Leal v. Everett Public Schools

88 F. Supp. 3d 1220, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20167, 2015 WL 728651
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedFebruary 19, 2015
DocketCase No. 2:14-cv-01762 TSZ
StatusPublished

This text of 88 F. Supp. 3d 1220 (Leal v. Everett Public Schools) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Leal v. Everett Public Schools, 88 F. Supp. 3d 1220, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20167, 2015 WL 728651 (W.D. Wash. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

THOMAS S. ZILLY, District Judge.

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction, docket no. 8. This case presents a conflict between the First Amendment’s [1223]*1223promise of free speech and a school district’s interest in adopting policies aimed at maintaining orderly schools and educating our students. Plaintiff is a student who wishes to pass out religious literature to his classmates during the school day. Defendants are the school district and its administrators that have adopted a policy that restricts when and where students may distribute written materials and requires that these materials have been written or produced by a student. Plaintiff disagrees with this policy and has sought a ruling prohibiting defendants from enforcing it. On December 2, 2014, the Court denied plaintiffs motion for a temporary restraining order and deferred ruling on plaintiffs motion for the preliminary injunction pending additional briefing. Min. Ord. (docket no. 15). Having considered all the briefs filed in this matter and the argument of counsel at the hearing on January 21, 2015, the Court concludes that plaintiff has not made the requisite showing for a preliminary injunction. Accordingly, plaintiffs motion is denied.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Michael Leal is a senior at Cascade High School in Everett, Washington, which is part of the Everett Public Schools system (the “School District”). Compl. (docket no. 1) ¶ 1. Plaintiff, who identifies as a member of the Christian faith, wishes to communicate the claims of his faith with his peers on school property during the school day by passing out religious materials. Id. ¶¶ 14-15. Doing so, however, violates a School District policy. This policy provides in relevant part, as follows:

Procedure
Distribution of materials written and/or produced by students shall not cause a substantial disruption of school activities or materially interfere with school operations. Students responsible for distribution of materials will be subject to corrective action or punishment, including suspension or expulsion, depending on the nature of the disruption or interference resulting from distribution of materials.

The following guidelines are in effect in each school building:

A. Materials written and/or produced by students may be distributed before or after the school day at points of entry/exit of school buildings.
B. Students may also seek permission from the school principal or assistant principal to distribute materials written and/or produced by students at other times and locations.

Heineman Decl. (docket no. 13) Ex. 5.

To date, plaintiff has been disciplined several times for violating this and other school policies. Compl. (docket no. 1) ¶¶ 25-28, 33-36. Plaintiff also alleges that he has been threatened with expulsion. Id. ¶ 37. In response, plaintiff filed suit against the School District and several school administrators under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on the basis that defendants have violated his rights to free speech and expression under the First Amendment. Id. ¶¶ 61-65.

Plaintiff claims that two aspects of the School District’s policy are facially unconstitutional. In this motion, plaintiff seeks a preliminary injunction enjoining the School District from (1) restricting the distribution of literature to the school’s entrances and exits before and after school, and (2) requiring that this literature be written or produced by a student.

DISCUSSION

1. Applicable Standards

a. Preliminary injunction

To obtain a- preliminary injunction, plaintiff must “establish that he is likely to succeed on the merits, that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the bal-[1224]*1224anee of equities tips in his favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest.” Winter v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 20, 129 S.Ct. 365, 172 L.Ed.2d 249 (2008). Under the Ninth Circuit’s sliding scale approach, however, a plaintiffs failure to establish a likelihood of success on the merits is not fatal to its motion. See Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. Cottrell, 632 F.3d 1127, 1131 (9th Cir.2011). Rather, these factors are balanced such that a preliminary injunction could be issued where the plaintiff has raised “serious questions going to the merits,” the “balance of hardships that tips sharply towards the plaintiff,” “there is a likelihood of irreparable injury[,] and [ ] the injunction is in the public interest.” Id. at 1135.

b. Facial challenge

Generally, to succeed on a facial challenge, the challenger must establish that “ ‘no set of circumstances exists under which the Act would be valid.’ ” Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party, 552 U.S. 442, 449, 128 S.Ct. 1184, 170 L.Ed.2d 151 (2008) (quoting United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 745, 107 S.Ct. 2095, 95 L.Ed.2d 697 (1987)). In the context of the First Amendment, however, facial challenges fall within what is known as the overbreadth doctrine. See Broadrick v. Oklahoma, 413 U.S. 601, 612, 93 S.Ct. 2908, 37 L.Ed.2d 830 (1973). The overbreadth doctrine “is an exception to [the] normal rule regarding facial challenges.” Virginia v. Hicks, 539 U.S. 113, 118, 123 S.Ct. 2191, 156 L.Ed.2d 148 (2003). Under this exception, rather than having to establish that a challenged policy has no possible constitutional application, the plaintiff bears the lower burden of showing that “a ‘substantial number’ of its applications are unconstitutional, ‘judged in relation to the [its] plainly legitimate sweep.’” Washington State Grange, 552 U.S. at 450 n. 6, 128 S.Ct. 1184 (quoting New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747, 769-72, 102 S.Ct. 3348, 73 L.Ed.2d 1113 (1982)).

c. Content- and viewpoint-neutral limitations on student speech

The School District’s policy imposes restrictions on the permissible time, place, and manner of a student’s distribution of written materials on school property. The parties disagree as to what standard should be applied to determine whether these restrictions are constitutional. Plaintiff contends that the “substantia! disruption” test from Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 89 S.Ct. 733, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 (1969), should apply. Defendants argue that Tinker is inapplicable to plaintiffs facial challenge of the policy because unlike the present case, Tinker addressed a viewpoint-discriminatory policy.

In Tinker, a group of students in Des Moines, Iowa, decided to protest America’s involvement in the escalating conflict in Vietnam by, among other things, wearing black armbands. Id. at 504, 89 S.Ct. 733.

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Bluebook (online)
88 F. Supp. 3d 1220, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20167, 2015 WL 728651, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leal-v-everett-public-schools-wawd-2015.