Club Madonna Inc. v. City of Miami Beach

• Decision Date: 18 May 2023
• Docket Number: 16-25378-CIV-MORE/GOODMAN
• Parties: CLUB MADONNA, INC., Plaintiff, v. CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

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CLUB MADONNA, INC., Plaintiff, v. CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, Defendant.

No. 16-25378-CIV-MORE/GOODMAN

United States District Court, S.D. Florida, Miami Division

May 18, 2023

ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES

JONATHAN GOODMAN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Club Madonna, Inc. (“Club Madonna” or the “Club”), a liquor-free adult club featuring fully-nude female dancers, filed suit against the City of Miami Beach (the “City”). The lawsuit concerns administrative action taken by the City against Club Madonna including an emergency closure of Club Madonna, and a subsequent ordinance (the “Ordinance”) that was enacted after police discovered that a thirteen-year-old girl, who was a sex trafficking victim, was dancing at Club Madonna. Senior United States District Judge Federico A Moreno entered Final Judgment in favor of the City and against Club Madonna on Counts I-XII and XIV-XVI, and in favor of Club Madonna on Count XIII. [ECF No. 170]. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed on all counts. Club Madonna Inc. v. City of Miami Beach, 42 F.4th 1231 (11th Cir. 2022) (hereinafter, “Club Madonna II”).

Following the Eleventh Circuit's decision, the City filed a Motion for Attorneys' Fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b) seeking the fees incurred defending Counts I-VI, VIII-XII, and XIV. [ECF No. 188]. The Club filed a response [ECF No. 192] and the City filed a reply [ECF No. 197]. Judge Moreno referred the matter to the Undersigned to “submit an Order.” [ECF No. 189]. Neither party has objected to the nature or scope of the referral.

For the reasons discussed below, the Undersigned grants in part Defendant's Motion for Attorneys' Fees. As will be explained below, this ruling will require Defendant to resubmit its billing records (to eliminate entries for time incurred on claims not deemed frivolous here) and will also require the parties to engage in an additional conferral.

I. Background and Count Disposition

In the decision affirming this Court's summary judgment ruling, the Eleventh Circuit summarized the factual and procedural background as follows:

The story of this case starts with a tragic set of facts. On January 6, 2014, City law enforcement officers discovered that a thirteen-year-old victim of human trafficking was being forced to dance nude at the Club after she ran away from home and was taken by four adult captors. The City issued an emergency order that suspended the Club's occupational licenses for six months, but it reinstated the licenses after the Club agreed to issue written security standards, hire a Chief Compliance Officer, check at least two forms of identification before letting a performer dance, and maintain records of which performers could dance at the Club.

This detente ended quickly. The Club repeatedly failed to follow its agreement with the City, and the City was not pleased. To put teeth in its regime, the City passed the Ordinance. We previously described the Ordinance's requirements this way:

First, Section 18-913 requires nude dancing establishments such as the Club to check the age and work eligibility of “any worker or performer” by requiring that they “provide proof of an original, lawfully issued state or federal photo identification, and one additional form of identification.” The owner or manager of the establishment must also “[v]erify the accuracy” of the documents by making a “sworn statement ... confirming that the individual performer is at least 18 years of age.” In the same sworn statement, the owner or manager must “[c]onfirm” that the worker is “performing of her or his own accord, and is not being forced or intimidated into performing or working.” Code of the City of Miami Beach § 18-913. Section 18-913 also requires the business to keep a log of workers as they enter and exit the premises and to make all of the required documentation available “for inspection by the city upon demand.” Id.

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Finally, Section 18-915 describes the penalties for failure to comply with the requirements of Sections 18-913.... For a first, second, and third offense within specified time periods, a business shall be fined $5,000, $10,000, and $20,000, respectively. For a second offense within three years, the City will shut down the business for three months. And a third offense allows the City to exercise its discretion to close the business for up to a year. Code of the City of Miami Beach § 18-915. An establishment charged with violating the ordinance has a right to an administrative hearing and may appeal the decision to “a court of competent jurisdiction.” Id.

