Recycle for Change v. City of Oakland

856 F.3d 666, 2017 WL 1843747, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 8211
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMay 9, 2017
Docket16-15295
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 856 F.3d 666 (Recycle for Change v. City of Oakland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Recycle for Change v. City of Oakland, 856 F.3d 666, 2017 WL 1843747, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 8211 (9th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION

GOULD, Circuit Judge:

Recycle for Change (“RFC”), a California non-profit corporation, challenges the City of Oakland’s (“Oakland”) ordinance regulating unattended donation collection boxes (“UDCBs”) as inconsistent with the First Amendment. RFC sought a preliminary injunction from the district court, which the court denied. RFC appeals that order. Assuming UDCBs constitute protected speech or expressive conduct—an issue we do not decide—we hold that RFC is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its First Amendment claim because the ordinance is content neutral and survives intermediate scrutiny. We affirm the denial of preliminary injunctive relief.

I

RFC recycles and reuses donated materials for dual purposes: to conserve environmental resources and to raise funds to be donated to various charities. RFC operates UDCBs in Oakland as a method of collecting donated materials from the public. RFC places UDCBs on private property with the property possessor’s permission. The revenue RFC generates from its UDCB operations- is a significant part of its overall income.

On October 20, 2015, Oakland enacted Ordinance No. 13335 C.M.S. (the “Ordinance”). Adding Chapter 5.19 to the Oakland Municipal Code, the Ordinance created a comprehensive licensing scheme governing the operation of UDCBs within city limits. By its terms, the Ordinance applies only to UDCBs, which it defines as “unstaffed drop-off boxes, containers, receptacles, or similar facility that accept textiles, shoes, books and/or other salvageable personal property items to be used by the operator for distribution, resale, or recycling.” Oakland Mun. Code § 5.19.050. With exceptions irrelevant to this case, the Ordinance makes it “unlawful to place, operate, maintain or allow a UDCB on any real property unless the parcel owner/agent and/or operator first obtainfs] an annually renewable UDCB permit from the City.” Id. § 5.19.060(A). To obtain a permit, an operator must, inter alia, pay an application fee that costs about $535, propose a site plan, and obtain at least one million dollars in liability insurance. Id. § 5.19.070. The annual li *669 cense renewal fee is about $246. The Ordinance sets restrictions on box placement location and size, requires specific periodic maintenance, and prohibits placing a UDCB within one thousand feet of another UDCB. Id. §§ 5.19.120, 5.19.130.

RFC sued Oakland, asserting that the Ordinance violates the Free Speech and Equal Protection Clauses of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Sections 2 and 7 of the California Constitution. RFC filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Ordinance based on the federal constitutional claims only. The district court denied RFC’s motion after finding that RFC (1) is unlikely to succeed on the merits on its First Amendment claim because the Ordinance is content neutral and survives intermediate scrutiny, (2) is unlikely to succeed on the merits on its Fourteenth Amendment claim because the Ordinance survives rational basis review, and (3) failed to demonstrate likelihood of irreparable harm. RFC appeals the district court’s order with respect to its First Amendment claim only.

II

This court has jurisdiction to review an order refusing a preliminary injunction. 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1). We review the district court’s weighing of the relevant factors for abuse of discretion, but its underlying conclusions of law de novo. See Int’l Franchise Ass’n v. City of Seattle, 803 F.3d 389, 398 (9th Cir. 2015).

“A plaintiff seeking a preliminary injunction must establish that [it] is [1] likely to succeed on the merits, [2] that [it] is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, [3] that the balance of equities tips in [its] favor, and [4] that an injunction is in the public interest.” Winter v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 20, 129 S.Ct. 365, 172 L.Ed.2d 249 (2008). We consider these factors on a sliding scale, such “that a stronger ¿showing of one element may offset a weaker showing of another.” All. for the Wild Rockies v. Cottrell, 632 F.3d 1127, 1131 (9th Cir. 2011). RFC contends that the district court erred by concluding that RFC was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its First Amendment claim and would not suffer irreparable injury absent an injunction. Because we reject RFC’s first argument, we do not reach the second.

Ill

The first step of First Amendment analysis is to determine whether the regulation implicates protected expression. In its briefing, Oakland does not dispute RFC’s contention that UDCBs in some respects constitute expression, and so enjoy a measure of protection under the First Amendment. Because we conclude that RFC is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its claim even if that is so, we assume without deciding that the Ordinance triggers First Amendment analysis.

So assuming, we begin from the. recognition that charitable solicitations are protected speech. See Vill. of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 444 U.S. 620, 632, 100 S.Ct. 826, 63 L.Ed.2d 73 (1980). The Ordinance impacts to a degree RFC’s ability to communicate its charitable solicitations message on private property.

Next, we must ask whether the Ordinance is content based or content neutral. If content based, we review it using strict scrutiny. See Reed v. Town of Gilbert, - U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 2218, 2227, 192 L.Ed.2d 236 (2015). If, however, such a law does not “suppress[ ] expression out of concern for its likely communicative impact,” we ordinarily apply intermediate scrutiny (or, as described below, a version of intermediate scrutiny unique to inciden *670 tal regulation of expressive conduct). 1 United States v. Swisher, 811 F.3d 299, 314 (9th Cir. 2016) (en banc) (quoting United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310, 317, 110 S.Ct. 2404, 110 L.Ed.2d 287 (1990)); see also United States v. O’Brien, 391 U.S. 367, 377, 88 S.Ct. 1673, 20 L.Ed.2d 672 (1968).

A

A content-based law is one that “target[s] speech based on its communicative content” or “applies to particular speech because of the topic discussed or the idea or message expressed.” Reed, 135 S.Ct. at 2226-27. The “crucial first step” in determining whether a law is content based is to “consider whether a regulation of speech ‘on its face’ draws distinctions based on the message a speaker conveys.” Id. at 2227-28 (quoting Sorrell v. IMS Health, Inc., 564 U.S. 552, 566, 131 S.Ct. 2653, 180 L.Ed.2d 544 (2011)).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
856 F.3d 666, 2017 WL 1843747, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 8211, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/recycle-for-change-v-city-of-oakland-ca9-2017.