Patel v. City of Los Angeles

47 F. App'x 799
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit·Decided August 8, 2002·No. Nos. 01-56522, 01-56036, 01-56037, 01-56038; D.C. No. CV-01-01040-R; D.C. No. CV-00-11301-MLR; D.C. No. CV-00-11595-MLR/RNB; D.C. No. 00-CV-11788 R·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM*

Hotel owners and operators Madhuben Patel (“Madhuben”), Sardaben Patel (“Sardaben”), Dhanjibhai Patel (“Dhanjibhai”), Shantaben Patel (“Shantaben”), Balubhai [801] G. Patel (“Balubhai”), Joe Patel, and Nikki Investments, LLC, sued1 the City of Los Angeles (the “City”) after the City found that their hotels were public nuisances, and imposed conditions of operation. The district court granted the City’s Motion to Dismiss Appellants’ first amended complaints.

§ 1983 Claims

To state § 1983 claims, Appellants must allege facts that establish deprivations, by a person acting under color of state law, of rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution. Butler v. Elle, 281 F.3d 1014, 1021 (9th Cir.2002).

1. Fifth Amendment Allegations

The Fifth Amendment prohibits the taking of “private property ... for public use without just compensation.” Wash. Legal Found. v. Legal Found. of Wash., 271 F.3d 835, 851 (9th Cir.2001) (en banc) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). A successful Fifth Amendment claim requires a showing that property was taken without just compensation. At oral argument, Appellants sought to negate their failure to seek compensation by asserting a theory of regulatory taking. However, Appellants’ argument is unavailing because regulatory takings also require a request for compensation by the property owner. See Daniel v. County of Santa Barbara, 288 F.3d 375, 381-82 (9th Cir.2002). Having failed to seek compensation for the alleged regulatory taking, Appellants cannot state a viable Fifth Amendment claim.

2. Due Process Allegations2

A due process claim under § 1983 is not cognizable when a state’s post-deprivation remedies are adequate to protect a plaintiffs procedural due process rights. See Lake Nacimiento Ranch Co. v. County of San Luis Obispo, 841 F.2d 872, 878 (9th Cir.1987). Due process requires notice and an opportunity to be heard. G & G Fire Sprinklers, Inc. v. Bradshaw, 156 F.3d 893, 903 (9th Cir.1998). Appellants were afforded pre-deprivation due process. See Weinberg v. Whatcom County, 241 F.3d 746, 753 (9th Cir.2001). California also offers adequate post-deprivation remedies. See Pomona College v.Super. Ct., 45 Cal.App.4th 1716, 53 Cal.Rptr.2d 662, 670 (Cal.Ct.App.1996); Cal. Code Civ. P. § 1094.5 (West 1980). Accordingly, Appellants failed to state due process claims under § 1983.

3. Equal Protection Allegations

In order to state a viable equal protection claim under § 1983, “a plaintiff must show that the defendants acted with an intent or purpose to discriminate against the plaintiff based upon membership in a protected class.” Lee v. City of [802] Los Angeles, 250 F.3d 668, 686 (9th Cir.2001) (citations omitted). Appellants did not describe the national origin of the owners of other businesses involved in the public nuisance abatement proceedings, and did not allege how the conditions of operation were connected to intentionally different treatment of Appellants due to their Asian-Indian national origin. Appellants’ failed to state an equal protection claim. Lee, 250 F.3d at 687.

4. First Amendment Allegations

“The First Amendment ... guarantees the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” White v. Lee, 227 F.3d 1214, 1227 (9th Cir.2000) (internal quotation marks omitted). Appellants exercised their right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances when they administratively challenged the board’s decision to impose the conditions.3 The conditions of operation could not have been in retaliation for Appellants’ appeals, because the conditions were recommended before Appellants filed those appeals.

5. Fourth Amendment Allegations

An individual asserting a Fourth Amendment violation “must, as an initial matter, demonstrate a legitimate expectation of privacy in the place searched or the thing seized.” United States v. Gamez-Orduno, 235 F.3d 453, 458 (9th Cir.2000) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Appellants failed to state Fourth Amendment claims, because they did not state when the inspections took place, or whether the inspections occurred in areas of public access. Appellants also failed to allege what the property inspections entailed, and whether property was seized. In any event, the record reflects that the inspections in this case were akin to the “random inspections to enforce administrative standards” implicitly approved in United States v. Argent Chem. Lab., Inc., 93 F.3d 572, 577 (9th Cir.1996).

6. Fair Housing Act Allegations

The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful “[t]o discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection therewith, because of race [or] color.” 42 U.S.C. § 3604(b).4 To assert a prima facie disparate impact case, Appellants “must establish at least that the defendant’s actions had a discriminatory effect.” Gamble v. City of Escondido, 104 F.3d 300, 306 (9th Cir.1997) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Appellants’ complaints do not articulate a “significantly adverse or disproportionate impact ... produced by the [City’s] facially neutral acts or practices.” Id. Additionally, Appellants never made any allegations regarding the “discriminatory effect” suffered as a result of the City’s actions. Id.

Appellants failed to successfully state due process, equal protection, fifth amendment, first amendment, fourth amendment [803] or Fair Housing Act claims. Accordingly, the district court acted properly in dismissing their § 1983 causes of action.

Supplemental State Claims

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Patel v. City of Los Angeles, 47 F. App'x 799 (9th Cir. 2002).

47 F. App'x 799 (Patel v. City of Los Angeles) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

White v. Lee
227 F.3d 1214 (Ninth Circuit, 2000)
Pomona College v. Superior Court
45 Cal. App. 4th 1716 (California Court of Appeal, 1996)
G & G Fire Sprinklers, Inc. v. Bradshaw
156 F.3d 893 (Ninth Circuit, 1998)
Butler v. Elle
281 F.3d 1014 (Ninth Circuit, 2002)
Daniel v. County of Santa Barbara
288 F.3d 375 (Ninth Circuit, 2002)