Doe v. County of Montgomery, Ill.

• Decision Date: 05 December 1994
• Docket Number: No. 94-1981,94-1981
• Citation: 41 F.3d 1156
• Parties: Jane DOE, Richard Roe, and Edward T. Stein, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The COUNTY OF MONTGOMERY, ILLINOIS, a body politic and corporate, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 1156

41 F.3d 1156

63 USLW 2397

Jane DOE, Richard Roe, and Edward T. Stein, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The COUNTY OF MONTGOMERY, ILLINOIS, a body politic and corporate, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 94-1981.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Oct. 31, 1994.

Decided Dec. 5, 1994.

E. Glenn Rippie, F. Thomas Hecht (argued), James M. Falvey, Hopkins & Sutter, Chicago, IL, Donald M. Craven, Springfield, IL, Harvey M. Grossman, Jane M. Whicher, Roger Baldwin Foundation of A.C.L.U., Inc., Chicago, IL, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Kathryn Ann Slepicka Dobrinic (argued), Montgomery County State's Atty., Hillsboro, IL, for defendant-appellee.

Before BAUER, KANNE and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

BAUER, Circuit Judge.

This appeal presents the question of whether plaintiffs Jane Doe, Richard Roe, and Edward T. Stein have standing to challenge the constitutionality of a sign over the main entrance to the Montgomery County Courthouse in Hillsboro, Illinois which states, "THE WORLD NEEDS GOD." The district court concluded that the plaintiffs had failed to allege sufficient facts to establish their standing and granted defendant Montgomery County's motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and (6). We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

I.

The plaintiffs' complaint alleges the following facts. The Montgomery County Courthouse, which is located in Hillsboro, Illinois, is the seat of county government for Montgomery County (the "County"). The courthouse contains offices of the State's Attorney, County Clerk, County Treasurer and Sheriff, and courtrooms for the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois. The courthouse also serves as a meeting place of the County Board and as a place of voter registration and other government functions.

A permanent metal sign is displayed over the main and most prominent entrance to the courthouse which states, "THE WORLD NEEDS GOD." There are several other entrances to the courthouse. The sign is at least ten feet long and approximately one and one-half feet high with lettering approximately one foot high. Its message is visible within several hundred feet. The sign was placed on the courthouse in 1935 or 1936 by the Federated Women's Bible Club (which is now defunct) with the approval of the County Board.

Plaintiffs Jane Doe and Richard Roe are residents of the County. Doe and Roe object to and wish to avoid the sign. Doe and Roe must use the courthouse, however, to fully participate as citizens of the County and to fulfill certain legal obligations. Roe has been called for jury duty at the courthouse, and both Doe and Roe are subject to being called for jury duty again. Doe has chosen and been compelled to participate in civil and criminal cases before the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court, and Doe and Roe may choose or be compelled to participate in such cases in the future. Roe registered to vote and obtained absentee ballots at the courthouse. Doe and Roe must enter the courthouse to visit the offices of the State's Attorney, County Clerk, County Treasurer and Sheriff, and to attend meetings of the County Board. Doe and Roe must come into direct and unwelcome contact with the sign in order to use the main entrance.

Plaintiff Edward T. Stein is an attorney who is licensed to practice law in Illinois. His practice is based in Chicago but he represents persons throughout Illinois. Stein objects to the sign and will not represent clients whose cases would be heard in the courthouse. Stein also alleges that "he may in the future have occasion to visit the offices of other government officials" in the courthouse and will be deterred from doing so because of the sign.

The Board of Commissioners of the County voted to refuse to remove the sign from the courthouse after being requested to remove the sign by plaintiffs' counsel. The plaintiffs then filed this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, asserting that the County's display and sponsorship of the sign violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution, which is applicable to state and local governments through the Fourteenth Amendment. The plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that the display of the sign violates the Establishment Clause and a permanent injunction requiring the County to remove the sign and forbidding its display on the courthouse in the future. The district court granted the County's motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and (6) on the ground that the plaintiffs had failed to allege sufficient facts to establish their standing to bring the suit. 848 F.Supp. 832, 836 (C.D.Ill.1994).

II.

We review the district court's grant of the County's motion to dismiss the complaint de novo, accepting as true all facts alleged in the well-pleaded complaint and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiffs. Family & Children's Ctr., Inc. v. School City of Mishawaka, 13 F.3d 1052, 1057, 1059 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 420, 130 L.Ed.2d 335 (1994).

