Broyles v. Texas

• Decision Date: 02 July 2009
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. H-08-02320.
• Citation: 643 F.Supp.2d 894
• Parties: David K. BROYLES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. State of TEXAS, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas

643 F.Supp.2d 894

David K. BROYLES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. State of TEXAS, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. H-08-02320.

United States District Court, S.D. Texas, Houston Division.

July 2, 2009.

Robert L. Bernard, Attorney at Law, Fulshear, TX, for Plaintiffs.

Timothy Earl Bray, Office of the Attorney General, Austin, TX, Joe Wilson Cox, Office of Ft. Bend Co. Attorney, Mary Elizabeth Reveles, Randall Weaver Morse, Richmond, TX, James J. McConn, Jr., Michael M. Gallagher, Hays McConn Rice and Pickering, John Joseph Hightower, Scott Bounds, Olson & Olson, Houston, TX, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

LEE H. ROSENTHAL, District Judge.

The plaintiffs are residents and nonresident property owners in the City of Weston Oaks,¹ a gated community in Fort Bend County, Texas. They sued the State of Texas, Fort Bend County, the Weston Lakes Property Owners' Association ("WLPOA") and its individual trustees, the Weston Lakes Community Incorporation Project Committee (the "Incorporation Committee"), and the Citizens' Committee for the Incorporation of Weston Lakes ("Citizens' PAC"). The plaintiffs also sued Clifton Aldrich, the chairman of the Incorporation Committee and the Citizens' PAC. The plaintiffs' suit raised constitutional and federal and state statutory challenges to a municipal incorporation election held on May 10, 2008, in which the community of Weston Lakes and certain adjacent land were converted into a Type B General-Law Municipality called the City of Weston Lakes. On March 31, 2009, this court dismissed the constitutional and federal statutory claims with prejudice, denied the plaintiffs' motion for declaratory and injunctive relief, and dismissed the state statutory claims without prejudice to refiling in state court. This court ordered the parties to identify any remaining issues or file a proposed order of dismissal.

No party has identified any remaining issues that this court must address. The plaintiffs, however, have moved for reconsideration of certain portions of this court's order. Some of the defendants have moved for attorneys' fees.

The following motions are pending:

• The plaintiffs have moved for reconsideration of this court's dismissal of their motion for a declaratory judgment that section 7.006 of the Texas Election Code is unconstitutional. (Docket Entry Nos. 34, 47). The plaintiffs also seek oral argument on their reconsideration motion. The State of Texas has responded, (Docket Entry No. 35), and the plaintiffs have replied, (Docket Entry No. 40, 47).

• The plaintiffs have moved for reconsideration of this court's dismissal of their claim that Fort Bend County violated 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by failing to provide adequate training and supervision to election judges, and that the Incorporation Committee, the Citizens' PAC, and Aldrich violated § 1983 by promoting the incorporation of Weston Lakes. (Docket Entry No. 47). The plaintiffs also contend that this court improperly applied the proper standard for dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) as articulated in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).

• Fort Bend County, the WLPOA and its trustees, the Incorporation Committee, the Citizens' PAC, and Clifton Aldrich have moved for an award of attorneys' fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. (Docket Entry Nos. 36, 38, 39). The plaintiffs have responded, opposing the motions and requesting an evidentiary hearing. (Docket Entry Nos. 44, 47). The WLPOA and its trustees, the Citizens' PAC, and Aldrich have replied.

Based on the motions, responses, and replies, the record, and the applicable law, this court denies the motions for reconsideration and oral argument. Final judgment is separately entered. The fee motions will be addressed in a separate memorandum and opinion.

The reasons for these rulings are explained below.

I. The Motions for Reconsideration

The plaintiffs seek reconsideration of this court's denial of their motion for a declaratory judgment that Texas Local Government Code § 7.006 is unconstitutional. The State of Texas opposes this motion.

The plaintiffs also seek reconsideration of this court's dismissal of their claims that Fort Bend County violated 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by failing to provide adequate training and supervision to municipal election judges, and that the Incorporation Committee, the Citizens' PAC, and Aldrich violated § 1983 by pursuing and advocating for the municipal election. The plaintiffs contend that this court misapplied the standard set out in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) in dismissing the § 1983 claims. Fort Bend County, the Incorporation Committee, the Citizens' PAC, and Aldrich oppose this motion.

