City of Herriman v. Bell

• Decision Date: 07 January 2010
• Docket Number: No. 08-4075.,No. 08-4056.,08-4056.,08-4075.
• Citation: 590 F.3d 1176
• Parties: CITY OF HERRIMAN, a municipality; James Lynn Crane, an individual, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Ryan Carter, an individual, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Marianne Carter, an individual, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated; Brett Wood, an individual, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Tamara Wood, an individual, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated; Christopher Brems, an individual, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Danielle Brems, an individual, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated; Jack D. Duffy, Guardian of C.D., a minor and disabled person on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, Plaintiff-Appellants/Cross-Appellees, v. Greg BELL, as Lieutenant Governor of the State of Utah,<SMALL><SUP>*</SUP></SMALL> Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant, and Sherrie Swensen, as Salt Lake County Clerk, Defendant-Appellee. and City of Cottonwood Heights, Sandy City, Draper City, and City of Midvale, Intervenors-Defendants/Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

590 F.3d 1176

CITY OF HERRIMAN, a municipality; James Lynn Crane, an individual, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Ryan Carter, an individual, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Marianne Carter, an individual, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated; Brett Wood, an individual, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Tamara Wood, an individual, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated; Christopher Brems, an individual, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated; Danielle Brems, an individual, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated; Jack D. Duffy, Guardian of C.D., a minor and disabled person on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, Plaintiff-Appellants/Cross-Appellees, v. Greg BELL, as Lieutenant Governor of the State of Utah,^* Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant, and Sherrie Swensen, as Salt Lake County Clerk, Defendant-Appellee. and City of Cottonwood Heights, Sandy City, Draper City, and City of Midvale, Intervenors-Defendants/Appellees.

No. 08-4056.

No. 08-4075.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

January 7, 2010.

Blake T. Ostler, Mackey Price Thompson & Ostler, Salt Lake City, UT, (with Jeffrey R. Olsen, Mackey Price Thompson & Ostler, Salt Lake City, UT, on the Reply Brief, and Catherine L. Brabson and John N. Brems, Parsons Kinghorn Harris, Salt Lake City, UT, on the Opening Brief), for Appellants/Cross-Appellees.

Jeffrey L. Shields, Callister Nebeker & McCullough, Salt Lake City, UT, for Intervenors-Defendants/Appellees, and Brent A. Burnett, Assistant Utah Attorney General, Salt Lake City, UT, for Defendant-Appellee and Cross-Appellant Greg Bell (with Thom D. Roberts, Assistant Utah Attorney General; and Mark L. Shurtleff, Utah Attorney General, Salt Lake City, UT, for Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant Bell, T.J. Tsakalos and David H.T. Wayment, Deputy District Attorneys, Salt Lake City, UT, for Defendant-Appellee Swensen, and Zachary T. Shields and Michael D. Stanger, Callister Nebeker & McCullough, Salt Lake City, UT, for Intervenors-Defendants/Appellees) for Defendants-Appellees, Cross-Appellants, and Intervenors-Defendants/Appellees.

Before TACHA, MURPHY, and TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judges.

TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judge.

This case presents an equal protection challenge to a Utah statute that allows cities, through an election open only to residents in the proposed new district, to detach from an existing school district.

The Appellants in this case were excluded from voting in an election that reduced the size of their existing school district because they were outside the proposed new district's boundaries. They argue Utah's detachment law violates their Fourteenth Amendment equal protection rights since they have a substantial interest in the new school district's configuration and boundaries. In a summary judgment ruling dismissing the equal protection claim, the district court concluded the school district detachment statute advances legitimate state policies and therefore withstands rational basis review.

After considering Utah's statute and the applicable equal protection principles, we agree with the district court that rational basis review applies and the Utah statute bears a rational relationship to legitimate state purposes. The electoral scheme furthers, among other things, the state's interests in promoting local control of public school districts by extending the franchise only to those voters who will reside in the new district.

Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we AFFIRM.

I. Background

Utah law provides three ways to initiate the process of creating a new school district: (1) through a citizen initiative petition; (2) at the request of the board of the existing or future districts; or (3) at the request of a city or group of cities within the boundaries of an existing school district. See Utah Code Ann. § 53A-2-118(2)(a).

