Duffy v. City of Stanton, Kentucky
| Decision Date | 24 March 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. Civ.A. 5:05-205-JMH.,Civ.A. 5:05-205-JMH. |
| Citation | 423 F.Supp.2d 683 |
| Parties | Dan DUFFY, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF STANTON, KENTUCKY, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Kentucky |
Dan Duffy, Stanton, KY, pro se.
Spencer D. Noe, Donald M. Wakefield, Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love, LLP, Lexington, KY, for Defendant.
Before the Court is the summary judgment motion of Defendant, the City of Stanton, Kentucky ("the City") [Record No. 36]. Plaintiff responded to Defendant's motion [Record No. 38], to which Defendant replied [Record No. 40]. Plaintiff's motion to amend his complaint is also pending before the Court [Record No. 39]. As both motions are now fully briefed, this matter is ripe for review.
Plaintiff, Dan Duffy, pro se, filed the present action against the City of Stanton, Ed Hash, the City's Code Enforcement Officer, and B. Scott Graham, the City Attorney. In late March of 2005, Plaintiff claims that Ed Hash informed him that the City was planning to remove certain vehicles from the property he was leasing. On April 12, 2005, in response to complaints and because Plaintiff had not moved the vehicles, Mr. Hash had three of Plaintiff's vehicles towed. Plaintiff wrote to the City on April 18, 2005 and requested that it return his vehicles. The City Attorney, B. Scott Graham, responded to Plaintiff's letter and informed Plaintiff that his cars were moved because they were in violation of the City's nuisance ordinance and zoning ordinance. Plaintiff wrote to the City Council to demand to the return of his vehicles. On May 19, 2005, Plaintiff filed a complaint in this Court naming Ed Hash, B. Scott Graham, and the City as Defendants and alleging constitutional violations and state law claims for trespass, malice, and conversion. By agreed order, the parties dismissed Ed Hash and B. Scott Graham as Defendants on August 2, 2005 [Record No. 26]. The City asks the Court to enter summary judgment in its favor on all remaining claims in Plaintiff's complaint.
Summary judgment is proper "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to inter-rogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). The moving party bears the initial burden to show the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). This burden is met by showing the court that there is an absence of evidence on a material fact on which the nonmoving party has the ultimate burden of proof at trial. Id. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548. A fact is material if its resolution will affect the outcome of the lawsuit. Waters v. City of Morristown, 242 F.3d 353, 358 (6th Cir.2001); see Pharakane v. Nissan N. Am., Inc., 324 F.3d 405, 407 (6th Cir.2003) (). Once the moving party satisfies its burden, the burden then shifts to the nonmoving party to "come forward with some probative evidence to support its claim." Lansing Dairy, Inc. v. Espy, 39 F.3d 1339, 1347 (6th Cir.1994).
When determining whether there is enough evidence to overcome summary judgment, the Court must construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, in this case, the plaintiff. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Multimedia 2000, Inc. v. Attard, 374 F.3d 377, 380 (6th Cir.2004). The Court must not weigh the evidence, but must decide whether there are genuine issues for trial. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Only material factual disputes will preclude summary judgment, and the dispute must be genuine, that is, the facts must be such that if proven at trial, a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.
The Court begins its analysis by noting the Supreme Court's admonition in Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972), that a pro se complaint, "however inartfully pleaded," must be held to "less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers." Id. at 520, 92 S.Ct. 594.
Plaintiff's complaint appears to allege that the City is liable to him under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for towing his cars without providing him due process of law. To prevail on this claim, a § 1983 plaintiff must demonstrate that the property deprivation resulted from either: "(1) an established state procedure that itself violates due process rights, or (2) a `random and unauthorized act' causing a loss for which available state remedies would not adequately compensate the plaintiff." Warren v. City of Athens, 411 F.3d 697, 709 (6th Cir.2005) (quoting Macene v. MJW, Inc., 951 F.2d 700, 706 (6th Cir.1991)). In this case, Plaintiff is asserting a claim under the first scenario.
Harris v. City of Akron, 20 F.3d 1396, 1401 (6th Cir.1994). "Procedural due process imposes constraints on governmental decisions which deprive individuals of `liberty' or `property' interests within the meaning of the Due Process Clause of the ... Fourteenth Amendment." Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 332, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976). Due process requires that Plaintiff be given the opportunity to be heard "at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner." Id. at 333, 96 S.Ct. 893 (citations omitted). Because it is a flexible concept, the procedural protections afforded by due process will vary depending on the particular situation. Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 481, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972). To determine what process is due, three factors must be weighed:
First, the private interest that will be affected by the official action; second, the risk of an erroneous deprivation of such interest through the procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional or substitute procedural safeguards; and finally, the Government's interest, including the function involved and the fiscal and administrative burdens that the additional or substitute procedural requirement would entail.
Mathews, 424 U.S. at 335, 96 S.Ct. 893.
The court in Harris v. County of Calhoun, 127 F.Supp.2d 871 (W.D.Mich.2001) found that " the uninterrupted use of one's vehicle is a significant and substantial private interest."' Id. at 876 (quoting Scofield v. City of Hillsborough, 862 F.2d 759, 762 (9th Cir.1988)); see also Coleman v. Watt, 40 F.3d 255, 260 (8th Cir.1994) (); Price v. City of Junction, 711 F.2d 582, 589 (5th Cir.1983) ().
To weigh the second factor under the Mathews analysis and thus consider the risk of erroneous deprivation through the procedures used by the City and the probable value of additional safeguards, the Court must review the City's procedures for removing junk vehicles. The City has enacted a nuisance ordinance ("the Ordinance"), No. 89-9 Public Nuisances & Penalties, which provides that "[i]t shall be unlawful for any person owning, occupying or having control or management of any land within the city limits or within one mile thereof to have upon said land junk automobiles, trucks, tractors, buses, vans, or other motor vehicles." Stanton, Ky., Ordinance 89-9 Public Nuisances & Penalties (May 5, 1989). Pursuant to Article III, Section 300 of the Stanton Zoning Ordinance, if the Enforcement Officer "finds any provisions of the Ordinance being violated, the person or persons responsible for such violation shall be notified ... through registered mail." Stanton, Ky., Zoning Ordinance art. III, § 300. This section of the City's zoning ordinance delegated to Ed Hash, the Enforcement Officer, the authority to enforce the City's ordinances.1
Finally, the Court must balance Plaintiffs property interest in his vehicles and the risk of erroneous deprivation of that interest due to the City's procedures with the City's interest. The City's Ordinance advances the City's interest in towing junk vehicles to abate a public nuisance and to encourage vehicle owners to maintain the City's appearance. The City's current procedure under Article III, Section 300 is to notify the owner through registered mail before the vehicles are towed.
Plaintiff never argues that the City failed to provide him with pre-tow notice of the City's plans to remove the vehicles. Plaintiff admits that Mr. Hash told him in March of 2005 that the vehicles would be removed if Plaintiff did not remove them. (Pl.'s Dep. 45:5-46:10, Nov. 17, 2005.) The City submits that Mr. Hash complied with the notice provisions in Article III, Section 300 by sending Plaintiff several certified letters asking him to remove the cars, all of which were returned as unclaimed. This practice of notifying Plaintiff before the vehicles are towed serves to prevent the City from erroneously towing vehicles. By telling Plaintiff in person that he was violating the ordinance and warning Plaintiff that the City was planning to remove the vehicles, the City provided Plaintiff with the opportunity to comply with the law by relocating the offending vehicles or to protest their removal before he was deprived of his property.2
Likewise, Plaintiff concedes that Mr....
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