Art & Antique Dealers League of Am., Inc. v. Seggos
| Decision Date | 14 August 2019 |
| Docket Number | 18 Civ. 2504 (LGS) |
| Citation | 394 F.Supp.3d 447 |
| Parties | The ART & ANTIQUE DEALERS LEAGUE OF AMERICA, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. Basil SEGGOS, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Alan Edward Sash, McLaughlin and Stern, LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiffs.
Elizabeth Morgan, New York State Office of the Attorney General, New York, NY, for Defendant.
Plaintiffs The Art and Antique Dealers League of America, Inc. (the "Dealers League") and The National Antique and Art Dealers Association of America, Inc. (the "Dealers Association") bring this action against Defendant Basil Seggos, the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ("DEC"). Plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of New York State Environmental Conservation Law § 11-0535-a (the "State Ivory Law") and DEC licenses issued pursuant to the State Ivory Law. Plaintiffs move for summary judgment, seeking (1) a declaratory judgment that the State Ivory Law is unconstitutional and therefore void and (2) a permanent injunction preventing DEC from enforcing the State Ivory Law. Defendant and Intervenors The Humane Society of the United States, Center for Biological Diversity, National Resources Defense Council, Inc. and Wildlife Conservation Society cross-move to dismiss the Third Amended Complaint (the "TAC") for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6).1 For the reasons discussed below, Defendant's and Intervenors' cross-motions to dismiss are GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, and Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment is DENIED without prejudice to renewal.
The facts below are taken from the TAC, documents attached to or integral to the TAC and documents susceptible to judicial notice. See TCA Television Corp. v. McCollum , 839 F.3d 168, 172 (2d Cir. 2016) ; Goel v. Bunge, Ltd. , 820 F.3d 554, 559 (2d Cir. 2016). These facts are assumed to be true only for purposes of the motion to dismiss. See Cohen v. Rosicki, Rosicki & Assocs., P.C. , 897 F.3d 75, 80 (2d Cir. 2018).
Plaintiffs are trade organizations representing art and antique dealers. Plaintiffs' members, some of whom have expertise in antique elephant and mammoth ivory from Africa and Asia, "have an economic and professional interest in, among other things, the purchase, sale, distribution or trading of antique elephant ivory ... in intrastate commerce." Defendant is the Commissioner of DEC, a state agency tasked with protecting New York's natural resources and environment.
In 1973, Congress enacted the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq. (the "ESA"). The ESA prohibits, among other things, the import and export of endangered species, 16 U.S.C. § 1538(a)(1)(A), and the sale, offering for sale, or movement of endangered species in interstate or foreign commerce, § 1538(a)(1)(D), (E). These restrictions are subject to certain statutory exemptions, including 16 U.S.C. § 1539(h), which provides that the above-referenced prohibitions do not apply to certain "antique articles" that are 100 years of age or older. § 1539(h)(1). Persons seeking to import such antique articles into the United States must first obtain a federal permit. § 1539(h)(2).
The ESA authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to "issue such regulations as he deems necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of [endangered and threatened] species." 16 U.S.C. § 1533(d). Pursuant to this authority, the Interior Department has promulgated regulations imposing special restrictions on trade in certain species, including African elephants. See 50 C.F.R. § 17.40(e). Under these regulations, interstate and foreign commerce in African elephant ivory is generally prohibited. § 17.40(e)(3). However, certain antique articles and items containing a de minimis quantity of ivory are exempt from this prohibition. Id.
The ESA contains an express preemption clause, which sets forth the extent to which the ESA displaces state wildlife management laws. 16 U.S.C. § 1535(f). The ESA's express preemption clause is quoted in full in the analysis below.
In 2014, New York State enacted the State Ivory Law, which provides that "no person shall sell, offer for sale, purchase, trade, barter or distribute an ivory article." N.Y. ENVTL. CONSERV. LAW § 11-0535-a(2).2 This prohibition is subject to various exceptions, see § 11-0535-a(3), although these exceptions are more limited than those in the ESA. For example, unlike the ESA, the State Ivory Law's antique article exception applies only to items that are less than twenty percent ivory by volume, § 11-0535-a(3)(a), and the State Ivory Law contains no exception for non-antique items containing only a de minimis quantity of ivory. As a result, the State Ivory Law is more restrictive as to the sale of ivory than federal law. DEC issues licenses and permits that authorize trade in ivory pursuant to the State Ivory Law's exceptions. § 11-0535-a(3). Trading in ivory without such a license or permit may constitute a Class D Felony, and can carry substantial civil penalties. N.Y. ENVTL. CONSERV. LAW §§ 71-0924(4) ; 71-0925(16).
