pleadings under Rule 12(c) is substantially identical to analysis under Rule 12(b)(6). Chavez , 683 F.3d at 1108. A motion under Rule 12(b)(6) tests the sufficiency of the complaint. See Navarro v. Block , 250 F.3d 729, 732 (9th Cir. 2001). A plaintiff cannot prevail where the complaint lacks a cognizable legal theory. See Shroyer v. New Cingular Wireless Serv., Inc. , 622 F.3d 1035, 1041 (9th Cir. 2010) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Alternatively, a plaintiff cannot prevail if the complaint presents a cognizable legal theory, yet fails to plead essential facts under that theory. Robertson v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. , 749 F.2d 530, 534 (9th Cir. 1984).

Plaintiffs allege that the Inspection Provision is unconstitutional on its face. (Doe Compl. ¶¶ 35 & 129-32; Tanya A. Compl. ¶ 36.) In their opposition, Defendants counter that "the Court cannot grant the motion[s] given that there are clearly multiple factual disputes by and between the parties as to how the inspections at issue were conducted." (Opp'n, 14cv1941, doc. no. 70 ("Opp'n") at 3.) "A facial challenge is an attack on a statute itself as opposed to a particular application." City of Los Angeles v. Patel, --- U.S. ----, 135 S.Ct. 2443, 2449, 192 L.Ed.2d 435 (2015). Accordingly, a facial attack does not raise questions of fact related to the enforcement of the statute in a particular instance. Forsyth County, Ga. v. Nationalist Movement, 505 U.S. 123, 133 n.10, 112 S.Ct. 2395, 120 L.Ed.2d 101

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Bluebook (online)
313 F. Supp. 3d 1212, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doe-v-city-of-san-diego-casd-2018.