Club Madonna, Inc. v. City of Miami Beach, 924 F.3d 1370, 1376 (11th Cir. 2019) (hereinafter “Club Madonna I”). Along with verifying that the performer or worker is at least eighteen years old, the Ordinance requires that nude dancing establishments confirm she “[i]s either a U.S. Citizen, legal resident, or otherwise legally permitted to be employed within the United States of America.” Code of the City of Miami Beach § 18-913(1)(b).

II.

Unhappy with this development, the Club sued the City of Miami Beach in the Southern District of Florida on December 30, 2016, challenging the constitutionality of the Ordinance and the City's use of its emergency powers to suspend the Club's business license. In its Complaint, the Club threw the kitchen sink at the Ordinance: It challenged the Ordinance under the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment the Fourteenth Amendment (raising both Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause claims), and the Eighth Amendment, and on Contract Clause and Supremacy Clause grounds. The City moved to dismiss on many grounds (including failure to state a claim, standing, mootness, and ripeness), and the district court granted the City's motion. The Club appealed to this Court, and we affirmed in part and reversed in part, reinstating the Club's First Amendment, unconstitutional tax, Contract Clause, Equal Protection Clause, federal preemption, state preemption, and Fourth Amendment claims because they were ripe for adjudication. Club Madonna I, 924 F.3d at 1383. On remand, the City again moved to dismiss the Club's claims, and after referring them to the magistrate judge, the district court granted the City's motion only for the Club's unconstitutional tax, Equal Protection Clause, Contract Clause, and state preemption claims, leaving the Club's First Amendment (Count VII), federal preemption (Count XIII), and Fourth Amendment (Count XVI) claims to be resolved at summary judgment.

Like the City's renewed Motion to Dismiss, the district court referred the Motion for Summary Judgment to the magistrate judge. The magistrate judge, in his Report and Recommendation (“R&R”), concluded that the Ordinance (1) violated the Club's First Amendment rights because it overburdened the Club's protected speech; (2) violated the Club's Fourth Amendment rights because, although the Club's business fell into the category of a closely regulated industry, the Ordinance's unfettered warrantless-search provision was unnecessary to further the City's interest in preventing human trafficking; and (3) was conflict preempted by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (“IRCA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1324a et seq., because the federal statute excludes independent contractors and casual hires from the requirement that any worker or performer is “legally permitted to be employed within the United States[.]”

After receiving objections to the R&R, the district court ruled on the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment. Although the district court adopted the magistrate judge's findings on the Club's federal preemption claim, the district court declined to adopt his conclusions about the Club's First and Fourth Amendment claims.

The court began by rejecting the R&R's conclusions about the Club's First Amendment claim. First, it determined that the First Amendment did not apply at all because the Ordinance did not target expressive conduct. Citing the Supreme Court's decision in Arcara v. Cloud Books, 478 U.S. 697, 106 S.Ct. 3172, 92 L.Ed.2d 568 (1986), the district court reasoned that since the Ordinance does not single out First Amendment expression, the First Amendment does not apply -- even if the law has incidental effects on the Club's freedom of expression. The court also explained that even if the Ordinance had targeted expressive conduct, it was narrowly tailored and not overly burdensome. The district court concluded that the Ordinance was a reasonable time, place, and manner restriction on the Club's protected activities under the First Amendment.

Second, the trial court also rejected the magistrate judge's determination about the Club's Fourth Amendment claim. For starters, it reasoned that nude dancing clubs are closely regulated for Fourth Amendment purposes because of their history of pervasive regulation. The court also found that the Ordinance's warrantless-search provision was constitutionally reasonable under the administrative-search test the Supreme Court articulated in New York v. Burger, 482 U.S. 691, 702, 107 S.Ct. 2636, 96 L.Ed.2d 601 (1987), because surprise inspections were necessary to ensure the Club complied with the Ordinance, and the certainty and regularity of the Ordinance's application provided an adequate constitutional substitute for a warrant.

Finally, the district court concluded that the requirement the Club verify that the performer or worker is a “U.S. Citizen, legal resident, or otherwise legally permitted to be employed within the United States of America” is conflict preempted under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The district court reasoned that Congress deliberately intended to exempt casual hires and independent contractors from the IRCA, so the City could not

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