DEC has conceded that the State Ivory Law is preempted "as to any interstate or international commercial activities expressly authorized by" the antique and de minimis exceptions in the ESA and its implementing regulations. DEC will not deny a license for the sale of ivory from within New York to a buyer located outside of New York, provided the transaction fully complies with federal requirements. However, DEC will enforce the State Ivory Law insofar as intrastate commerce in ivory is concerned
The licenses issued by DEC restrict the licensees' advertisement and display of ivory products. Licensees may not "physically display for sale" any item not authorized for intrastate sale (i.e., not covered by one of the State Ivory Law's exceptions) (the "Display Restriction"). Such items can be displayed in advertisements, catalogues and online, provided that the licensee posts a notice next to the item's picture or description stating that the item "Cannot be purchased or Sold within New York State."
On March 20, 2018, Plaintiffs filed this action, challenging the constitutionality of the State Ivory Law on preemption and First Amendment grounds. The parties agreed that the case involves purely legal issues, and therefore could be resolved by dispositive motions without the need for discovery. On July 5, 2018, Plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment. Defendants and Intervenors cross-moved to dismiss on August 3, 2018, and August 15, 2018, respectively.
On February 1, 2019, the Court granted Defendant's motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See Art & Antique Dealers League of Am., Inc. v. Seggos , No. 18 Civ. 2504, 2019 WL 416330, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 1, 2019). On March 21, 2019, Plaintiffs filed the TAC, which cured the standing deficiencies identified in the Court's February 1, 2019, dismissal order. The TAC also clarified that Plaintiffs are challenging the State Ivory Law on preemption grounds only as applied to intrastate commerce. The parties have renewed their dispositive motions and stipulated that no supplemental briefing related to these amendments is necessary.
To survive a motion to dismiss, "a complaint must contain 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) ). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Id. (citing Twombly , 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). It is not enough for a plaintiff to allege facts that are consistent with liability; the complaint must "nudge[ ] their claims across the line from conceivable to plausible." Twombly , 550 U.S. at 547, 127 S.Ct. 1955. "To survive dismissal, the plaintiff must provide the grounds upon which his claim rests through factual allegations sufficient ‘to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.’ " ATSI Commc'ns, Inc. v. Shaar Fund, Ltd. , 493 F.3d 87, 98 (2d Cir. 2007) (quoting Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). On a motion to dismiss, a court accepts as true all well-pleaded factual allegations and draws all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party, Montero v. City of Yonkers, New York , 890 F.3d 386, 391 (2d Cir. 2018), but gives "no effect to legal conclusions couched as factual allegations," Stadnick v. Vivint Solar, Inc. , 861 F.3d 31, 35 (2d Cir. 2017) (quoting Starr v. Sony BMG Music Entm't , 592 F.3d 314, 321 (2d Cir. 2010) ).
Summary judgment is appropriate where the record before the court establishes that there is no "genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). There is a genuine dispute as to a material fact "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. , 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) ; accord Nick's Garage, Inc. v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co. , 875 F.3d 107, 113 (2d Cir. 2017) (citations omitted). The court must construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Liberty Lobby , 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505 ; accord Soto v. Gaudett , 862 F.3d 148, 157 (2d Cir. 2017) (citations omitted).
"Under the Supremacy Clause, ‘the Laws of the United States’ are the ‘supreme Law of the Land.’ " Marentette v. Abbott Labs., Inc. , 886 F.3d 112, 117 (2d Cir. 2018) (quoting U.S. CONST. art. VI,...
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Art & Antique Dealers League of Am., Inc. v. Seggos
...the TAC and denied without prejudice to renewal Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. See Art & Antique Dealers League of Am., Inc. v. Seggos , 394 F. Supp. 3d 447, 450 (S.D.N.Y. 2019). The parties have now completed discovery and their cross-motions for summary judgment are now before t......
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Art & Antique Dealers League of Am., Inc. v. Seggos, 18 Civ. 2504 (LGS)
...denied without prejudice to renewal Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. See Art & Antique Dealers League of Am., Inc. v. Seggos, 394 F. Supp. 3d 447, 450 (S.D.N.Y. 2019). The parties have now completed discovery and their cross-motions for summary judgment are now before the Court. II.......