Caudell v. City of Toccoa
| Decision Date | 26 July 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 2:01-CV-105-WCO.,2:01-CV-105-WCO. |
| Parties | R. Elliott CAUDELL, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF TOCCOA, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia |
O'KELLEY, Senior District Judge.
The instant case is presently before the court for consideration of plaintiff's verified petition for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief [1-1] and his motion for a preliminary injunction pursuant to Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure [2-1]. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 65. Plaintiff contests the validity, under state and federal law, of Act No. 163 of the 2001 Session of the Georgia General Assembly. See 2001 Ga.Laws 163. Act No. 163 amended the municipal charter of the City of Toccoa, Georgia to prohibit "[a]ny member of the city commission elected for a term of office which commences on or after January 1, 2002 ... [from] serv[ing] simultaneously as a member of the board of any hospital authority." 2001 Ga.Laws 163.
Plaintiff commenced the instant action on June 14, 2001, requesting declaratory and injunctive relief against the enforcement of Act No. 163 by defendant on grounds that the Act violates (A) Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C. § 1973c (2001); (B) the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I of the Georgia Constitution, see U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1; Ga. Const. art. I, § 1, para. 2; (C) the right to freedom of association under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I of the Georgia Constitution, see U.S. Const. amend. I; Ga. Const. art. I, § 1, para. 9; (D) the Bill of Attainder Clause of the United States Constitution and the Georgia Constitution, see U.S. Const. art. I, § 10, cl. 1; Ga. Const. art. I, § 1, para. 10; and (E) provisions of the Georgia Constitution and Georgia Code prohibiting local or special legislation on matters previously addressed through general legislation. See Ga. Const. art. III, § 6, para. 4(a); O .C.G.A. § 36-35-7; § 36-35-3 (2001). Plaintiff articulated his constitutional claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which provides for a federal civil remedy against any "person" who, acting under color of state law, deprives another person of their constitutional rights. See 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2001).
On the same day he filed his verified petition, plaintiff filed an accompanying motion for a preliminary injunction [2-1] and, as required under Georgia law, plaintiff notified the Attorney General of the State of Georgia of his constitutional attack on Act No. 163 [Ex. 10]. See O.C.G.A. § 9-4-7(c) (2001). Pursuant to Rule 65(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, this court accelerated resolution of plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction, setting the matter for an evidentiary hearing on July 12, 2001[3-1]. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(a)(2). At said hearing both parties agreed that a jury trial was unwarranted. This court thus consolidated resolution of plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction with a trial of the action on the merits on July 12, 2001, pursuant to Rule 65(a)(2). See Fed. R.Civ.P. 65(a)(2). Before this court on July 12, 2001, defendant did not contest any of plaintiff's substantive factual allegations. The following factual background is therefore undisputed.1
In March of 2001, the Georgia legislature approved Act No. 162 and Act No. 163, see 2001 Ga.Laws 162; 2001 Ga.Laws 163, which Georgia Governor Roy E. Barnes signed into law on April 16, 2001 [Pl.'s Pet.Decl.J. & Inj.Relief.Ex. 2 at 2; Ex. 3 at 2]. Act No. 163 amended Section 3 of Toccoa, Georgia's municipal charter, changing the eligibility requirements for serving on the Toccoa City Commission ("City Commission") [Pl.'s Pet.Ex. 3 at 3]. Act No. 162 made virtually identical changes to the qualifications for service on the Board of Commissioners of Stephens County, the county in which Toccoa is located [Pl.'s Pet.Ex. 2 at 3]. Specifically, Act No. 163 provided that "[a]ny member of the city commission elected for a term of office which commences on or after January 1, 2002 shall not be authorized to serve simultaneously as a member of the board of any hospital authority." 2001 Ga.Laws 163. Prior to the enactment of Act No. 163, Toccoa's charter conditioned candidacy for the City Commission on the satisfaction of only one requirement: "[e]ach commissioner shall have been a citizen of the City of Toccoa for at least one year next preceding his election and qualification" [Pl.'s Pet.Ex. 1 at 3 (Toccoa, Ga., Charter § 2) ].
