McLean v. City of Alexandria

106 F. Supp. 3d 736, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58826, 2015 WL 2097842
District Court, E.D. Virginia·Decided May 5, 2015·No. No. 1:14cv1398 (JCC/IDD)·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JAMES C. CACHERIS, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Defendant City of Alexandria’s (“the City’s”) Renewed Motion to Dismiss [Dkt. 37], and Plaintiff Scott McLean’s (“McLean’s”) Motion for Summary Judgment [Dkt. 47]. For the reasons discussed below, the Court will grant in part the City’s Renewed Motion to Dismiss and grant McLean’s Motion for Summary Judgment.

I. Background

McLean claims section 10-4-13(a) of the City’s Code of Ordinances (“the Ordinance”) — which prohibits parking a vehicle upon any City street for the purpose of displaying the vehicle for sale — is an unconstitutional content-based restriction of his First Amendment right to commercial speech. (Compl. [Dkt. 1] ¶¶ 28-32.) The Court previously denied the City’s motion to dismiss, holding the case was not moot after the City temporarily suspended enforcement of the Ordinance pending City [738] Council review. (Mem. Op. [Dkt. 32]; Order [Dkt. 33].) After public comment and a period of review, on March 14, 2015, the City Council repealed the Ordinance.

Two motions are now pending before the Court. First, the City renews its motion to dismiss and argues again that the case is now moot because the City Council has repealed the Ordinance. (Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss [Dkt. 37]; Def.’s Mem. in Supp. [Dkt. 38].) McLean opposes this motion and contends the case is not moot because he still seeks nominal damages to redress the City’s prior. suppression of his First Amendment right to commercial speech, despite the recent repeal of the Ordinance. (Pl.’s Opp’n [Dkt. 50].) Second, McLean moves for summary judgment and argues he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. (Pl.’s Mot. for Summ. J. [Dkt. 47]; Pl.’s Mem. in Supp. [Dkt. 48].) The City opposes Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment. (Def.’s Opp’n [Dkt. 52].) The Court will address each motion in turn.

II. Motion to Dismiss

The City moves for dismissal under Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and contends that the City’s repeal of the Ordinance rendered this matter moot. The sole issue before the Court in resolving this motion is whether the City’s rescission of the law at issue moots this litigation. The Court finds that in this instance, repealing the Ordinance partially moots the relief McLean seeks, and thus will grant the City’s motion to dismiss in part.

In filing this lawsuit, McLean seeks declaratory, injunctive, and nominal relief. (See Compl. at 9.) McLean concedes that any injunctive, or prospective relief, was rendered “unnecessary” after the City repealed the Ordinance. (Pl.’s Opp’n at 2.) In other words, McLean’s request for injunctive relief became moot. See Valero Terrestrial Corp. v. Paige, 211 F.3d 112, 116 (4th Cir.2000) (holding “statutory changes that discontinue a challenged practice are usually enough to render [Plaintiffs claim for injunctive relief] moot, even if the legislature possesses the power to reenact the statute after the lawsuit is-dismissed.”) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). The Fourth Circuit has recognized a distinction in the mootness doctrine between cases seeking injunctive relief and cases seeking compensatory ox; nominal damages to vindicate First Amendment violations. See Rock for Life-UMBC v. Hrabowski 411 Fed.Appx. 541, 550 (4th Cir.2010). “Valero, however, is inapposite to a claim brought under § 1983 to recover damages — either compensatory or nominal — resulting from a prior suppression of speech. In this context, we have held that even permanent remedial measures will not moot the claim.” Id. (citing Covenant Media of S.C., LLC v. City of North Charleston, 493 F.3d 421, 429 n. 4 (4th Cir.2007) (citing Henson v. Honor Comm. of the Univ. of Va., 719 F.2d 69, 72 n. 5 (4th Cir.1983)); Reyes v. City of Lynchburg, 300 F.3d 449, 453 (4th Cir.2002)).

Here, in short, repealing the Ordinance does not moot McLean’s as-applied challenge to the Ordinance for which he seeks nominal damages. McLean’s facial challenge to the now-repealed Ordinance and request for injunctive relief are, however, moot. Rock for Life-UMBC, 411 Fed.Appx. at 550-51 (“But while the plaintiffs cause of action for damages remains live, their claim that the policy was facially unconstitutional is moot.”). Therefore, the Court will dismiss McLean’s request for injunctive relief and his facial challenge to the Ordinance. The justiciable issue that remains is whether impermissible chilling of McLean’s First Amendment rights did in fact occur, and whether McLean is entitled to nominal damages as a result. Id.

[739] III. Mtotion for Summary Judgment

A. Legal Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate only if the record shows that “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Evans v. Techs. Applications & Serv., Co., 80 F.3d 954, 958-59 (4th Cir.1996) (citations omitted). In reviewing the record on summary judgment, “the court must draw any inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmovant [and] determine whether the record taken as a whole could lead a reasonable trier of fact to find for the nonmovant.” Brock v. Entre Computer Ctrs., 933 F.2d 1253, 1259 (4th Cir.1991) (citations omitted).

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McLean v. City of Alexandria, 106 F. Supp. 3d 736, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58826, 2015 WL 2097842 (E.D. Va. 2015).

106 F. Supp. 3d 736 (McLean v. City of Alexandria) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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