Initiating the creation of a new school district under either of the first two methods—citizen initiative or school board action—puts the issue before all legal voters in the existing school district. See id. § 53A-2-118(4)(d)(i). But initiating the creation of a new school district under the third method puts the issue before only residents within the proposed new school district's boundaries. See id. § 53A-2-118(5)(a)(i).

In 2007, several cities¹ (Intervenors) within the Jordan School District entered into an interlocal agreement to detach from the district. At the time, the Jordan School District was one of the forty largest in the country and served a substantial portion of Salt Lake County. The proposed new district, which would contain approximately forty-three percent of the then-existing Jordan School District's student population, would encompass the cities predominately in the eastern part of the Jordan School District as well as a small portion of a neighboring school district. The Intervenors initiated the detachment process using the third method Utah law provides. See id. § 53A-2-118(2)(a)(iii). Thus, only residents in the proposed new district would vote in the election.²

Shortly before the scheduled election, a number of voters residing within the Jordan School District, but outside of the proposed new district, sought injunctive relief in federal court against the Lieutenant Governor of Utah, at that time Gary R. Herbert, and the Salt Lake County Clerk, Sherrie Swensen. They claimed this exclusion from voting violated equal protection principles.³ Herriman City, also located in the Jordan School District, but outside the proposed new district, joined the suit as well.

The district court denied the injunction request after concluding Herriman City and the excluded voters failed to show a reasonable likelihood of succeeding on the merits with their claim that the Utah statutory scheme violated equal protection. See Herriman City v. Swensen, 521 F.Supp.2d 1233 (D.Utah 2007). The election occurred as scheduled in November 2007, and residents of the proposed new school district voted to create the district. The cities in the new district and the remaining Jordan School District then began the process of detaching and creating the new school district as Utah law prescribes.

The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment in January 2008. After briefing and oral argument, the district court, among other things, granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants on both the facial and as-applied equal protection challenges to the detachment statute. See Herriman City v. Swensen, No. 2:07-CV-711 TS, 2008 WL 723725 (D.Utah Mar. 14, 2008).

On appeal, the excluded voters make two equal protection arguments: (1) the district court erred in applying rational basis review to the detachment statute instead of strict scrutiny, and (2) even if rational basis review was appropriate, the detachment statute would nevertheless fail to pass constitutional muster.⁴

The crux of the voters' equal protection argument is that while a state may limit local voting rights to residents in a particular electoral district, strict scrutiny review applies when the state defines that particular district so as to exclude voters who are "substantially interested in and affected by" the election at issue. Aplt. Br. at 15, 31. Utah's detachment statute, they assert, excludes voters in precisely this way.

To demonstrate they were substantially interested in and affected by the election from which they were excluded, the voters marshal evidence detailing the detachment's impact—most notably the financial consequences they will experience because of the split. These include both short— and long-term property tax increases, an abiding property tax disparity with the detaching school district, debt servicing obligations, and approximately $40.5 million in division costs (as opposed to $25.8 million for the new district). On top of these financial costs lie significant logistical and administrative burdens, including appointing a transition team, allocating property between the districts, and transferring educators and personnel. See Utah Code Ann. § 53A-2-118.1(3)-(4). Finally, the detachment affects the Jordan School District's self-governance in the short term—the district must hold elections for its new school board as a result of the separation, see id. § 53A-2-118.1(3)— as well as in the long term.

Citing these facts and relying on the Supreme Court's equal protection case law, the voters claim their inability to vote under the detachment statute results from an impermissible voting restriction. Strict scrutiny review should therefore apply to strike down the statutory scheme, they argue, and the district court erred in failing to apply the heightened standard.

For the reasons discussed below, we disagree.

II. Analysis

We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, "applying the same legal standard used by the district court." Somoza v. Univ. of Denver, 513 F.3d 1206, 1211 (10th Cir.2008). Summary judgment is appropriate if "there is no genuine issue of material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We examine the factual record and draw all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See Somoza, 513 F.3d at 1210.

A. Standing and Justiciability Issues

Before reaching the merits of the excluded voters' equal protection claims, we must first address several preliminary jurisdictional matters, including mootness and standing.

1. Mootness

Our Article III case-or-controversy requirement continues through all stages of federal judicial proceedings. "[I]t is not enough that a dispute was very much alive when suit was filed." Lewis v. Cont'l Bank Corp., 494 U.S. 472, 477, 110 S.Ct. 1249, 108 L.Ed.2d 400 (1990). Pointing to this rule, the detaching cities argue the equal protection issue here is now moot and this case is no longer...