Plaintiff, a lifetime resident of Stephens County, has served continuously on the Stephens County Hospital Authority ("Hospital Authority") since 1978, and on the City Commission since March of 2000 [Pl.'s Pet. at 3-4]. Further, plaintiff intends to seek re-election to his position on the City Commission, a term that would begin on January 1, 2001 [Pl.'s Pet. at 4-5]. To be eligible to run in the November 2002 election, plaintiff must qualify by September 14, 2001 [Pl.'s Pet. at 5].
Despite having served simultaneously on the Hospital Authority and the City Commission for the past sixteen months, Act No. 163 forces plaintiff to resign from the Hospital Authority in order to run for re-election to the City Commission, or to forego such re-election in order to remain on the Hospital Authority. Plaintiff is the only person in the entire State of Georgia so affected by Act No. 163; in fact, he is the only person to hold both offices simultaneously in Stephens County in nearly a quarter of a century [Pl.'s Pet. at 5]. Moreover, concurrent service on both the Hospital Authority and the City Commission does not give rise to conflicts of interest, because the City of Toccoa and the hospital do not engage in joint business activities other than the provision of water and sewer services to the hospital.2 Lastly, plaintiff did not engage in any illegal or unethical activities warranting the enactment of Act No. 163.3
The following facts pertaining to the introduction and passage of Act No. 163 are likewise undisputed: Representative Jeannette Jamieson of the 22nd District of the Georgia House of Representatives, which includes Stephens County, has been personally acquainted with plaintiff for forty years.4 During the 2001 session, Jamieson introduced an earlier, state-wide version of Act No. 163 to the Georgia legislature [Pl.'s Pet. at 5]. The measure received little support, so Jamieson introduced Act No. 162 and Act No. 163, which essentially confined the earlier legislation to the City of Toccoa and Stephens County [Pl.'s Pet. at 5]. Prior to doing so, however, Jamieson did not notify the City Commission of her intention as required under Georgia law [Pl.'s Pet. at 5]. See O .C.G.A. § 28-1-14(b).5 Jamieson also departed from the traditional practice of consulting with the City Commission before introducing local legislation to the General Assembly,6 and from her own practice of requiring both a written letter from the City Commission and a legal opinion before introducing any such legislation.7 Further, Jamieson appears to have ignored requests from the City Commission to review and approve such legislation prior to its introduction to the legislature [Ex. 3; Ex. 4], and neither Jamieson nor any other member of the Georgia legislature submitted Act No. 163 for prior approval from the Attorney General of the United States pursuant to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U .S.C. § 1973c (2001) [Ex. 9].
Under Georgia law, where "a statute of the state, any order or regulation of any administrative body of the state ... is alleged to be unconstitutional, the Attorney General of the state shall be served with a copy of the proceeding and shall be entitled to be heard." O.C.G.A. § 9-4-7(c) (2001). Having attacked the constitutionality of Act No. 163 under state and federal law, plaintiff properly notified Georgia Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker of the instant proceedings, and provided copies of the relevant pleadings on June 20, 2001 [Ex. 10] and June 27, 2001 [Ex. 11]. Despite such notification, the Attorney General has not participated in these proceedings in any way, nor has he in any way defended the validity of Act No. 163.
To articulate a cognizable claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, "plaintiff must show that a person, acting under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, deprived him of a right, privilege, or immunity secured by the Constitution." Nat'l Abortion Fed'n v. Metro. Atlanta Rapid Transit Auth., 112 F.Supp.2d 1320, 1328 (N.D.Ga.2000). Plaintiff's § 1983 claims are rooted in alleged violations, by defendant City of Toccoa, of plaintiff's rights under the Equal Protection Clause, the First Amendment, and the Bill of Attainder Clause of the United States Constitution [1-1]. See U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1; U.S. Const. amend. I; U.S. Const. art. I, § 10, cl. 1. These violations stem from defendant's enforcement of Act No. 163, thus defendant may fairly be characterized as "acting under color" of state law. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2001). Further, it is well established that municipalities and other bodies of local government are "persons" subject to suit under § 1983. See City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik, 485 U.S. 112, 121, 108 S.Ct. 915, 99 L.Ed.2d 107 (1988); Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 690, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978).
Pursuant to § 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C....
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