Los Angeles Alliance for Survival v. City of Los Angeles

157 F.3d 1162, 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7195, 98 Daily Journal DAR 9933, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 38631, 1998 WL 611570
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 15, 1998
DocketNo. 97-56742
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 157 F.3d 1162 (Los Angeles Alliance for Survival v. City of Los Angeles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Los Angeles Alliance for Survival v. City of Los Angeles, 157 F.3d 1162, 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7195, 98 Daily Journal DAR 9933, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 38631, 1998 WL 611570 (9th Cir. 1998).

Opinion

ORDER

We certify the following question to the California Supreme Court all as set forth in the attached request:

Is an ordinance1 that seeks to regulate the time, place and manner of solicitation of [1163]*1163money or other thing of value or the sale of goods or services content based under the Liberty of Speech Clause of the California Constitution? Cal. Const, art. I, § 2.

We stay all further proceedings in the district court and this court pending receipt of the answer to the certified question. If the California Supreme Court declines certification, we will resolve the issue according to our perception of California law.

The appellants stipulated at oral argument, that they do not oppose the preliminary injunction remaining in effect pending receipt of the answer to the certified question and further order of this court. We so order.

The clerk of the court is hereby directed to transmit forthwith, under the official seal of the Ninth Circuit, a copy of this order, the attached Request for Certification, and copies of all briefs and excerpts of record submitted to this court to the California Supreme Court. This case is withdrawn from submission until further order of the court.

REQUEST FOR CERTIFICATION DIRECTED TO THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA.

Pursuant to Rule 29.5 of the California Rules of Court, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, before which this appeal is pending, hereby certifies to the Supreme Court of California a question that turns on whether the scope of protection of speech granted by the California Constitution’s Liberty of Speech Clause, Cal. Const, art I, § 2, is broader than the protections afforded by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution as applied to regulation of solicitation. The answer may be determinative of the outcome of this appeal. We find no clear controlling precedent in the decisions of the California Supreme Court. We respectfully request that the Supreme Court of California answer the certified question presented below. Our phrasing of the question should not restrict the Court’s consideration of the issue involved.

I.Caption of the Case

The City of Los Angeles is deemed the petitioner in this request because it sought the certification. The caption of the case and the names and addresses of counsel are as follows:

Los Angeles Alliance for Survival; Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness; Jerry Rubin, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. City of Los Angeles; Richard J. Riordan, Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, in his official capacity; Bernard Parks, Chief of Police for the City of Los Angeles, in his official capacity, Defendants-Petitioners.

COUNSEL

Carol A. Sobel, Santa Monica, CA; Mark D. Rosenbaum and Peter Eliasberg, ACLU Foundation of Southern California, Los An-geles, CA, for Plaintiffs-Appellants-Respondents.

Byron R. Boeckman, Frederick N. Merkin and James K. Hahn, Office of City Attorney, Los Angeles, CA, for Defendants-Appellants-Petitioners.

Marc A. Becker, Munger, Tolies & Olson, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for Amicus-Curiae.

II. Question of Law to be Answered

Is an ordinance1 that seeks to regulate the time, place and manner of solicitation of money or other thing of value or the sale of goods or services content based under the Liberty of Speech Clause of the California Constitution? Cal. Const, art. I, § 2.

III. Statement of Facts

On July 2, 1997, the Los Angeles City Council enacted Ordinance No. 171664 entitled “Prohibition Against Certain Forms of Aggressive Solicitation,” codified as Los An-geles Municipal Code § 41.59. The ordinance was signed by Mayor Richard Riordan and went into effect August 15,1997. The stated goal of the ordinance is “to protect citizens from the fear and intimidation accompanying certain kinds of solicitation that have been an unwelcome and overwhelming presence in the city.” The ordinance prohibits two kinds of solicitations — “aggressive solicitations” in [1164]*1164all locations, § 41.59(b), and all solicitations in specific locations, § 41.59(c). The ordinance defines solicitation broadly as follows:

“Solicit, ask or beg” shall include using the spoken, written, or printed word, or bodily gestures, signs or other means with the purpose of obtaining an immediate- donation of money or other thing of value or soliciting the sale of goods or services.

Section 41.59(a)(1).

Appellees2 are groups and individuals that solicit immediate donations of money from members of the public on public fora throughout the City of Los Angeles. On September 11, 1997, appellees brought an action for injunctive and declaratory relief to enjoin enforcement of the ordinance on the grounds that it violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and the Liberty of Speech Clause of the California Constitution. Appel-lees then requested a preliminary injunction which the district court granted on November 5,1997.

The district court rejected appellants’3 argument for Pullman abstention, concluded that appellees were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim and found that appellants had conceded irreparable harm for purposes of the preliminary injunction. Relying on the California appellate decision in Alternatives and on the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Carreras, the district court held that the ordinance was content-based under the California Liberty of Speech Clause. The district court’s grant of the preliminary injunction rests on its finding that appellees were likely to succeed because § 41.59 is a content-based restraint of speech under California’s Liberty of Speech Clause and because appellants did not dispute appellees’ contention that the balance of hardships tips sharply in their favor and that they face irreparable injury. Appellants timely appealed the grant of the preliminary injunction to the Ninth Circuit. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1).

IV. The Need for Certification

The answer to the certified question will resolve a critical issue of whether the California Constitution’s Liberty of Speech Clause grants greater protection to speech used in conjunction with solicitation than does the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Under federal constitutional law, regulations of solicitation are reviewed as content-neutral restraints of speech. See, e.g., United States v. Kokinda, 497 U.S. 720, 730, 736, 110 S.Ct. 3115, 111 L.Ed.2d 571 (1990). In contrast, the California appellate court decision in Alternatives and the Ninth Circuit opinion in Carreras hold that regulations of solicitation are reviewed as content-based restraints of speech under the Liberty of Speech Clause of the California Constitution.

In Alternatives, a California appellate court struck down an ordinance that banned door-to-door solicitation during evening and nighttime hours. 145 Cal.App.3d 436, 439, 193 Cal.Rptr. 384 (1983). The court reasoned:

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157 F.3d 1162, 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7195, 98 Daily Journal DAR 9933, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 38631, 1998 WL 611570, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/los-angeles-alliance-for-survival-v-city-of-los-angeles-ca9-1998.