Koger v. Dart

114 F. Supp. 3d 572, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87061, 2015 WL 4079807
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJuly 6, 2015
DocketCase No. 13 C 7150
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 114 F. Supp. 3d 572 (Koger v. Dart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Koger v. Dart, 114 F. Supp. 3d 572, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87061, 2015 WL 4079807 (N.D. Ill. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MATTHEW F. KENNELLY, District Judge:

Gregory Koger has sued Cook County and its Sheriff Thomas Dart under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.- Koger alleges that the Cook County Jail’s absolute ban. on newspapers is unconstitutional under the First Amendment, and he requests an injunction, declaratory relief, and nominal damages. Both sides have moved for summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, the Court concludes that Roger’s request for an injunction is moot and therefore grants defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to that relief. The Court concludes that the jail’s newspaper ban is unconstitutional and therefore grants Roger’s motion for summary judgment on his First-Amendment claim.and awards á declaratory judgment and nominal damages.

Background

Gregory Koger is a member of a group called the Ethical Humanist Society. In 2009, he was arrested while videotaping the remarks of a speaker who had can-celled a meeting with the group. Koger was sentenced to 300 days in jail for misdemeanor criminal trespass, simple battery, and resisting arrest. A committee of supporters provided Koger with a legal defense and other assistance during his incarceration.

Between July and October 2013, Koger served the last portion of his sentence in the Cook County Jail. While there, Barbara Lyons, one of Roger’s supporters, sent him letters, books, magazines, an issue of Revolution Newspaper, and an issue of the Chicago Tribune. Although Koger received the books, letters, magazines, and even Revolution Newspaper, the jail- returned the Chicago Tribune to Lyons with a form marked “no newspapers.”

The issue of the Chicago Tribune was, refused pursuant to the jail’s absolute ban on newspapers, which has been in place since 1984. The no-newspaper policy applies regardless of content; newspapers with local news, national news, intemation[576]*576al news; political commentary, and entertainment news are all banned. The policy' also applies regardless of origin; that is, it applies even if the newspaper is sent directly from the publisher. It applies to entire newspapers and newspaper clippings. And it applies throughout the .jail.

Although inmates may riot possess newspapers, they are permitted to possess paper bags, notepaper, drawing pads, books, magazines (including magazines made from the same material as newspapers), envelopes, legal materials, greeting cards, playing cards, religious texts, letters and photos sent from outside the jail, toilet paper, extra undergarments, and bedding. These possessions, however, must fit into a property box that measures 21" long, 8.5' deep, and 15.5" wide. Thus, the jail imposes a strict limit on how much property an inmate may possess at any given time.

In August 2013, Koger filed a grievance demanding that the jail rescind its newspaper policy. The grievance went unanswered. Koger filed suit against Cook County and Sheriff Thomas Dart on October 4, 2013, twenty days before he was released from jail. He alleges that the jail’s newspaper policy violates the First Amendment and requests an injunction, declaratory relief, and nominal damages

Discussion

The parties have cross-moved for summary judgment on Koger’s First Amendment claim, which is his only claim. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the court assesses whether each movant has satisfied the requirements of Rule 56. See Cont’l Cas. Co. v. Nw. Nat’l Ins. Co., 427 F.3d 1038, 1041 (7th Cir.2005). A party is entitled to summary judgment if it shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact and it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Summary judgment is inappropriate “if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The Court-views the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draws all' reasonable inferences in that party’s favor. Anderstson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Srail v. Vill. of Lisle, 588 F.3d 940, 943 (7th Cir.2009).

A. Mootness

Defendants contend that Koger’s request for injunctive relief is moot. Article III of the Constitution restricts federal court jurisdiction'to “live cases and controversies.” Goldman v. Gagnard, 757 F.3d 575, 581 (7th Cir.2014); U.S. Const. art. III, § 2. “A case is moot, and thus falls outside of the judicial power conferred in Article III, if the outcome will no longer settle an active dispute about the parties’ rights.” Goldman, 757 F.3d at 581. “The' requirement that a case have an actual,' ongoing controversy extends throughout the pendency of the action.” Stotts v. Cmty. Unit Sch. Dist. No. 1, 230 F.3d 989, 990 (7th Cir.2000).

Koger’s request for injunctive relief is indeed moot. Koger filed suit while he was still incarcerated at the jail, and he had Article III standing to seek injunctive •relief at that tiirie. Shortly thereafter, however, he was released. Because Koger is no longer incarcerated at the jail, and there is no evidence that he will suffer injury from the jail’s newspaper policy in the future, his request for injunctive relief is now moot. See Lehn v. Holmes, 364 F.3d 862, 871 (7th Cir.2004) (“[W]hen a prisoner who seeks injunctive relief for a condition specific to a particular prison is transferred out of that prison, the need for relief, and hence the prisoner’s claim, become moot.”); Henderson v. Sheahan, 196 F.3d 839, 843 n. 1 (7th Cir.1999); Young v. Lane, 922 F.2d 370, 373 (7th Cir.1991) [577]*577(“The plaintiffs ..., by virtue of their transfers, are no longer incarcerated at [the prison]. Unaccompanied by any continuing, present injury or real and immediate threat of repeated injury, their past exposure to illegal conduct at [the prison] does not show a pending case or controversy regarding injunctive relief ... and we must vacate as moot that portion of their prayer for relief.”).

Roger argues that overbreadth doctrine provides an exception to the Article III case-or-controversy requirement as it applies in this case, thus rescuing his claim for injunctive relief. But Roger conflates the Article III case-or-controversy requirement and the “[t]he presumption against third-party standing,” a prudential standing requirement. Marin-Garcia v. Holder, 647 F.3d 666, 670 (7th Cir.2011).

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114 F. Supp. 3d 572, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87061, 2015 WL 4079807, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/koger-v-dart-ilnd-2015.