Hampton International Communications, Inc. v. Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority

913 F. Supp. 1402, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1470, 1996 WL 54491
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedJanuary 17, 1996
DocketCV-S-93-1110-HDM(RJJ)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 913 F. Supp. 1402 (Hampton International Communications, Inc. v. Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hampton International Communications, Inc. v. Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, 913 F. Supp. 1402, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1470, 1996 WL 54491 (D. Nev. 1996).

Opinion

ORDER ADOPTING MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

McKIBBEN, District Judge.

The court has considered the report and recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge (# 136) filed on December 22, 1995, wherein the magistrate judge recommends that the court enter its order granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment (# 115) in that the restriction on plaintiffs commercial speech does not violate the First Amendment and no genuine issue of material fact remain. No objections to the report and recommendation have been filed and the clerk of the court has been advised that objections will not be filed. The court has considered the pleadings and memoranda of the parties and other relevant matters of record and has made a review and determination in accordance with the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 636 and applicable case law, and good cause appearing, the court hereby

ADOPTS AND ACCEPTS the report and recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge. It is, therefore, ORDERED that defendant’s motion for summary judgment (# 115) is granted and judgment shall be entered in favor of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and against Hampton International Communications, Inc. The trial set for January 25, 1996 is vacated.

REPORT & RECOMMENDATION OF ■ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

JOHNSTON, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter was submitted to the undersigned Magistrate Judge on Defendant Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s Motion for Summary Judgment (# 115). The Court has reviewed the Motion for Summary Judgment (# 115), the Plaintiffs Opposition to the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (# 116), and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s Reply to Plaintiffs Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment (# 118) and corresponding Supplements (# 121, # 129, # 130).

BACKGROUND

On or about October 18, 1993, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (“LVCVA”) leased the Las Vegas Convention Center to Interface Group-Nevada, Inc. (“Interface”) for its annual “COMDEX” tradesh-ow. COMDEX promoters acquired a leasehold interest in the entire Convention Center facility, including the building, front entry, walkways leading to the Convention Center, and all parking lots in front of the facility. On or about November 8, 1993, the LVCVA leased the Las Vegas Convention Center to Electronic Industries Association (“CES”) for its annual Consumer Electronics trade-show. CES acquired a leasehold interest in essentially the identical areas of the Las Vegas Convention Center as the COMDEX promoters.

During these tradeshows, Plaintiff Hampton International Communications (“Hampton”), a for profit business which publishes various newspapers and commercial tabloids relevant to the computer industry, attempted to distribute its “show dailies” on the walkways leading to the Convention Center. *1406 Tradeshow promoters prohibited Hampton’s conduct since the distribution of commercial materials or “official dailies” 1 on Convention Center property was limited to designated areas and to only those organizations which had given consideration for the exclusive right to distribute commercial materials-on the Las Vegas Convention Center grounds. Convention Center grounds include the ingress and egress walkways leading to the building where Plaintiff attempted to distribute its materials. No provision prohibits any person from distributing material on the municipal sidewalks which surround the Convention Center grounds.

On November 10,1993, Hampton alleged a deprivation of its First Amendment right and sought a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction allowing it to distribute its commercial publication on Convention Center ingress and egress walkway areas during the COMDEX tradeshow. See, Compl. (#1), Case No. CV-S-1110-LDG-(RLH). The injunctive request was denied. Less than two months later, on January 3, 1994, Hampton filed another Complaint for Injunctive Relief against LVCVA seeking to distribute its dailies at the CES tradeshow. Case No. CV-S-94r-008-LDG-(RLH). Prior to the latter legal action, Hampton had contracted with CES to sublease a booth at the CES show in order to distribute its own materials on the Convention Center grounds. Tradeshow regulations, however, precluded Hampton both from distributing advertisements anywhere outside of its booth and from displaying or distributing its “dailies” on the Convention Center premises without the express permission of CES. Because Hampton believed such regulations were unduly restrictive, it filed the injunctive relief request before the CES tradeshow began. When the temporary restraining order was again denied, Hampton demanded a jury trial on the issue of damages. The district court subsequently consolidated the second case with the first. Order (# 22).

On November 24, 1993, Hampton filed its First Amended Complaint (# 14) alleging, inter alia, that (1) a prior Judgment by Consent entered into by LVCVA on June 30, 1993, permits a lessee to exclude only “protest or demonstration activities” from Civic Center premises and not other expressive activity, (2) Hampton was entitled to injunc-tive and declarative relief in that Defendant’s restriction on the distribution of expressive material at the Las Vegas Convention Center violated its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, and (3) Hampton incurred damages from Defendant’s actions.

After nearly two years of pre-litigation maneuvering by the two private parties in this case, Hampton and Interface Group-Nevada, Inc. settled their dispute. 2 Pursuant to the Pretrial Order (# 124) and the Motion for Summary Judgment (# 115), the court must now determine whether any genuine issue of material fact exists requiring submission of the case against LVCVA to a jury.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard for Motion for Summary Judgment

“Summary judgment may be granted when, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable.to the non-moving party, no genu *1407 ine issues of fact remain and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Cleary v. News Corporation, 30 F.3d 1255, 1259 (9th Cir.1994), citing Fed.R.Civ.P. 56; Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2509, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A court must grant a summary judgment motion against “a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Evidence is sufficient to establish an essential element of a party’s case if that evidence “is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict” for that party. Hopkins v. Dow Corning Corporation, 33 F.3d 1116, 1121 (9th Cir.1994), citing LibeHy Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510.

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Bluebook (online)
913 F. Supp. 1402, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1470, 1996 WL 54491, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hampton-international-communications-inc-v-las-vegas-convention-nvd-1996.