Bellitto v. Snipes

• Citation: 221 F.Supp.3d 1354
• Decision Date: 25 October 2016
• Docket Number: Case No. 16–cv–61474–BLOOM/Valle
• Parties: Andrea BELLITTO and American Civil Rights Union, Plaintiffs, v. Brenda SNIPES, in her official capacity as the Supervisor of Elections of Broward County, Florida, Defendant, v. 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Intervenor Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

221 F.Supp.3d 1354

Andrea BELLITTO and American Civil Rights Union, Plaintiffs,

v.Brenda SNIPES, in her official capacity as the Supervisor of Elections of Broward County, Florida, Defendant,

v.1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Intervenor Defendant.

Case No. 16–cv–61474–BLOOM/Valle

United States District Court, S.D. Florida.

Signed October 25, 2016

Filed October 26, 2016

H. Christopher Coates, J. Christian Adams, Joseph A. Vanderhulst, Public Interest Legal Foundation Plainfield, IN, Mathew Daniel Gutierrez, William Earl Davis, Foley, Lardner LLP, Miami, FL for Plaintiffs.

Alvin Velazquez, Nicole G. Berner, Trisha Pande, Service Employees International Union, Washington, DC, Cameron Bell, Scott Novakowski, Stuart C. Naifeh, Demos, New York, NY, Catherine M. Flanagan, Michelle Kanter Cohen, Project Vote, Washington, DC, Kathleen Marie Phillips, Phillips Richard & Rind, Miami, FL, for Defendant.

ORDER ON MOTIONS TO DISMISS

BETH BLOOM, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Defendant Brenda Snipes's Second Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. [16] ("Defendant's Motion"), and Intervenor Defendant 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East's Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. [36], ("1199SEIU's Motion") (collectively, the "Motions"). The Court has reviewed the Motions, all supporting and opposing filings, the record in this case, and is otherwise fully advised in the premises. For the reasons that follow, Defendant's Motion is granted in part and denied in part, and 1199SEIU's Motion is denied.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff American Civil Rights Union, Inc. ("ACRU") is a non-profit corporation "which promotes election integrity, compliance with federal election laws, government transparency, and constitutional government." ECF No. [12] ¶ 4 ("Amended Complaint"). Plaintiff Andrea Bellitto ("Bellitto") is a registered voter in Broward County and member of the ACRU. See id. ¶ 5. Defendant Brenda Snipes ("Snipes" or "Defendant") is the Supervisor of Elections of Broward County, Florida, and Intervenor Defendant 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East ("1199SEIU") is a labor union that represents approximately 25,000 healthcare workers and an additional 7,400 retired members in the State of Florida. See id. ¶ 6; ECF No. [23] at 6–7.

Plaintiffs ACRU and Bellitto (collectively, "Plaintiffs") initiated these proceedings on June 27, 2016 and filed an Amended Complaint thereafter, bringing two claims against Defendant under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 ("NVRA"), 52 U.S.C. § 20507.¹ In Count I, Plaintiffs claim that Defendant "has failed to make reasonable efforts to conduct voter list maintenance programs, in violation of Section 8 of NVRA, 52 U.S.C. § 20507 and 52 U.S.C. § 21083(a)(2)(A) [Help America Vote Act ("HAVA") ]." Amended Complaint ¶ 28. In Count II, Plaintiffs claim that Defendant "has failed to respond adequately to Plaintiffs' written request for data, failed to produce or otherwise failed to make records available to Plaintiffs concerning Defendant's implementation of programs and activities for ensuring the accuracy and currency of official lists of eligible voters for Broward County, in violation of Section 8 of the NVRA, 52 U.S.C. § 20507(i)." Id. ¶ 33. Plaintiffs seek an order from this Court (1) declaring that Defendant is in violation of Section 8 of the NVRA; (2) ordering Defendant to implement reasonable and effective registration list maintenance programs to cure failures to comply with the NVRA and ensure that non-citizens and ineligible registrants are not on Defendant's rolls; (3) ordering Defendant to substantively respond to Plaintiffs' written request for records concerning her implementation of programs and activities to ensure the accuracy and currency of Broward County's voter registration list and provide access to election records; and (4) additional relief. See id. at 9–10.

Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint on August 18, 2016, moving to dismiss these proceedings in their entirety under Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules. Thereafter, 1199SEIU filed a motion to intervene, which the Court granted. See ECF Nos. [23], [29], [53]. 1199SEIU filed its own Motion to Dismiss on September 21, 2016, moving to dismiss Count I only of the Amended Complaint. Both Motions are now ripe for adjudication. See ECF Nos. [21], [22], [54], [63].

