Martin v. Houston

196 F. Supp. 3d 1258, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96464, 2016 WL 4010026
District Court, M.D. Alabama·Decided July 25, 2016·No. CASE NO. 2:14-CV-905-WKW·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

W. Keith Watkins, CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter is before the court on the Order to Show Cause (Doc. #38), which addressed the issue of the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”) claim. Plaintiff filed a response to the show cause order (Doc. #40). Defendant then filed a reply (Doc. #41), which is construed as containing a renewed motion to dismiss Plaintiffs RLUIPA claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Upon careful consideration, the court has subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs RLUIPA claim, and the renewed motion to dismiss is due to be denied.

I. JURISDICTION AND VENUE

At issue is whether the court has subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs RLUIPA claim. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc et seq. The parties do not contest personal jurisdiction or venue.

II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. They must only exercise jurisdiction in cases within their authority as defined by Article III of the Constitution and the relevant Congressional mandates. Univ. of S. Ala. v. Am. Tobacco Co., 168 F.3d 405, 409 (11th Cir.1999). Before taking action in a case, the court must first determine that it has subject-matter jurisdiction over all the claims raised therein. See id. at 410 (recognizing the court’s duty to raise the issue of subject-matter jurisdiction sua sponte wherever it may be lacking). Where the issue of the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction is raised in connection with a motion to dismiss, the relevant inquiry is whether the complaint sufficiently alleges a factual basis of subject-matter jurisdiction. Cf. Houston v. Marod Supermarkets, Inc., 733 F.3d 1323, 1335 (11th Cir.2013).

To exercise subject-matter jurisdiction over an RLUIPA claim, the court must [1261]*1261satisfy itself that one of three prerequisites is met: (1) the land use regulation causing the alleged substantial burden on the exercise of religion is part of a plan or activity that receives federal funding; (2) the substantial burden on religious exercise affects interstate commerce; or (3) the substantial burden arises from the state or local government’s procedures for making individualized assessments of proposed property use. 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc(a)(2); Midrash Sephardi Inc. v. Town of Surfside, 366 F.3d 1214, 1225 (11th Cir.2004).

When evaluating a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the court must take the facts alleged in the complaint as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Resnick v. Av-Med, Inc., 693 F.3d 1317, 1321-22 (11th Cir.2012). To survive Rule 12(b)(6) scrutiny, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). The claim is facially plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

III. BACKGROUND

This action comprises statutory and constitutional challenges to an act of the Alabama legislature. The relevant facts and procedural history were addressed in detail in the Memorandum Opinion and Order denying Defendant’s previous motion to dismiss. (Doc. # 37.) For the sake of convenience, they will be briefly discussed below.

A. Facts

Plaintiff Ricky Martin (“Martin”) is the pastor of Triumph Church in Clanton, Alabama. For several years, Martin carried on a Christian ministry through which he offered transitional housing to registered sex offenders who were recently released from incarceration. He housed these men in mobile homes, which he placed on a parcel of property adjacent to Triumph Church. The ministry carried on for several years until the state passed a law disrupting its operation.

The statutory measure at issue, which originated as House Bill 556, and is codified at Alabama Code § 45-11-82 (the “Act”), provides that multiple unrelated adult sex offenders may not establish residency in the same home. It also provides that an adult sex offender may not establish a residence on the same lot or property as another adult sex offender unless the homes are at least 300 feet apart. Any violation of these provisions constitutes a public nuisance and is punishable by fine. The Act empowers the Chilton County District Attorney, Defendant Randall V. Houston (“Houston”), to bring civil enforcement actions against owners or lessors of non-compliant properties.

Martin alleges that the Act only applies to his property. All of the mobile homes on his property were within 300 feet of each other, and all of the men living in his settlement were adult sex offenders. By its terms, the Act only reaches property within the confines of Chilton County, Alabama. Ala. Code § 45-ll-82(a). Martin alleges that the bill’s sponsors supported its passage with the intent of forcing him to dismantle his ministry. In his Answer, Houston admits that Martin is the only person on whom he served a notice of enforcement of the Act. (Doc. # 39, at 3.)

Upon receiving notice that his property constituted a public nuisance under the [1262]*1262Act, Martin discontinued his settlement ministry. He evicted all settlement residents to avoid being fined under the Act’s civil enforcement provision and has not since taken in any residents. If not for Houston’s threat to bring an enforcement action against him, Martin would have continued operating his settlement ministry. He brought this action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.

B. Procedural History

In the operative amended complaint (Doc. # 22), Martin raises four claims: (1) that the Act violates RLUIPA; (2) that the Act infringes upon his First Amendment rights; (3) that the Act constitutes an unlawful bill of attainder; and (4) that the Act violates his rights to procedural due process.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Martin v. Houston, 196 F. Supp. 3d 1258, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96464, 2016 WL 4010026 (M.D. Ala. 2016).

196 F. Supp. 3d 1258 (Martin v. Houston) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related