Doe v. Miller

216 F.R.D. 462, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12884, 2003 WL 21730721
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Iowa
DecidedJuly 25, 2003
DocketNo. 3:03-cv-90067
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 216 F.R.D. 462 (Doe v. Miller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doe v. Miller, 216 F.R.D. 462, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12884, 2003 WL 21730721 (S.D. Iowa 2003).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

PRATT, District Judge.

Three named Plaintiffs bring this action on behalf of a proposed class of Plaintiffs to challenge the constitutionality of the recently enacted Iowa Code § 692A.2A, which prohibits sex offenders, whose offenses were committed against minors, from residing within two-thousand feet from a school or child care facility. Presently before the Court are Plaintiffs’ Motions to certify this action as a class action comprised of both plaintiff and defendant classes. Plaintiffs ask the Court to certify a Plaintiff class to include all sex offenders in Iowa, and a Defendant class made up of Iowa’s individual County Attorneys. Plaintiffs also move for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(b), to enjoin Defendants from enforcing § 692A.2A until the parties have an opportunity to present evidence on preliminary injunctive relief. For the reasons explained below, Plaintiffs’ Motions are granted.

I. IOWA CODE § 692A.2A

On May 9, 2002, Iowa Governor Thomas Vilsack signed Senate File 2197 into law. Effective July 1, 2002, Senate File 2197, now codified at Iowa Code § 692A.2A, states in full:

692A.2A Residency restrictions — child care facilities and schools.

[464]*4641. For purposes of this section, “person” means a person who has committed a criminal offense against a minor, or an aggravated offense, sexually violent offense, or other relevant offense that involved a minor.

2. A person shall not reside within two thousand feet of the real property comprising a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school or a child care facility.

3. A person who resides within two thousand feet of the real property comprising a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school, or a child care facility, commits an aggravated misdemean- or.

4. A person residing within two thousand feet of the real property comprising a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school or a child care facility does not commit a violation of this section if any of the following apply:

a. The person is required to serve a sentence at a jail, prison, juvenile facility, or other correctional institution or facility.
b. The person is subject to an order of commitment under chapter 229A.
c. The person has established a residence prior to July 1, 2002, or a school or child care facility is newly located on or after July 1, 2002.
d. The person is a minor or a ward under a guardianship.

The plain text of § 692A.2A states that the statute applies to any person who has committed a criminal offense against a minor. Plaintiffs indicate in their brief, however, that the law is generally being interpreted as applicable to individuals who have committed sex crimes against minors. Where applicable, the statute restricts the area in which an affected person may reside to places that are not within two-thousand feet from a school or child care facility. As the restriction is limited to residency, § 692A.2A does not otherwise prohibit an individual’s presence within the restricted zone; affected persons are free to travel, work, or generally move about within any area. The statute contains no time frame regarding when a person committed his or her crime, but does include a limited “grandfather clause,” whereby an individual who has established a residence pri- or to July 1, 2002 is exempted from the area restrictions. The duty to enforce § 692A.2A lies with the Iowa Attorney General and the individual County Attorneys for each of the State’s ninety-nine counties. See Iowa Code §§ 13.2,331.756(1).

II. CLASS CERTIFICATION

Plaintiffs ask the Court to certify both a Plaintiff and a Defendant class in this action. A proposed class must meet the requirements of Federal Rules of Procedure 23(a) and (b) in order to be certified. Section (a) of Rule 23 provides the prerequisites for any class action:

(1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class, (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a). Section (b) then lays out additional requirements that must be satisfied, depending on the type of class action:

(1) the prosecution of separate actions by or against individual members of the class would create a risk of
(A) inconsistent or varying adjudications with respect to individual members of the class which would establish incompatible standards of conduct for the party opposing the class, or
(B) adjudications with respect to individual members of the class which would as a practical matter be dispositive of the interests of the other members not parties to the adjudications or substantially impair or impede their ability to protect their interests; or
(2) the party opposing the class has acted or refused to act on grounds generally applicable to the class, thereby making appropriate final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief with respect to the class as a whole; or [465]*465(3) the court finds that the questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b). The party seeking class certification has the burden of showing that these prerequisites and requirements are met. Coleman v. Watt, 40 F.3d 255, 259 (8th Cir.1994).

A. Plaintiff Class

Plaintiffs move the Court to certify a Plaintiff class consisting of “all sex offenders currently living in the state of Iowa, or who might wish to live in the state of Iowa.” Plaintiffs ask the Court to specifically exclude from the class, any individual who is currently being prosecuted for a violation of § 692A.2A. In their Motion, Plaintiffs contend that the proposed class satisfies the requirements of Rule 23(a) and (b), and is, therefore, appropriate. The Court agrees.

1. Numerosity

Plaintiffs note that there are currently over 5000 sex offenders in Iowa, and over 4500 of these individuals had minors as their victims. Joinder of all of these parties would be undeniably impracticable.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
216 F.R.D. 462, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12884, 2003 WL 21730721, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doe-v-miller-iasd-2003.