A. The Legal Standard

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not specifically provide for motions for reconsideration. Shepherd v. Int'l Paper Co., 372 F.3d 326, 328 (5th Cir.2004); see also St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co. v. Fair Grounds Corp., 123 F.3d 336, 339 (5th Cir.1997). Reconsideration motions are generally analyzed under the standards for a motion to alter or amend judgment under Rule 59(e) or a motion for relief from a judgment or order under Rule 60(b). Hamilton Plaintiffs v. Williams Plaintiffs, 147 F.3d 367, 371 n. 10 (5th Cir.1998). If a motion for reconsideration is filed within ten days of the judgment or order of which the party complains, it is considered a Rule 59(e) motion; otherwise, it is treated as a Rule 60(b) motion. Id. (internal citations omitted); see also Lavespere v. Niagara Machine & Tool Works, Inc., 910 F.2d 167, 173 (5th Cir.1990) ("Under which Rule the motion falls turns on the time at which the motion is served. If the motion is served within ten days of the rendition of judgment, the motion falls under Rule 59(e); if it is served after that time, it falls under Rule 60(b)."), abrogated on other grounds by Little v. Liquid Air Corp., 37 F.3d 1069 (5th Cir.1994) (en banc). Final judgment has not yet been entered in this case, so Rule 59(e) applies.

A Rule 59(e) motion "calls into question the correctness of a judgment." Templet v. Hydrochem Inc., 367 F.3d 473, 478-79 (5th Cir.2004) (citing In re Transtexas Gas Corp., 303 F.3d 571, 581 (5th Cir.2002)). "A motion to alter or amend the judgment under Rule 59(e) `must clearly establish either a manifest error of law or fact or must present newly discovered evidence' and `cannot be used to raise arguments which could, and should, have been made before the judgment issued.'" Rosenzweig v. Azurix Corp., 332 F.3d 854, 863-64 (5th Cir.2003) (quoting Simon v. United States, 891 F.2d 1154, 1159 (5th Cir.1990)). Relief is also appropriate when there has been an intervening change in the controlling law. Schiller v. Phys. Res. Group Inc., 342 F.3d 563, 567 (5th Cir. 2003). Rule 59(e) "may not be used to relitigate old matters, or to raise arguments or present evidence that could have been raised prior to the entry of judgment." Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 2605, 2617 n. 5, 171 L.Ed.2d 570 (2008) (quoting 11 CHARLES A. WRIGHT, ARTHUR R. MILLER & MARY KAY KANE, FEDERAL PRACTICE & PROCEDURE § 2810.1, at 127-28 (2d ed. 1995)). "A Rule 59(e) motion is not a `vehicle for rehashing evidence, legal theories, or arguments that could have been offered or raised before the entry of judgment' but instead has a `narrow purpose of allowing a party to correct manifest errors of law or fact or to present newly discovered evidence.'" Baldwin v. Layton, 300 Fed. Appx. 321, 323-24 (5th Cir.2008) (quoting Templet, 367 F.3d at 479 (5th Cir.2004)).

B. The Challenge to Texas Local Government Code § 7.006

The plaintiffs seek reconsideration of this court's denial of their application for a declaratory judgment that Texas Local Government Code § 7.006 is unconstitutional because it permits only "qualified voter[s] who reside within the boundaries of the proposed municipality" to vote on incorporation, to the exclusion of nonresidents who own property within the boundaries of the proposed municipality.² This court denied the plaintiffs' motion based on the firmly established law that "a government unit may legitimately restrict the right to participate in its political processes to those who reside within its borders" and that such a restriction does not violate the Equal Protection or Due Process Clauses. See Holt Civic Club v. City of Tuscaloosa, 439 U.S. 60, 68-69, 99 S.Ct. 383, 58 L.Ed.2d 292 (1978). This court noted the voluminous and long-established case law supporting this rule.³ This court also noted that the plaintiffs had cited no case supporting their argument that nonresident property owners have a federal constitutional right to vote in a municipal election. On motion for reconsideration, the plaintiffs do not dispute that the case law precedent firmly contradicts their position. They still cite no case to support their argument. Instead, they generally urge this court to reject firmly-established precedent, arguing that "[c]onstitutional interpretations and precedents are not forever carved in memorial" and that the Constitution should be interpreted as providing nonresident property owners a fundamental right to vote in municipal elections. (Docket Entry No. 34 at 4-5). A Rule 59(e) motion is not an appropriate vehicle for raising arguments that could have been raised before the court decides a claim. The plaintiffs do not identify any new argument or any argument that they could not have presented in their initial briefing. New arguments would also be futile. This court cannot simply ignore or reject binding precedent with no basis to distinguish it. As noted in the Memorandum and Order, the proper body to hear the plaintiffs' grievance about the exclusion under § 7.006 of nonresident property owners from municipal...