Mouton v. Dept. of Wildlife & Fisheries

657 So. 2d 622, 1995 WL 377074
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 23, 1995
Docket95 CA 0101
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 657 So. 2d 622 (Mouton v. Dept. of Wildlife & Fisheries) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mouton v. Dept. of Wildlife & Fisheries, 657 So. 2d 622, 1995 WL 377074 (La. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

657 So.2d 622 (1995)

Henry MOUTON
v.
DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE & FISHERIES FOR the STATE OF LOUISIANA.

No. 95 CA 0101.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

June 23, 1995.
Rehearing Denied July 25, 1995.

*623 William Bass, Lafayette, for plaintiff/appellee—Henry Mouton.

Charles Ellis, New Orleans, for plaintiffs/intervenors appellees—La. Ass'n of Coastal Anglers, La. Environmental Action Network.

Karl Koch, Aidan C. Reynolds, Baton Rouge, for defendants/appellants—Samuel Nunez, La. Senate, La. House of Representatives.

Michael Landrum, Baton Rouge, for defendant/appellee—La. Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Before LOTTINGER, C.J., and SHORTESS and CARTER, JJ.

CARTER, Judge.

This is an appeal from a trial court judgment in an action for mandamus.

BACKGROUND

Prior to September, 1992, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission adopted LAC Title 76, Part VII, Chapter 3, § 341, commonly known as the "Spotted Sea Trout *624 Management Plan" (the Trout Plan),[1] which, among other things, prohibited the weekend commercial taking of spotted sea trout within the waters of the State of Louisiana. Subsequent to the promulgation of this regulation, during the 1992 Regular Legislative Session, the legislature adopted House Concurrent Resolution No. 211, which purported to nullify that portion of the Trout Plan which prohibited the weekend commercial taking of spotted sea trout.[2] On September 17, 1992, the Secretary of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Department (the Department) sent a letter to the enforcement division of the Department, advising that, until further notice, the Department would no longer enforce the prohibition against weekend commercial spotted trout fishing.

FACTS

On December 1, 1993, petitioner, Henry Mouton, filed a petition for a writ of mandamus, seeking an order directing the Secretary of the Department to enforce the Trout Plan and, specifically, the prohibition against weekend commercial spotted trout fishing. Thereafter, Samuel Nunez, individually and as President of the Louisiana Senate (Senate), and John Alario, individually and as Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives (House), filed a motion to intervene in the action for mandamus, aligning themselves with the Department. The Louisiana Association of Coastal Anglers (LACA) and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) also filed a petition to intervene in the action for mandamus, aligning themselves with Mouton and seeking enforcement of the Trout Plan and the weekend ban on commercial spotted trout fishing.

All parties subsequently entered into the following stipulation of facts:

1.
This matter was set for hearing on January 3, 1994 and it was jointly agreed to by and between the parties that the hearing date would be continued and that this matter would be submitted to the court by stipulation and briefs.
2.
The legal issue presented to this court by the original suit was whether Concurrent Resolution 211 (passed under the authority of La.R.S. 49:969) can legally have the effect of setting aside a provision of the Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries Commission regulation, which is popularly known as the "Spotted Sea Trout Management Plan."
3.
The following chronology, with attachments, are stipulated to:
*625 a) Between August 9, 1991 and December of 1991 committee meetings and public hearings were held to organize the Rule.
b) On December 20, 1991, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight, disapproved of portions of the Trout Plan which prohibited the weekend commercial taking of Spotted Sea Trout. The Subcommittee's disapproval and striking of pertinent portions of the Plan were conveyed to Governor Buddy Roemer by written report (see Exhibit A).
c) On December 30, 1991, Governor Roemer disapproved of the actions of the Subcommittee (see Exhibit B) and the Commission adopted the Spotted Sea Trout Management Plan in its original form.
d) On or before February 20, 1992 under Title 76, Part VII, Chapter 3 § 341, the Spotted Sea Trout Management Measures were promulgated, (see Exhibit C).
e) Subsequently in the 1992 session, Concurrent Resolution HB 211 was passed and is attached as Exhibit D.
f) On September 17, 1992, Joe L. Herring, Secretary of Wildlife & Fisheries issued a memorandum (see Exhibit 1 attached to Petition for Writ of Mandamus filed on December 1, 1993) to the Enforcement Division instructing that Division not to enforce that portion of the Spotted Sea Trout Management Plan and the Enforcement Division has not in fact enforced that provision of the Plan since receiving that memorandum.

Thereafter, on May 5, 1994, the Senate and the House filed a peremptory exception pleading the objections of no cause of action and no right of action and a dilatory exception pleading the objection of unauthorized use of summary procedure. In response to these exceptions, LACA and LEAN filed a motion to strike the exceptions on the ground that they were filed untimely. Mouton subsequently joined in the motion. By judgment, dated August 10, 1994, the trial judge granted the motions to strike as to the dilatory exception, but denied the motions to strike the peremptory exceptions. The peremptory exceptions were referred to the merits.[3]

After a hearing on June 27, 1994, the trial court rendered judgment on September 9, 1994, in favor of Mouton, instructing the Department that the Trout Plan is valid and enforceable in its entirety and that House Concurrent Resolution 211 of the 1992 Regular Legislative Session is invalid. The trial court judgment also made the writ of mandamus peremptory.[4]

From this adverse judgment, the Louisiana Senate and the Louisiana House of Representatives suspensively appealed.[5] On appeal, the Senate and the House assigned the following specifications of error:

1. The trial court erred in denying appellants' peremptory exception and in finding that the plaintiffs had stated a cause of action, where the plaintiffs sought by mandamus to compel an agency to take affirmative action to enforce a rule.
2. The trial court erred in denying appellants' peremptory exception and in finding that the plaintiffs had a right of action to compel an agency to enforce a rule, when that rule had general application and the plaintiffs had no special interest, distinct from the public at large, in its enforcement.
3. The trial court erred in finding that the actions of the legislature in nullifying a portion of a rule of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission by a concurrent resolution, in accordance with La.R.S. 49:969, was subject to a heightened level of scrutiny as affecting the natural resources of the state.
*626 4. The trial court erred in finding that House Concurrent Resolution 211 of the 1992 Regular Section was "invalid" for any reason, and in thereafter granting plaintiffs a mandamus directed to the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries ordering the enforcement of a Rule which had been nullified by that resolution.

STANDING

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
657 So. 2d 622, 1995 WL 377074, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mouton-v-dept-of-wildlife-fisheries-lactapp-1995.