Vivid Entertainment, LLC v. Fielding

965 F. Supp. 2d 1113, 2013 WL 4451068, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116731
District Court, C.D. California·Decided August 16, 2013·No. Case No. CV 13-00190 DDP (AGRx)·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

ORDER DENYING IN PART AND GRANTING IN PART INTERVEN-ERS’ MOTION TO DISMISS; DENYING IN PART AND GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION; AND VACATING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS

[Docket Nos. 49, 55, 64]

DEAN D. PREGERSON, District Judge.

I. Background

Plaintiffs Vivid Entertainment, LLC (“Vivid”) and Califa Productions, Inc., produce adult films. (Compl. ¶¶ 8-9, Docket No. 1.) Plaintiffs Jane Doe, known professionally as Kayden Kross (“Ms. Kross”), and John Doe, known professionally as Logan Pierce (“Mr. Pierce”), are performers who appear in adult films. (Id. ¶¶ 10-11.)

The adult film industry regularly tests actors for sexually transmitted infections (“STIs”). (Id. ¶¶ 20-31.) During the November 2012 elections, Los Angeles County passed, via referendum, The County of Los Angeles Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act (“Measure “B”). (Id. ¶ 36; Docket No. 58-1 Ex. B text of Measure B); Los Angeles County Code § 11.39 (“§ 11.39”), et seq. (codifying Measure B). Measure B forces producers of adult films, before any production can occur, to pay a fee and obtain a permit from the County Department of Public Health (the “Department”), which is tasked with enforcing Measure B. (Id. ¶ 41-43.) The Department of Public Health, set the permit fee in the range of $2,000 to $2,500 per year. (Compl. ¶ 48.) Once approved, the film producers must display the permit at all times during filming. (Id. ¶ 41.) A permit is valid for two years, but is, at all times, subject to immediate revocation. (Id.) Once a permit is granted, Measure B requires that performers engaging in anal or vaginal sexual intercourse to use condoms during filming. (Compl. ¶ 42.)

Department inspectors are granted access to “any location suspected of conducting any activity regulated by” Measure B, without notice. § 11.39.130. Inspectors can look at personal property or private documents from any person present at any location if there is suspicion of a Measure B violation. See id.

Plaintiffs have sued various County officials for Declaratory and In[1122]*1122junctive Relief. (See generally Compl.) Because Defendants have declined to defend Measure B’s constitutionality, this Court has allowed Michael Weinstein, Marijane Jackson, Arlette De La Cruz, Mark McGrath, Whitney Engeran, and the Campaign Committee Yes on B, Major Funding by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (“Interveners”) to intervene. (See generally Order Granting Motion to Intervene, Docket No. 44; Order Denying Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration, Docket No. 78.) Interveners were Measure B’s official proponents. (Id. at 2:19-20.) Presently before the Court is Interveners’ Motion to Dismiss and Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. (Docket Nos. 49, 55.)1

II. Legal Standard

A. Motion to Dismiss

A complaint will survive a motion to dismiss when it contains “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). When considering a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a court must “accept as true all allegations of material fact and must construe those facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Resnick v. Hayes, 213 F.3d 443, 447 (9th Cir.2000). Although a complaint need not include “detailed factual allegations,” it must offer “more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. Conclusory allegations or allegations that are no more than a statement of a legal conclusion “are not entitled to the assumption of truth.” Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. In other words, a pleading that merely offers “labels and conclusions,” a “formulaic recitation of the elements,” or “naked assertions” will not be sufficient to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Id. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). “When there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement of relief.” Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

B. Motion for Preliminary Injunction

“[Pjlaintiffs seeking a preliminary injunction must establish that (1) they are likely to succeed on the merits; (2) they are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief; (3) the balance of equities tips in their favor; and (4) a preliminary injunction is in the public interest.” Sierra Forest Legacy v. Rey, 577 F.3d 1015, 1021 (9th Cir.2009) (citing Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 29, 129 S.Ct. 365, 172 L.Ed.2d 249 (2008)).

III. Motion to Dismiss Analysis

After reviewing Interveners’ motion to dismiss, the Court GRANTS dismissal of Plaintiffs’ claim that ballot initiatives cannot, as a matter of law, implicate First Amendment rights, that state law preempts Measure B, and that Measure B violates Plaintiffs’ due process rights (with [1123]*1123the exception of Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment claim). The Court DENIES dismissal on the remaining claims.

A. Standing

Interveners claim that Plaintiffs do not have standing. Standing is a “threshold question.” Nat’l Org. for Women, Inc. v. Scheidler, 510 U.S. 249, 255, 114 S.Ct. 798, 127 L.Ed.2d 99 (1994). The doctrine “is founded in concern about the proper — and properly limited role — of the courts in a democratic society.” Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 498, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975). The constitutional requirements of standing are:

(1) injury in fact, by which we mean an invasion of a legally protected interest that is (a) concrete and particularized, and (b) actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical; (2) a causal relationship between the injury and the challenged conduct, by which we mean that the injury fairly can be traced to the challenged action of the defendant, and has not resulted from the independent action of some third party not before the court; and (3) a likelihood that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision, by which we mean that the prospect of obtaining relief from the injury as a result of a favorable ruling is not too speculative.

Ne. Fla. Chapter of Associated Gen. Contractors of Am. v. City of Jacksonville, 508 U.S. 656, 663-664, 113 S.Ct. 2297, 124 L.Ed.2d 586 (1993). Plaintiffs have the burden of showing they have standing. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 562, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). “[I]t is sufficient for standing purposes that the plaintiff intends to engage in a course of conduct arguably

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Vivid Entertainment, LLC v. Fielding, 965 F. Supp. 2d 1113, 2013 WL 4451068, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116731 (C.D. Cal. 2013).

965 F. Supp. 2d 1113 (Vivid Entertainment, LLC v. Fielding) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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