Watchtower Bible Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Municipality of Aguada

160 F. Supp. 3d 440, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17717, 2016 WL 552348
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedFebruary 10, 2016
DocketCASE NO. 16-1207 (GAG)
StatusPublished

This text of 160 F. Supp. 3d 440 (Watchtower Bible Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Municipality of Aguada) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Watchtower Bible Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Municipality of Aguada, 160 F. Supp. 3d 440, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17717, 2016 WL 552348 (prd 2016).

Opinion

OPINION, ORDER AND TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER

GUSTAVO A. GELPI, United States District Judge

On February 4, 2016, Watchtower Bible And Tract Society of New York and Con-gregación Cristiana de los Testigos de Je-hová (collectively “Plaintiffs”) filed suit against the following Municipalities: Agua-da, Aguas Buenas, Añasco, Arecibo, Bar-celoneta, Cabo Rojo, Camuy, Canóvanas, Carolina, Cataño, Cayey, Cidra, Coamo, Corozal, Fajardo, Florida, Guánica, Guaya-ma, Hatillo, Hormigueros, Humacao, Is-abela, Juana Díaz, Loíza, Luquillo, Manatí, Mayagüez, Naguabo, Patillas, Río Grande, Salinas, San Germán, San Lorenzo, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Vega Alta, Villalba and Yabucoa (hereinafter “Defendant Municipalities”),1 alleging violations of their right to free speech and free exercise of religion, under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution of the United States, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Docket No. 1.) Plaintiffs request that the Court issue a declaratory judgment and grant a temporary restraining order (“TRO”), as well as preliminary and permanent injunctive relief mandating that the named defendants comply with the terms of the permanent injunctive relief [442]*442issued in Watchtower Bible and Tract Soc’y of New York v. Mun. of Santa Isabel, Case No. 04-1452 (“Watchtower Phase I”).

After careful consideration, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Plaintiffs’ Request for Temporary Restraining Order at Docket No. 2. Plaintiffs’ Request for Preliminary Injunction is hereby HELD IN ABEYANCE until March 15, 2016 for the reasons and directives set forth below.

I. Standard of Review

A TRO is an extraordinary remedy that should not be granted unless the mov-ant proves the following elements: “(1) the plaintiffs likelihood of success on the merits; (2) the potential for irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction; (3) issuing an injunction will burden the defendants less than denying an injunction would burden the plaintiffs; and (4) the effect, if any, on the public interest.” See González-Droz v. González-Colón, 573 F.3d 75, 79 (1st Cir.2009).

The Supreme Court has recognized that “[t]he award of an interlocutory injunction by courts of equity has never been regarded as strictly a matter of right, even though irreparable injury may otherwise result to the plaintiff,” and that where an injunction will adversely affect a public interest for whose impairment, even temporarily, an injunction bond cannot compensate, the court may withhold relief until a final determination of the rights of the parties, though the postponement may be burdensome to the plaintiff.” Weinberger v. Romero-Barceló, 456 U.S. 305, 312-13, 102 S.Ct. 1798, 72 L.Ed.2d 91 (1982) (internal quotations omitted).

II. Legal Analysis

“A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy never awarded as of right.” Winter v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 24, 129 S.Ct. 365, 172 L.Ed.2d 249 (2008). “In each case, courts must balance the competing claims of injury and must consider the effect on each party of the granting or withholding of the requested relief.” Id. (internal quotations omitted).

1. Likelihood of success on the merits

This factor weighs in favor of Plaintiffs given the doctrine of stare decisis (i.e., First Circuit Opinions in Watchtower Bible and Tract Soc’y of New York v. Sagardía de Jesús, et al., 634 F.3d 3 (1st Cir.2011) (finding Puerto Rico’s control access law constitutional as applied and recognizing that Jehovah’s Witnesses are allowed to enter urbanizations to engage in constitutionally protected activity), reh’g denied, 638 F.3d 81, cert. denied, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 549, 181 L.Ed.2d 396 (2011); and Watchtower Bible and Tract Soc’y of New York v. Mun. of San Juan, 773 F.3d 1 (1st Cir.2014) (affirming the District Court’s remedial scheme crafted on remand) cert. denied, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 2395, 192 L.Ed.2d 165 (2015)). The Court also considers the fundamental constitutional rights involved, the Witnesses’ right to free speech and exercise of religion on public property, and finds that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits.

2. Irreparable Harm

Plaintiffs claim they risk irreparable harm absent injunctive relief in light of their upcoming religious activity, an annual worldwide campaign to invite their neighbors to attend the Memorial of Christ’s death, an activity catalogued as the most sacred event of their religious practice. (Docket No. 2 at 24.) Thus, Plaintiffs argue that in view of the upcoming religious activity, imminent and irreparable harm will result if Jehovah’s Witnesses are not al[443]*443lowed to engage in their time-sensitive religious speech in public streets. Id. at 25. “A burden on protected speech always causes some degree of irreparable harm.” Bl(a)ck Tea Soc’y v. City of Boston, 378 F.3d 8, 15 (1st Cir.2004) (citing Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 373-74, 96 S.Ct. 2673, 49 L.Ed.2d 547 (1976)). Notwithstanding the above, the Court notes that this very harm is present, and will continue to be present, absent a comprehensive remedial scheme that is fully incorporated from start to finish, as with the original Defendant Municipalities in Watchtower Phase I.

3. Public Interest

“[A] determination of the public interest necessarily encompasses the practical effects of granting or denying preliminary injunctive relief.” Bl(a)ck Tea Soc’y, 378 F.3d at 15. There is significant public interest in that Jehovah’s Witnesses engage in free speech and exercise religious faith in all public areas. As the Court has mentioned in the past, this is the same First Amendment right Catholics exercise when they partake in Via Crucis processions in public streets during Holy Week, (see Case No. 04-1452, Docket No. 1512), and politicians who go door-to-door greeting constituents while campaigning for primaries and general elections, as will occur in the upcoming months. See id. at Docket No. 1074.

4. No other adequate remedy at law

There is no other remedy at law. Plaintiffs do not seek monetary damages. The singular relief sought is injunctive relief granting them access to public streets within gated communities.

5. Weighing of the equities

At first, the Court’s remedial scheme in this case may seem as simple as ordering relief identical to that in Watchtower Phase I. The task at hand, however, is much more complex. This case is not simply about adopting overnight the orders of the First Circuit and this Court.

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160 F. Supp. 3d 440, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17717, 2016 WL 552348, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/watchtower-bible-tract-society-of-new-york-inc-v-municipality-of-aguada-prd-2016.