Frank D. Felix D/B/A Club Zeus v. Coleman A. Young, Mayor, City of Detroit

536 F.2d 1126, 1976 U.S. App. LEXIS 8487
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit·Decided June 17, 1976·No. 75-1763·Published·Cited by 140 cases

Opinions

CELEBREZZE, Circuit Judge.

Appellant, Frank D. Felix, appeals the grant of summary judgment for Defendants in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 (1970). Appellant owns the Club Zeus, a bar in Detroit which features “topless” dancing. He brought this suit against various city officials1 seeking to enjoin the enforcement of certain municipal [1129] ordinances which regulate the location of businesses providing adult entertainment.

The Club Zeus is a Group “D” Cabaret as described by ordinance:

A cabaret which features topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators, or similar entertainers.2

As a condition to receiving a cabaret license, Appellant was required to comply with special zoning restrictions, notably a prohibition against the establishment of a Group “D” Cabaret within 1000 feet of two other “regulated uses.”3 The District Court found that there are three other regulated uses within 1000 feet of Club Zeus and that Appellant has not obtained a waiver of the restriction as provided by ordinance.4 Appellant claims that he need not seek waiver of the zoning restrictions because the municipal ordinances regulating the location of Group “D” Cabarets are unconstitutional, both on their face and as applied. He contends that the provisions are overbroad because they infringe on forms of expression protected by the First Amendment. He also claims that the ordinances violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because they classify businesses according to the content of expression offered the public.

[1130] Appellees responded to the complaint by moving that the case be dismissed for failure to state a claim, Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), or, in the alternative, that summary judgment be granted. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. The District Judge, pursuant to Rule 12(b)5 treated the motion as one for summary judgment and considered the materials attached to Appellees’ motion in making his ruling. See generally 6 J. Moore FEDERAL PRACTICE 156.08 at 2104 (2d ed. 1975) (hereinafter Moore). Appellant chose to rely on his pleadings and did not submit any additional material to the Court. The District Judge found the ordinance constitutional on their face relying on the reasoning of Nortown Theatre, Inc. v. Gribbs, 373 F.Supp. 363 (E.D.Mich.1974), a case which has since been reversed on appeal under the name American Mini Theatres, Inc. v. Gribbs, 518 F.2d 1014 (6th Cir.), cert. granted 423 U.S. 911, 96 S.Ct. 214, 46 L.Ed.2d 139 (1975). Appellant contends that the reversal of the District Court opinion in American Mini Theatres compels the same result in this case. He also charges that the Court below in granting Appellees’ motion for summary judgment failed to adequately consider his claim that the ordinances were unconstitutional as applied to him.

Summary judgment is a useful procedure for reaching the merits of a case short of conducting a full-blown trial. See generally 6 Moore 156.15. Summary judgment is only appropriate where documents tendered to the Court disclose that no genuine issue of material fact remains to be decided.6 See United States v. Diapulse, 527 F.2d 1008, at 1011 (6th Cir. 1976). See also 6 Moore K 56.04[1] at 2060. A District Judge may grant summary judgment only where the prevailing party has demonstrated as a matter of law that he is entitled to judgment on the merits. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). See also Kennedy v. Silas Mason Co., 334 U.S. 249, 252 n. 4, 68 S.Ct. 1031, 92 L.Ed. 1347 (1948). A court may not resolve disputed issues of fact in ruling on a summary judgment motion. See United States v. Diapulse, supra at 1011. If a question of fact remains, the motion for summary judgment should be denied and the case should proceed to trial. See Bohn Aluminum & Brass Corp. v. Storm King Corp., 303 F.2d 425, 427 (6th Cir. 1962). Since resolution of Appellant’s challenge to the facial validity of the ordinances raised purely legal questions and did not involve disputed issues of fact, the District Court properly concluded that the issue was ripe for summary judgment.

In ruling on the facial validity of the ordinance the District Judge adopted the legal analysis of Nortown Theatre, Inc. v. Gribbs, supra.7 However, in American Mini

[1131] Theatres v. Gribbs, supra, a divided panel of this Court rejected the legal conclusions reached by the District Court and held that the Detroit ordinances regulating the location of adult theaters and adult book stores violated equal protection in that they created classifications which unduly infringed on protected First Amendment rights. The majority concluded that the ordinances in question classified businesses according to the character of the materials purveyed to the public and accordingly “ ‘slip[ped] from the neutrality of time, place and circumstances into a concern about content,’ ” 518 F.2d at 1020, quoting Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 U.S. 92, 99, 92 S.Ct. 2286, 33 L.Ed.2d 212 (1972). If the District Court was correct that the disposition of this case should be controlled by resolution of the earlier cases, we would be compelled to reverse in light of American Mini Theatres.

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Frank D. Felix D/B/A Club Zeus v. Coleman A. Young, Mayor, City of Detroit, 536 F.2d 1126, 1976 U.S. App. LEXIS 8487 (6th Cir. 1976).

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