Sourovelis v. City of Philadelphia

103 F. Supp. 3d 694, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61796, 2015 WL 2215060
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 12, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 14-4687
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 103 F. Supp. 3d 694 (Sourovelis v. City of Philadelphia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sourovelis v. City of Philadelphia, 103 F. Supp. 3d 694, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61796, 2015 WL 2215060 (E.D. Pa. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

EDUARDO C. ROBRENO, District Judge.

[[Image here]]

Named Plaintiffs Christos Sourovelis, Doila Welch, Norys Hernandez, and Nas-sir Geiger (“Plaintiffs”), on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2), bring this class action to enjoin and declare unconstitutional Philadelphia’s civil-forfeiture policies and practices.

This suit is brought against the City of Philadelphia, Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey (together, “City Defendants”), the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office (“D.A.’s Office”), and District Attorney R. Seth Williams (together, “D.A. Defendants”) (all together, “Defendants”). Defendants have filed a joint motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ [698]*698claims. For the reasons that follow, the Court will deny Defendants’ motion to dismiss.

I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On November 17, 2014, Plaintiffs filed their Amended Complaint. ECF No. 40. Named Plaintiffs Sourovelis, Welch, and Hernandez are the owners of real property against which forfeiture proceedings commenced by the D.A. Defendants under the Controlled Substances Forfeiture Act (“Forfeiture Act”), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 6801-6802, were pending in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (“Court of Common Pleas”) at the time the Amended Complaint was filed. Am Compl. ¶¶ 9-14. Plaintiff Geiger, who was first named in the Amended Complaint, is the owner of a 2000 Buick LeSabre, against which a proceeding under the Forfeiture Act is presently pending in the Court of Common Pleas. See id. ¶ 15.

In their Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants have been unconstitutionally employing civil forfeiture procedures to confiscate property from residents for the properties’ alleged involvement in crime — even when property owners have no involvement in or even knowledge of the crimes alleged. Id. ¶ 2. Plaintiffs state that Philadelphia’s “robo-forfeiture” program uses “form” legal documents and “endless proceedings” to generate millions of dollars in revenue outside of its appropriated budget. Id. ¶ 3. Plaintiffs allege that through these boilerplate allegations, officials execute ex parte “seize and seal” orders against homes and other real property, without providing constitutionally adequate procedures for citizens to challenge the orders — thus violating their due process rights. See id. ¶21. Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ six claims challenge the following “policies and practices”:

(i) Defendants’ policy and practice of applying for and executing ex parte seizures of homes and other real properties without providing any evidence of exigent circumstances or necessity to justify proceeding without affording affected owners notice or an opportunity to be heard;
(ii) Defendants’ policy and practice of requiring real property owners to waive their statutory and constitutional rights in order to be let back into their property or have the forfeiture petition withdrawn;
(iii) Defendants’ policy and practice of failing to provide property owners with a prompt, post-deprivation hearing before a neutral arbiter where those owners may contest the basis for the seizure, restraint, or indefinite retention of their property pending an ultimate hearing on the merits;
(iv) Defendants’ policy and practice of repeatedly “relisting” civil-forfeiture proceedings, which forces property owners to appear in person for these proceedings over and over again or else permanently lose their property through a default judgment;
(v) The policy and practice of retaining forfeited property and its proceeds for use by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and the Philadelphia Police Department; and
(iv) Defendants’ policy and practice of having prosecutors and employees of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office control “hearings” in Courtroom 478.

Id. ¶ 4.

•Defendants filed a joint motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint on March 16, 2015, arguing that Plaintiffs’ claims should be dismissed on the following grounds:

(1) Because the underlying forfeiture proceedings against the real property [699]*699owned by Plaintiffs Sourovelis and Welch have been discontinued, the claims of these plaintiffs have been rendered moot and must be dismissed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1).
(2) Because, since on or about September 22, 2014, the D.A. Defendants have not submitted an application for an ex parte “seize and seal” order, which is the source of the constitutional violations al7 leged in the first and second counts of the amended complaint, and a policy established by the District Attorney on October 1, 2014, ensures that subsequent applications will be warranted by exigent circumstances, a case or controversy is not presented as to the first and second counts of the amended complaint, which must be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1).
(3) Because Plaintiffs cannot demonstrate an “injury in fact” that is “fairly traceable” , to the conduct alleged in counts one, three, and six of the amended complaint that will likely be remedied by the requested relief, they lack Article III standing to bring these claims, which must be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1).
(4) Insofar as the named plaintiffs are the owners of property against which civil forfeiture petitions are presently pending in the Court of Common Pleas, their constitutional claims could be raised in their state court forfeiture proceedings and this court should abstain from deciding them in this case.
(5) Because Defendant Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office is not an entity amenable to suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, this defendant must be dismissed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
(6) Because the amended complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted as to Plaintiff Geiger, the claims of this plaintiff must be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6).
(7) Because the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth counts of the amended complaint fail to state claims upon which relief may be granted, those claims must be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6).

Defs.’ Mem. 3-4, ECF No. 52. Plaintiffs filed a response on April 3, 2015 (ECF No. 55), and Defendants filed a reply1 on April 13, 2015 (ECF No. 56). The motion is now ripe for disposition.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A party may move to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6).

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
103 F. Supp. 3d 694, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61796, 2015 WL 2215060, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sourovelis-v-city-of-philadelphia-paed-2015.