Article III of the Constitution limits the judicial power of the United States to the resolution of "cases" and "controversies." "The constitutional power of federal courts cannot be defined, and indeed has no substance, without reference to the necessity 'to adjudge the legal rights of litigants in actual controversies.' " Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc., 454 U.S. 464, 471, 102 S.Ct. 752, 758, 70 L.Ed.2d 700 (1982) (citation omitted). The doctrine of standing "is an essential and unchanging part of the case-or-controversy requirement of Article III." Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, --- U.S. ----, ----, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 2136, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). Although some elements of standing "express merely prudential considerations that are part of judicial self-government," Article III requires that the plaintiff has suffered an "injury in fact" which is fairly traceable to the challenged action of the defendant and "likely," as opposed to merely "speculative," to be "redressed by a favorable decision." Id. (citations omitted); Valley Forge, 454 U.S. at 472, 102 S.Ct. at 758.

An "injury in fact" is an invasion of a legally-protected interest which is (1) concrete and particularized, that is, affecting the plaintiff in a personal and individual way; and (2) actual or imminent and not merely conjectural or hypothetical. Lujan, --- U.S. at ----, 112 S.Ct. at 2136 (citations omitted). A plaintiff who fails to identify any personal injury suffered as a consequence of the alleged constitutional error, "other than the psychological consequence presumably produced by observation of conduct with which one disagrees," has no standing under Article III. Valley Forge, 454 U.S. at 485, 102 S.Ct. at 765. A plaintiff who is subjected to unwelcome religious exercises or is forced to assume "special burdens" to avoid them, however, has demonstrated an "injury in fact." Id. at 486-87 n. 22, 102 S.Ct. at 766 n. 22. "[A]n identifiable trifle is enough for standing to fight out a question of principle; the trifle is the basis for standing and the principle supplies the motivation." United States v. Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures (SCRAP), 412 U.S. 669, 689 n. 14, 93 S.Ct. 2405, 2417 n. 14, 37 L.Ed.2d 254 (1973) (citation omitted).

The party invoking federal jurisdiction bears the burden of establishing the elements of standing. Lujan, --- U.S. at ----, 112 S.Ct. at 2136. At the pleading stage, general factual allegations of injury resulting from the defendant's conduct are sufficient to overcome a motion to dismiss, for on a motion to dismiss the court presumes that "general allegations embrace those specific facts that are necessary to support the claim." Id. at ----, 112 S.Ct. at 2137 (citation omitted).

The district court misapplied the foregoing principles in concluding that the allegations of Doe and Roe are insufficient to confer standing. Both Doe and Roe allege that they must come into direct and unwelcome contact with the sign in order to fully participate as citizens of the County and to fulfill certain legal obligations. Their allegations of direct and unwelcome exposure to a religious message cannot be distinguished from the "injuries" of other plaintiffs who have had standing to bring claims under the Establishment Clause.

In Lee v. Weisman, --- U.S. ----, ----, 112 S.Ct. 2649, 2661, 120 L.Ed.2d 467 (1992), the Supreme Court held that invocations and benedictions by members of the clergy at official public school graduation ceremonies violate the Establishment Clause. The plaintiffs were a graduating student and her father who objected to the prayers but wished to participate in the ceremony; their attendance was not required by the school for receipt of the diploma. Id. at ----, 112 S.Ct. at 2653-55. In Abington School Dist. v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203, 224 n. 9, 83 S.Ct. 1560, 1572 n. 9, 10 L.Ed.2d 844 (1963), the Court held that school children and their parents had standing to challenge laws requiring Bible reading in public schools, even though a student could be absent from the classroom or not participate in the reading. See also County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, 492 U.S. 573, 109 S.Ct. 3086, 106 L.Ed.2d 472 (1989) (ACLU and local residents had standing to challenge the display of a creche and menorah on public property in downtown Pittsburgh); Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 105 S.Ct. 2479, 86 L.Ed.2d 29 (1985) (school children had standing to challenge a state statute authorizing a one-minute period of silence in all public schools for meditation or voluntary prayer); Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 1355, 79 L.Ed.2d 604 (1984) (ACLU and local residents had standing to challenge the display of a creche in a park by the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island...