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Rule 12(b)(1)

"Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. They possess only that power authorized by Constitution and statute, which is not to be expanded by judicial decree." Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am. , 511 U.S. 375, 377, 114 S.Ct. 1673, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994) (internal citations omitted). "It is to be presumed that a cause lies outside this limited jurisdiction, and the burden of establishing the contrary rests upon the party asserting jurisdiction." Id. (citing Turner v. Bank of North America , 4 U.S. (4 Dall.) 8, 11, 1 L.Ed. 718 (1799) and McNutt v. General Motors Acceptance Corp. , 298 U.S. 178, 182–183, 56 S.Ct. 780, 80 L.Ed. 1135 (1936) ). A Rule 12(b)(1) motion challenges the district court's subject matter jurisdiction and takes one of two forms: a "facial attack" or a "factual attack." "A ‘facial attack’ on the complaint ‘require[s] the court merely to look and see if [the] plaintiff has sufficiently alleged a basis of subject matter jurisdiction, and the allegations in his complaint are taken as true for the purposes of the motion.’ " McElmurray v. Consol. Gov't of Augusta–Richmond Cnty. , 501 F.3d 1244, 1251 (11th Cir. 2007) (quoting Lawrence v. Dunbar , 919 F.2d 1525, 1529 (11th Cir. 1990) ). "A ‘factual attack,’ on the other hand, challenges the existence of subject matter jurisdiction based on matters outside the pleadings." Kuhlman v. United States , 822 F.Supp.2d 1255, 1256–57 (M.D. Fla. 2011) (citing Lawrence , 919 F.2d at 1529 ); see Stalley ex rel. U.S. v. Orlando Reg'l Healthcare Sys., Inc. , 524 F.3d 1229, 1233 (11th Cir. 2008) ("By contrast, a factual attack on a complaint challenges the existence of subject matter jurisdiction using material extrinsic from the pleadings, such as affidavits or testimony."). "In assessing the propriety of a motion for dismissal under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1), a district court is not limited to an inquiry into undisputed facts; it may hear conflicting evidence and decide for itself the factual issues that determine jurisdiction." Colonial Pipeline Co. v. Collins , 921 F.2d 1237, 1243 (11th Cir. 1991). As such, "[w]hen a defendant properly challenges subject matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1), the district court is free to independently weigh facts and ‘may proceed as it never could under Rule 12(b)(6) or Fed. R. Civ. P. 56.’ " Turcios v. Delicias Hispanas Corp. , 275 Fed.Appx. 879, 880 (11th Cir. 2008) (citing Morrison v. Amway Corp. , 323 F.3d 920, 925 (11th Cir. 2003) ).

B. Rule 12(b)(6)

Rule 8 of the Federal Rules requires that a pleading contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Although a complaint "does not need detailed factual allegations," it must provide "more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ; seeAshcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (explaining that Rule 8(a)(2)'s pleading standard "demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation"). In the same vein, a complaint may not rest on " ‘naked assertion [s]’ devoid of ‘further factual enhancement.’ " Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly , 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (alteration in original)). "Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. These elements are required to survive a motion brought under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requests dismissal for "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted."

When reviewing a motion under Rule 12(b)(6), a court, as a general rule, must accept the plaintiff's allegations as true and evaluate all plausible inferences derived from those facts in favor of the plaintiff. See Chaparro v. Carnival Corp. , 693 F.3d 1333, 1337 (11th Cir. 2012) ; Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Fla. v. S. Everglades Restoration Alliance , 304 F.3d 1076, 1084 (11th Cir. 2002) ; AXA Equitable Life Ins. Co. v. Infinity Fin. Grp., LLC , 608 F.Supp.2d 1349, 1353 (S.D. Fla. 2009). However, this tenet does not apply to legal conclusions, and courts "are not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation." Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ; see Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 ; Thaeter v. Palm Beach Cnty. Sheriff's Office , 449 F.3d 1342, 1352 (11th Cir. 2006). A court considering a Rule 12(b) motion is generally limited to the facts contained in the complaint and attached exhibits, including documents referred to in the complaint that are central to the claim. See Wilchombe v. TeeVee Toons, Inc. , 555 F.3d 949, 959 (11th Cir. 2009) ; Maxcess, Inc. v. Lucent Technologies, Inc. , 433 F.3d 1337, 1340 (11th Cir. 2005) ("[A] document outside the four corners of the complaint may still be considered if it is central to the plaintiff's claims and is undisputed in terms of authenticity.") (citing Horsley v. Feldt , 304 F.3d 1125, 1135 (11th Cir. 2002) ).

"On a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, ‘[t]he moving party bears the burden to show that the complaint should be dismissed.’ " Sprint Sols., Inc. v. Fils–Amie , 44 F.Supp.3d 1224, 1228 (S.D. Fla. 2014) (quoting Mendez–Arriola v. White Wilson Med. Ctr. PA , 2010 WL 3385356, at *3 (N.D. Fla. Aug. 25, 2010) ). "The movant must support its arguments for dismissal with citations to legal authority." Id. (citing...