East Brooks Books, Inc. v. City of Memphis

48 F.3d 220
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedMarch 7, 1995
DocketNos. 93-6102, 93-6103 and 93-6104
StatusPublished
Cited by53 cases

This text of 48 F.3d 220 (East Brooks Books, Inc. v. City of Memphis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
East Brooks Books, Inc. v. City of Memphis, 48 F.3d 220 (6th Cir. 1995).

Opinion

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs, East Brooks Books, Inc., Steve C. Cooper, and Southern Entertainment Management Company, Inc., brought this action against the City of Memphis, Mayor W.W. Herenton and Police Director Melvin Burgess challenging the constitutionality of a licensing and zoning ordinance for sexually oriented businesses.1 The District Court granted partial summary judgment to defendants on the licensing provisions and granted partial summary judgment to plaintiffs on the zoning provisions. Both parties appeal. Plaintiffs argue that the licensing scheme constitutes an impermissible prior restraint on protected speech. On cross-appeal, defendants argue that the District Court erroneously held that the amortization provision of the zoning regulations violated Tennessee law. For the following reasons, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and vacate in part.

I. The Licensing Scheme

On January 15, 1991, the Memphis City Council passed Ordinance 4013 (“the ordinance”) which imposed a licensing and zoning scheme on all sexually oriented businesses within the City of Memphis (“the city”).2 The ordinance was enacted “to regulate sexually oriented business to promote the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the citizens of the city and to establish reasonable and uniform regulations to prevent the continued concentrations of sexually oriented businesses within the city.” See § 20-121(a). The Preamble to the ordinance states that the Memphis City Council concluded that there were serious secondary effects, such as crime and neighborhood deterioration, associated with the proliferation of sexually oriented businesses within the city. The City Council reached these conclusions after reviewing reports of the unusually large number of criminal arrests around sexually oriented businesses, reports prepared by the Memphis Vice Squad, and studies of the impact of sexually oriented businesses on other cities.

[223]*223The ordinance imposes the following requirements on operators of sexually oriented businesses.3 Anyone wishing to operate a sexually oriented business must apply for an operator’s permit by filling out a form provided by the city’s Director of Police Services. See § 20-122(a)(3). The Director of Police Services must issue a permit within 30 days unless the applicant possesses an enumerated “disabling factor,” such as being overdue in payment of taxes or fines related to the business, failure to provide necessary information or providing false information on the application, or conviction of certain crimes within a specified time period. See § 20-122(b)(l) and (b)(3). Additionally, an applicant may not be issued a permit if he or she “has demonstrated an inability to operate or manage a sexually oriented business premises in a peaceful and law-abiding manner, thus necessitating action by law enforcement officers.” Id.

Sexually oriented businesses also must obtain permits for any employees and independent contractors whom they hire. See § 20-122(a)(8). Employees and independent contractors are subject to the same disabling factors for prior criminal convictions as operators. Id. All sexually oriented businesses are subject to a $5000 operating fee; employees and independent contractors are subject to a $15 fee. See § 20-122(c).

The ordinance limits the issuance of operating permits to natural persons. See § 20-122(a)(7). If a sexually oriented business is operated by an entity rather than an individual, each person who owns any interest in the entity must sign the application form and meet the qualification requirements discussed above. See § 20-122(a)(5). Sexually oriented businesses are subject to inspection by a variety of city departments, including the police and health departments, at any time the premises are occupied or open for business. See § 20-122(d).

The ordinance also contains provisions for the revocation and suspension of permits. The Director of Police Services is required to revoke or suspend an operator’s permit if certain enumerated offenses are committed either by the operator or on the premises. See § 20-123. A permit will generally be revoked for five years, but in certain enumerated circumstances an operator may be able to apply for a new permit in ninety days. See § 20-123(b)(5). Suspensions may be for thirty days or less. See § 20-123(a).

The ordinance provides for appeals from the denial, revocation, or suspension of a permit. See § 20-124. After an adverse decision, an applicant has ten days to file an appeal with the Director of Police Services, who must hold a hearing within sixty days. See § 20-124(2) and (3). The Director of Police Services must make a decision in writing within five days of the hearing. See § 20-124(5). If an operator appeals the suspension or revocation of a permit, the suspension or revocation will not occur within sixty days of the notice of appeal or prior to the date of the hearing, whichever is less, unless a health officer determines that there is a health hazard. See § 20-124(4). An applicant or permittee whose permit is denied, suspended, or. revoked may appeal the Director’s decision by common law writ of certiorari to a court of competent jurisdiction within thirty days. See § 20-124(6). No permit may be extended during a court appeal unless the court orders a writ of super-sedeas. See § 20-124(7).

The District Court held that plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the use of prior convictions to deny a permit and the disabling provisions for permit suspension and revocation. The District Court upheld the constitutionality of all of the other licensing provisions, except the $5,000 permit fee. Subsequently, the city reduced the licensing fee from $5000 to $500. Plaintiffs do hot challenge the reduced fee. Additionally, the ordinance was modified to allow any adult oriented business operating at the time the ordinance becomes effective to continue to operate pending its permit application, provided the application is submitted within thirty days of the ordinance’s effective date.

[224]*224A. The Adequacy of Procedural Safeguards

Plaintiffs make a facial challenge to the licensing scheme. “[0]ur eases have long held that when a licensing statute allegedly vests unbridled discretion in a government official over whether to permit or deny expressive activity, one who is subject to the law may challenge it facially without the necessity of. first applying for, and being denied, a license.” City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co., 486 U.S. 750, 755-56, 108 S.Ct. 2138, 2143, 100 L.Ed.2d 771 (1988). Failure to place time limitations on a decision maker is a form of unbridled discretion. See Freedman v. Maryland, 380 U.S. 51, 56-57, 85 S.Ct. 734, 737-38, 13 L.Ed.2d 649 (1965). Thus, in FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas, 493 U.S. 215, 224, 110 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
48 F.3d 220, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/east-brooks-books-inc-v-city-of-memphis-ca6-1995.