An UnInc. Ass'n v. City Of San Antonio

• Citation: 619 F.3d 346
• Decision Date: 08 September 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-50692.,09-50692.
• Parties: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY MARCH PLANNING COMMITTEE, an unincorporated association; San Antonio Free Speech Coalition, an unincorporated association, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, Phil Hardberger, in his Official Capacity as Mayor of the City of San Antonio; Sheryl L. Sculley, in her Official Capacity as City Manager of the City of San Antonio; William P. McManus, in his Official Capacity as Chief of Police of the City of San Antonio; The Ten Individual Council Members, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

619 F.3d 346

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY MARCH PLANNING COMMITTEE, an unincorporated association; San Antonio Free Speech Coalition, an unincorporated association, Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v.CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, Phil Hardberger, in his Official Capacity as Mayor of the City of San Antonio; Sheryl L. Sculley, in her Official Capacity as City Manager of the City of San Antonio; William P. McManus, in his Official Capacity as Chief of Police of the City of San Antonio; The Ten Individual Council Members, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 09-50692.

United States Court of Appeals,Fifth Circuit.

Sept. 8, 2010.

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Amy Hilsman Kastely (argued), St. Mary's University School of Law, San Antonio, TX, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Deborah Lynne Klein (argued), San Antonio, TX, for Defendants-Appellees.

Lisa S. Graybill, Austin, TX, for Amicus Curiae, ACLU Found. of Texas.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Before BENAVIDES, STEWART and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.

BENAVIDES, Circuit Judge:

The City of San Antonio imposes fees on the organizers of marches on its streets, as a means of ensuring that march organizers pay for the expense of providing traffic control and cleanup for these events. See San Antonio, Tex., Code ch. 19, art. XVII, § 19-636(b) (2010). The plaintiffs in this case, the International Women's Day March Planning Committee (“Committee”) and the San Antonio Free Speech Coalition (“Coalition”), assert that the assessment of these fees violates the First Amendment in several respects. San Antonio selectively exempts certain events from payment of these fees, and the plaintiffs challenge these exemptions on a number of grounds. Also, the plaintiffs assert that San Antonio does not sufficiently constrain the authority of its police department to determine the amount of these fees. They further protest that San Antonio lacks adequate venues for expression unburdened by fees. Finding these claims without support, at least on the basis of the record before us, we affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of San Antonio.

I.

On November 29, 2007, San Antonio repealed the ordinance that had regulated processions and similar activities on its streets since 1988, ¹ see San Antonio, Tex., Ordinance 66526 (Feb. 4, 1988) (the “1988 ordinance”), and replaced it with a new procession ordinance. See San Antonio, Tex., Ordinance 2007-11-29-1193 (Nov. 29, 2007) (the “2007 ordinance”). Shortly thereafter, the plaintiffs filed the present lawsuit against San Antonio under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, challenging the 2007 ordinance's constitutionality. The Coalition is a group of organizations and individuals who periodically hold street marches in San Antonio concerning various political issues. Its co-plaintiff, the Committee, organizes the annual International Women's Day March in San Antonio, the purpose of which is to express solidarity with all women and to educate participants and the general public about issues affecting women in San Antonio and around the world. In their complaint, the plaintiffs asserted that the 2007 ordinance violated their right to freedom of speech under the U.S. Constitution. ² As such, they asked the district court to permanently enjoin enforcement of the 2007 ordinance. Additionally, since the Committee was planning to hold its annual parade on March 8, 2008, the plaintiffs also sought a preliminary injunction barring enforcement while this case was pending. Later, the plaintiffs also amended their complaint to add claims challenging San Antonio's interpretation and application of its repealed 1988 ordinance.

Several months after the plaintiffs filed this lawsuit, on February 21, 2008, the district court issued a preliminary injunction, as it found that there was a substantial likelihood that certain aspects of the 2007 ordinance were unconstitutional. First, relying on the Supreme Court's decision in Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement, the district court expressed concern that the 2007 ordinance granted the San Antonio Police Department (“SAPD”) excessive discretion in assessing fees to permit applicants to recoup traffic control expenses. 505 U.S. 123, 130, 112 S.Ct. 2395, 120 L.Ed.2d 101 (1992). Specifically, the court found excessive discretion because the SAPD had no internal written policy guiding its decisionmaking. The court was also troubled that the appeals process established for the permit scheme did not clearly authorize challenges to the amount of fees imposed by the SAPD. Second, following Forsyth County's holding that “[s]peech cannot be financially burdened ... simply because it might offend a hostile mob,” id. at 134-35, 112 S.Ct. 2395, the court disapproved of language in the 2007 ordinance suggesting that procession organizers could be charged for the cost of providing for “the safety of the event participants and the general public.” Ordinance 2007-11-29-1193, § 3, § 19-636(B). Third, following our decision in Knowles v. City of Waco, the court held that the 2007 ordinance's exemption of funeral processions and government agencies from its permit scheme was improper, as it called into question whether the permit scheme was narrowly tailored to meet its purported goal of promoting traffic safety. 462 F.3d 430, 436-37 (5th Cir.2006).

