MDK, Inc. v. Village of Grafton

277 F. Supp. 2d 943, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14481, 2003 WL 21974426
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedAugust 7, 2003
Docket03-C-0026
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 277 F. Supp. 2d 943 (MDK, Inc. v. Village of Grafton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MDK, Inc. v. Village of Grafton, 277 F. Supp. 2d 943, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14481, 2003 WL 21974426 (E.D. Wis. 2003).

Opinion

*946 DECISION AND ORDER

ADELMAN, District Judge.

I. PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff MDK, Inc. (“MDK”), owner of the Luxury Box, a tavern in the Village of Grafton (“Grafton”), brings this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 challenging the constitutionality of Grafton’s ordinance regulating adult-oriented establishments, § 9.35 of the municipal code. Plaintiff wishes to offer erotic nude or semi-nude dance entertainment, a form of expression protected by the First Amendment. See, e.g., Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc., 501 U.S. 560, 565-66, 111 S.Ct. 2456, 115 L.Ed.2d 504 (1991). Under the ordinance, an adult-oriented establishment must obtain a license and is subject to various time, place and manner restrictions, including a prohibition on locating within 500 feet of residential dwellings.

Plaintiff argues that Grafton’s ordinance is unconstitutional on its face. It contends that the licensing provisions of the ordinance constitute a prior restraint in violation of the First Amendment because they: (1) vest unbridled discretion in Village officials to unreasonably delay judicial review of adverse licensing decisions and (2) contain no safeguards ensuring a prompt judicial decision once judicial review is underway. As relief, plaintiff requests a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the ordinance. Grafton contends that plaintiff lacks standing , to challenge the ordinance, and, alternatively, that even if the review procedures are unconstitutional they are severable from the rest of the ordinance, which is independently enforceable.

II. STANDING

A. General Principles

Under Article III of the Constitution, federal judicial power extends only to “cases” or “controversies.” U.S. Const, art. III. The “case or controversy” requirement ensures that federal courts will hear only justiciable or live cases. Crosetto v. State Bar of Wis., 12 F.3d 1396, 1403 (7th Cir.1993). Federal courts must be careful to decide only live cases in order to avoid exceeding their role in the system of separation of powers that underlies our constitutional structure. See Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 750, 104 S.Ct. 3315, 82 L.Ed.2d 556 (1984). The party seeking to invoke federal jurisdiction bears the burden of proving justiciability and must support its claim in the same way as any other matter on which the party bears the burden of proof, i.e., with the manner and degree of evidence required at the successive stages of the litigation. Alliant Energy Corp. v. Bie, 277 F.3d 916, 919 (7th Cir.2002).

The doctrine of standing focuses on justiciability at the time the action is commenced. Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Env’t Servs. (TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 180, 120 S.Ct. 693, 145 L.Ed.2d 610 (2000). The analysis focuses not on the claim itself but on the party bringing the challenge. Clarkson v. Town of Florence, 198 F.Supp.2d 997, 1002 (E.D.Wis.2002). The standing requirement has both “constitutional” and “prudential” components. Bennett v. Spear, 520 U.S. 154, 162, 117 S.Ct. 1154, 137 L.Ed.2d 281 (1997). The constitutional requirements are those that must be satisfied in every case and cannot be modified by Congress; they are the “irreducible constitutional minimum” of standing. 1 Id. These requirements are *947 that the plaintiff demonstrate (1) that he has suffered “injury in fact”; (2) that the injury is “fairly traceable” to the actions of the defendant; and (3) that the injury will likely be redressed by a favorable decision. Id. (citing Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992); Valley Forge Christian Coll. v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc., 454 U.S. 464, 471-72, 102 S.Ct. 752, 70 L.Ed.2d 700 (1982)).

B. Plaintiffs Standing

Grafton- objects to plaintiffs standing on three grounds. First, it argues that plaintiff lacks standing because it has not applied for a license and thus failed to test the actual operation of the ordinance. Because plaintiffs bringing facial challenges to licensing ordinances are not required to first apply for licenses, Grafton’s argument is, in • effect, that plaintiff may not challenge the ordinance on its face. Second, Grafton argues that plaintiff has not suffered injury in fact. Third, Grafton argues that, even if plaintiff has suffered an injury, such injury is not redressable by the relief requested. I address each contention in turn.

1. Whether Plaintiff May Bring a Facial Challenge

A constitutional challenge to a law can take one of two forms, “facial” or “as applied.” Marc E. Isserles, Overcoming Overbreadth: Facial Challenges and the Valid Rule Requirement, 48 Am. U.L.Rev. 359, 360 (1998). A facial challenge alleges that the law cannot constitutionally be applied to anyone, no matter what the facts of the particular case may be. Id.; see also Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement, 505 U.S. 123, 133 n. 10, 112 S.Ct. 2395, 120 L.Ed.2d 101 (1992) (noting that facts concerning how law was applied to plaintiff were irrelevant to facial challenge). An “as applied” challenge, on the other hand, alleges that the law is unconstitutional only insofar as it is applied to the specific facts of the case under review. Isserles, supra, at 360.

A successful facial challenge results in the complete invalidation of the law in question. Further, such.challenges typically rest upon a finding that the rights of others not before the court are implicated by the law. See, e.g., Broadrick v. Okla., 413 U.S. 601, 612, 93 S.Ct. 2908, 37 L.Ed.2d 830 (1973). Facial challenges therefore

implicate[] a relatively robust role for the federal courts in reviewing legislative enactments. Such a role is in substantial tension with core principles underpinning Article III courts that require resolution of concrete disputes, general deference to the legislative process, and determination of constitutional questions as a matter of last resort .and on a limited basis.

Isserles, supra, at 36T. Thus, facial challenges are appropriate only in extraordinary circumstances.

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Related

Metropolitan Milwaukee Ass'n of Commerce v. Milwaukee County
359 F. Supp. 2d 749 (E.D. Wisconsin, 2005)
MDK, Inc. v. Village of Grafton
345 F. Supp. 2d 952 (E.D. Wisconsin, 2004)

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277 F. Supp. 2d 943, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14481, 2003 WL 21974426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mdk-inc-v-village-of-grafton-wied-2003.