William Robert Dare Gary Petillo v. State of California Dept. Of Motor Vehicles

191 F.3d 1167, 9 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1239, 99 Daily Journal DAR 9683, 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7656, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 22351, 1999 WL 717724
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 16, 1999
Docket97-56065
StatusPublished
Cited by95 cases

This text of 191 F.3d 1167 (William Robert Dare Gary Petillo v. State of California Dept. Of Motor Vehicles) 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
William Robert Dare Gary Petillo v. State of California Dept. Of Motor Vehicles, 191 F.3d 1167, 9 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1239, 99 Daily Journal DAR 9683, 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7656, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 22351, 1999 WL 717724 (9th Cir. 1999).

Opinions

Opinion by Judge D.W. NELSON; Dissent by Judge FERNANDEZ.

D.W. NELSON, Circuit Judge:

This case involves a challenge under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101, et seq. (West Supp.1999) (“ADA”), and its regulations to California’s $6 biennial fee for disability parking placards. The State of California, Department of Motor Vehicles [hereinafter “California”], appeals the district court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of William Robert Dare, Gray Petillo, and the class of plaintiffs they represent. California claims that the fee does not violate the ADA and that a blanket prohibition on such nominal fees is unconstitutional. We disagree and affirm the district court.

Facts and Procedural History

California has a comprehensive priority parking program for qualifying disabled individuals and veterans. See Cal. Veh. Code. §§ 295.5, 295.7 (West 1999). California provides these individuals with extensive priority parking and exemptions [1170]*1170from all parking meter fees and most parking time restrictions. See id. §§ 22511.5, 22511.7, 22511.8. To prevent abuse, California limits access to these privileges to vehicles displaying state-issued disability license plates or parking placards. See id. §§ 22507.8, 22511.5. California imposes significant fines upon illegal use of disability parking spaces and authorizes local entities to establish enforcement units. See id. §§ 4461, 4463(d), 22507.9, 22511.8, 22511.56, 22511.58, 42001.5.

Registered vehicle owners who are disabled themselves or who use their vehicles to transport disabled individuals at least 51% of the time can obtain disability license plates. California charges the standard license plate fees for these special plates. See id. §§ 5007(a), 9250. In lieu of or in addition, to a disability license plate, California issues disability parking placards to disabled individuals for a $6 fee. See id. § 22511.55. Individuals may use these portable placards in multiple vehicles. The placards expire if not renewed every two years, and California charges fees for renewal or replacement. See id. § 22511.55(a)(3) & (c)(2). The placard fees partly defray the cost of the disability parking program.

On August 13, 1996, Dare and Petillo, two disabled individuals, filed a class action lawsuit challenging California’s $6 placard fee as a violation of ADA Title II and its promulgating regulations. Dare and Petillo allege that the fee constitutes an impermissible surcharge upon measures necessary to provide the nondiserim-inatory treatment of individuals and groups required by the ADA. They rely on 42 U.S.C. § 12132, which states that “[sjubject to the provisions of this sub-chapter, no qualified individual shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity.” 42 U.S.C. § 12132. To prove the ADA’s particular prohibition of surcharges on parking permits, Dare and Petillo cite 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(f), promulgated by the Department of Justice in implementing the ADA, which states that

[a] public entity may not place a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the costs of measures, such as the provision of auxiliary aids or program accessibility, that are required to provide that individual with the nondiscriminatory treatment required by the Act or this part.

28 C.F.R. § 35.130(f) (1998).

The district court granted partial summary judgment with respect to the class of people qualifying as disabled under the ADA,1 found the fee to be an impermissible surcharge, and ordered a permanent injunction against California’s imposition of the fee. California timely appeals.

Jurisdiction

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) (West Supp.1999) to review the district court’s interlocutory order granting a permanent injunction. Because the district court’s partial summary judgment order provides legal authority for the injunction and is thus inextricably bound with it, we also have jurisdiction to review that order. See Paige v. State of California, 102 F.3d 1035, 1040 (9th Cir.1996).

Standard of Review

We review for abuse of discretion the district court’s grant of a motion for a permanent injunction, see Gaudiya Vaishnava Soc. v. City of San Francisco, 952 F.2d 1059, 1062 (9th Cir.1991), but review any determination underlying the grant of the motion by the standard that applies to that determination, see Multnomah Legal Sens. Workers Union v. Multnomah County Legal Aid Serv., 936 F.2d 1547, [1171]*11711552 (9th Cir.1991). We review de novo a district court’s grant of a motion for partial summary judgment. See Thompson v. Holy Family Hosp., 121 F.3d 537, 539 (9th Cir.1997).

Discussion

This case raises two main issues: (1) Does California’s $6 placard fee violate Title II of the ADA and its implementing regulations, and, if so, (2) was Congress’s enactment of Title II of the ADA a valid exercise of its power under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to abrogate California’s Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit? Because we answer both of these questions in the affirmative, we affirm the district court’s grant of partial summary judgment and a permanent injunction against imposition of the placard fee.

I. Violation of ADA Title II

Analyzing whether California’s $6 placard fee violates the ADA requires three inquiries. First, what obligations does Title II impose upon states regarding fees for measures under the ADA? Second, does Public Law 100-641, 23 U.S.C. § 402 (West Supp.1999), which contemplates a fee for disabled parking placards as part of a uniform system for disabled parking, limit states’ Title II obligations? Third, are these obligations violated by California’s $6 fee for parking placards? As explained below, we conclude that the $6 fee constitutes a surcharge for required measures in violation of the ADA and its implementing regulations.

A. Obligation under Title II

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191 F.3d 1167, 9 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1239, 99 Daily Journal DAR 9683, 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7656, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 22351, 1999 WL 717724, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/william-robert-dare-gary-petillo-v-state-of-california-dept-of-motor-ca9-1999.