Although the district court thought it likely that the plaintiffs would prevail on these claims, it also rejected many of the plaintiffs' other challenges to the 2007 ordinance. For example, the court rejected the plaintiffs' argument that the ordinance's waiver of fees for certain events demonstrated that the City was impermissibly engaging in viewpoint or content discrimination. However, the district court enjoined San Antonio from enforcing the unconstitutional aspects of the 2007 ordinance, thereby forbidding the City from assessing fees to permit holders for traffic control and cleanup costs. ³

Subsequently, on March 8, 2008, while the injunction was in place, the Committee held the International Women's Day March in downtown San Antonio. Five days later, on March 13, the San Antonio City Council amended the procession ordinance, making several changes addressing the district court's concerns. See San Antonio, Tex., Ordinance 2008-03-13-0201 (Mar. 13, 2008) (the “2008 ordinance”). The permit scheme was amended to (i) describe in greater detail how the SAPD should determine the number of traffic control personnel and devices needed for a procession, see id. § 1, § 19-630(12), § 19-636(C), (ii) create an appeals process to allow permit holders to challenge the fees assessed for their procession, see id. § 1, § 19-636(C), (iii) provide that “[a]ny additional costs for police personnel deemed necessary to provide security due to the nature of the event will not be assessed to the permit holder,” see id., (iv) bring funeral processions and the activities of government agencies under the ordinance, see id. § 1, § 19-632, and (v) require the chief of police to develop a “written Standard Operating Procedure for issuance of permits and assessments of traffic control costs.” See id. § 1, § 19-636(C). Approximately three months later, on June 18, the SAPD released Procedure 214, a thirteen-page document providing additional guidance to officers regarding San Antonio's permit scheme. See San Antonio Police Dep't, Standard Operating Procedure No. 214, Processions (Parades, Runs, Walks and Cycling Events) (2008).

Several days later, the City filed a motion seeking to lift the preliminary injunction. The plaintiffs then filed an amended complaint, challenging the 2008 ordinance, and the City countered by filing a motion seeking summary judgment on all claims raised by the plaintiffs. Eventually, on March 31, 2009, the district court lifted the preliminary injunction, having concluded that the City Council's 2008 amendments had addressed its concerns with San Antonio's permit scheme for processions. Finally, three months later, the court granted summary judgment for the City in a brief order, again suggesting that the City's amendments had cured any constitutional infirmities the 2008 ordinance may once have had. The plaintiffs now appeal the grant of summary judgment in favor of San Antonio.

II.

Before proceeding further, it is necessary to review the contours of San Antonio's current permit scheme for processions. See Ch. 19, art. XVII. The 2008 ordinance mandates that “[n]o person shall organize any procession without having first obtained a procession permit,” id. § 19-631, and defines a “procession” as being “a group of persons moving along, by whatever means, in an orderly, formal manner on any street, alley, or public thoroughfare from a point of origin to a point of termination.” Id. § 19-630. ⁴ Individuals can obtain permits by submitting an application describing the planned event and an application fee of $75 to the SAPD. Id. § 19-633(a), (e), (f). ⁵

In addition to paying the application fee, after a permitted event, permit holders must reimburse the City for the cost of “[c]leaning up the procession route” and the cost of any “personnel” and “devices” needed to control traffic during the procession. Id. § 19-636(b). Before each procession, the SAPD approves a traffic control plan and determines “the number of peace officers and traffic control devices reasonably necessary to control traffic in the area of the requested procession,” based on a variety of factors listed in the 2008 ordinance and Procedure 214. Id. § 19-636(c); Procedure No. 214 at 4-5. When relevant, we will describe these factors in greater detail below. After each procession, permit holders receive an invoice within fifteen days of their procession, and payment must be made during the thirty days following their procession. Ch. 19, art. XVII, § 19-636(c). ⁶ Another relevant feature of the 2008 ordinance is that it provides for the subsidization of certain...