Paragould Cablevision, Inc. v. City of Paragould

930 F.2d 1310
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedApril 15, 1991
DocketNo. 90-1820
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 930 F.2d 1310 (Paragould Cablevision, Inc. v. City of Paragould) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Paragould Cablevision, Inc. v. City of Paragould, 930 F.2d 1310 (8th Cir. 1991).

Opinion

HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge.

Paragould Cablevision (Cablevision) appeals from the district court’s grant of the City of Paragould’s (Paragould) and its Light and Water Commission’s (CLW) motions to dismiss Cablevision’s claims pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). 739 F.Supp. 1314. Cablevision charged Paragould with [1312]*1312violations of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act,1 infringements of its first and fourteenth amendment rights, and breach of contract. The district court dismissed the federal claims with prejudice and then dismissed Cablevision’s state-law contract claims without prejudice pursuant to United Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966). We affirm.

FACTS

In December 1983, Cablevision entered into a cable television franchise agreement with Paragould. The agreement runs through 1993, with provisions for two five-year extensions. The franchise agreement is expressly nonexclusive. Despite this stipulation, Cablevision initially did not face any competition in the Paragould cable television market. However, in response to dissatisfaction with Cablevision’s services, the voters of Paragould approved an ordinance in June 1986 authorizing the CLW to construct and operate a municipally owned cable television system. To finance the system, the residents of Paragould passed an October 1989 referendum which authorized Paragould to issue $3.22 million of municipal bonds. In January 1990, Para-gould authorized the bonds to be issued. Later that month, Cablevision filed this suit against Paragould, the CLW, and various officers of these entities. As noted, the district court dismissed Cablevision's federal claims for failure to state a cause of action upon which relief could be granted and declined to exercise pendent jurisdiction over Cablevision’s contract claims.

DISCUSSION

Cablevision appeals the district court’s dismissal of its antitrust and constitutional claims.

I. Antitrust Claims

In a series of cases culminating in Town of Hallie v. City of Eau Claire, 471 U.S. 34, 105 S.Ct. 1713, 85 L.Ed.2d 24 (1985), the Supreme Court established that “before a municipality will be entitled to the protection of the state action exemption from the antitrust laws, it must demonstrate that it is engaging in the challenged activity pursuant to a clearly expressed state policy.” Id. at 40, 105 S.Ct. at 1717. More specifically, to withstand an antitrust challenge, the municipal conduct must be supported by “a clearly articulated and affirmatively expressed state policy.” Id. at 44, 105 S.Ct. at 1719. In implementing this law, this circuit has explained that “the state policy to displace competition can be inferred ‘if the challenged restraint is a necessary and reasonable consequence of engaging in the authorized activity.’ ” Scott v. City of Sioux City, 736 F.2d 1207, 1211 (8th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1003, 105 S.Ct. 1864, 85 L.Ed.2d 158 (1985), quoting Gold Cross Ambulance & Tran. v. City of Kansas City, 705 F.2d 1005, 1013 (8th Cir.1983). A municipality is therefore subject to searching antitrust scrutiny and can defeat antitrust challenges only if the anticompetitive consequence necessarily and reasonably results from engaging in the authorized activity. Importantly, “the Supreme Court has made clear that ‘a specified, detailed legislative authorization’ of monopoly service need not exist to infer the necessary state intent. City of Lafayette v. Louisiana Power & Light Co., [435 U.S. 389, 415, 98 S.Ct. 1123, 1138, 55 L.Ed.2d 364 (1978) ]. It is sufficient that ‘the legislature contemplated the kind of action complained of.' Id. (citation omitted).” Gold Cross Ambulance & Tran. v. City of Kansas City, 705 F.2d 1005, 1012 (8th Cir.1983).

In a recent opinion, the Supreme Court suggested in dicta that there may be a market participant exception to state immunity. See City of Columbia and Columbia Outdoor Advertising v. Omni Outdoor Advertising, - U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 1344, 113 L.Ed.2d 382 (1991).2 As yet, [1313]*1313however, the market participant exception is merely a suggestion and is not a rule of law. Until such a transformation occurs, we will continue to use the necessary and reasonable test established by this circuit.

Cablevision concedes that Arkansas law permits Paragould and the CLW to enter into the cable television business.3 Cablevision objects, however, to both the method chosen to effectuate this entry, and to what it alleges is Paragould's predatory intent to destroy competition. Cablevision claims that by granting cable television rights to the CLW, Paragould has facilitated “monopoly leveraging,” which has been defined as “the use of (1) monopoly power in one market to (2) restrain competition in a second market.” White & White, Inc. v. American Hosp. Supply Corp., 723 F.2d 495, 506 (6th Cir.1983). Cablevision objects to the potential for the CLW to exploit its monopoly status in supplying utilities to drive Cablevision out of the Paragould cable television market. Cablevision argues that this potential exploitation exposes the predatory intent of Paragould and the CLW. According to Cablevision, this intent violates antitrust law because, although the statutes at issue allow a municipality to become a competitor in the cable television industry, they do not allow the municipality to place limitations on private competitors. Cablevision argues that its inability to engage in the monopoly leveraging which Paragould will permit the CLW to exploit results in Paragould placing a de facto limitation on Cablevision.

The district court rejected Cablevision’s arguments. Characterizing the relevant statutes as “broad,” “sweeping,” and “comprehensive,” the district court concluded that these statutes authorized Para-gould to develop its own cable television system, despite the anticompetitive implications of Paragould’s particular conduct. We affirm the district court’s decision, particularly in light of the voluminous case law reaching similar conclusions. See, e.g., City of Columbia and Columbia Outdoor Advertising v. Omni Outdoor Advertising, - U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 1344, 113 L.Ed.2d 382 (1991) (city is immune from antitrust liability where its restriction of competition is a foreseeable result of implementing action authorized by state law); L & H Sanitation v. Lake City Sanitation, 769 F.2d 517, 522 (8th Cir.1985) (holding state action immunity doctrine applicable to a city’s award of exclusive solid waste disposal franchise); Gold Cross Ambulance & Tran. v. City of Kansas City,

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930 F.2d 1310, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/paragould-cablevision-inc-v-city-of-paragould-ca8-1991.