A Helping Hand, LLC. v. Baltimore County, Maryland
Decision Date | 20 January 2004 |
Docket Number | No. CIV.A. CCB-02-2568.,CIV.A. CCB-02-2568. |
Parties | A HELPING HAND, LLC v. BALTIMORE COUNTY, Maryland, et al. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maryland |
Emanuel M. Levin, Levin and Associates, PA, Joel C. Richmond, Law Office of Joel C. Richmond, Baltimore, MD, for Plaintiff.
John Edward Beverungen, Baltimore County Law Department, Edward J. Gilliss, Jeffrey Grant Cook, Baltimore County Office of Law, Towson, MD, for Defendants.
A Helping Hand, LLC, the plaintiff in this disability discrimination case, has petitioned the court to reconsider its ruling on December 17, 2003 (docket nos. 24-25) that members of the County Council of Baltimore County, Maryland may assert a testimonial privilege with respect to their motivations in passing Bill No. 39-02, a zoning ordinance that Helping Hand contends is discriminatory.1 Helping Hand argues that the councilors are not entitled to this immunity because the ordinance in question was a bill of attainder prohibited by Article I, section 9 of the United States Constitution. (Docket No. 26.) The defendants have filed an opposition. (Docket No. 27.) For purposes of the analysis, I will assume without deciding that Helping Hand is correct that no legislative immunity applies when a local legislature passes a bill of attainder.2 Even making that assumption, Helping Hand's argument fails because the ordinance at issue is not a bill of attainder.3
The purpose of the Bill of Attainder Clause is "to prohibit the ancient practice of the Parliament in England of punishing without trial `specifically designated persons or groups.'" Selective Serv. Sys. v. Minn. Pub. Interest Research Group, 468 U.S. 841, 847, 104 S.Ct. 3348, 82 L.Ed.2d 632 (1984) (quoting United States v. Brown, 381 U.S. 437, 447, 85 S.Ct. 1707, 14 L.Ed.2d 484 (1965)). Accordingly, a law constitutes an unconstitutional bill of attainder if it satisfies three criteria: (1) it must specify the affected persons; (2) it must be punitive; and (3) it must fail to provide for the protections of a judicial trial. See Minn. PIRG, 468 U.S. at 846-47, 104 S.Ct. 3348. The ordinance at issue here fails to satisfy the first two requirements, if not also the third.4
First, the ordinance is not impermissibly specific. While some provisions of Bill No. 39-02 appear to affect only Helping Hand,5 the ordinance is a law of general applicability: it imposes zoning requirements on methadone clinics and other "state-licensed medical clinics." Thus, "[f]ar from attaching to past and ineradicable actions, ineligibility for ... benefits [under the ordinance] is made to turn upon continuingly contemporaneous fact," namely, whether the clinic's location meets the ordinance's criteria for a zoning permit. Minn. PIRG, 468 U.S. at 851, 104 S.Ct. 3348 (internal quotations and alterations omitted). Accordingly, the ordinance is not a bill of attainder even if some of its provisions, as a practical matter, affect only a single entity. See, e.g., Nixon v. Admin'r of Gen. Servs., 433 U.S. 425, 469, 97 S.Ct. 2777, 53 L.Ed.2d 867 (1977) ( ); WMX Techs., Inc. v. Gasconade County, 105 F.3d 1195, 1201-02 (8th Cir. 1997) ( ); 219 S. Atlantic Blvd. Inc. v. City of Fort Lauderdale, 239 F.Supp.2d 1265, 1275 (S.D.Fla.2002) ( )(quoting plaintiff's brief); Cathy's Tap, Inc. v. Vill. of Mapleton, 65 F.Supp.2d 874, 880-82 (C.D.Ill.1999) ( ); Recreational Devs. of Phoenix, Inc. v. City of Phoenix, 83 F.Supp.2d 1072, 1098 (D.Ariz.1999) (, )aff'd, 238 F.3d 430, 2000 WL 1387443 (9th Cir.2000).
In addition, the ordinance is not punitive. Determining whether a law imposes punishment under the Bill of Attainder Clause requires three separate inquiries:
(1) whether the challenged statute falls within the historical meaning of legislative punishment; (2) whether the statute, "viewed in terms of the type and severity of burdens imposed, reasonably can be said to further nonpunitive legislative purposes"; and (3) whether the legislative record "evinces a [legislative] intent to punish."
Minn. PIRG, 468 U.S. at 852, 104 S.Ct. 3348 (quoting Nixon, 433 U.S. at 473, 97 S.Ct. 2777). A mere restriction on zoning benefits, Bill No. 39-02 inflicts nothing approaching the penalties "historically associated with punishment," namely, imprisonment, banishment, confiscation, and death. Id. at 853, 104 S.Ct. 3348 ( )(citing Flemming v. Nestor, 363 U.S. 603, 616 & n. 9, 80 S.Ct. 1367, 4 L.Ed.2d 1435 (1960)). Nor is "the sanction or disability that [the ordinance] imposes so punitive in fact that the law may not legitimately be viewed as civil in nature." United States v. O'Neal, 180 F.3d 115, 122 (4th Cir.1999).6 To the contrary, as a restriction on the location of purportedly hazardous medical facilities, the law relates to a prospective regulatory purpose — whether or not that purpose is legitimate under disability rights law. See, e.g., id. at 122-23 ( ); SBC Communications, Inc. v. FCC, 154 F.3d 226, 243 (5th Cir.1998) ( ); WMX Techs., 105 F.3d at 1202-03 ( ). Finally, while the County Council's motivation may have been improper under the Americans with Disabilities Act, there is no evidence that it was punitive, considering, once again, that the law aimed to regulate future activity rather than penalize past actions. See, e.g., Ambassador Books & Video, Inc. v. City of Little Rock, 20 F.3d 858, 865 (8th Cir.1994) ( ). Thus, the ordinance satisfies none of the three definitions of punishment required to find a bill of attainder, and Helping Hand's motion will be denied.
A separate Order follows.
For the reasons stated in the accompanying Memorandum, it is hereby Ordered that:
1. the defendants' Motion for Reconsideration (docket no. 26) will be ...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
S.C. Elec. v. Randall
...not assert that Act 287 is a bill of attainder because it is a corporation. (ECF No. 31 at 15–16 (citing A Helping Hand, LLC v. Balt. Cty., Md. , 299 F.Supp.2d 501 n.3 (D. Md. 2004) ).) However, the court in Consol. Edison Co. of N.Y. v. Pataki , 292 F.3d 338 (2d Cir. 2002), held "that corp......
-
Cole v. Montgomery
...are true, the complained-of conduct fails to satisfy the first two elements, at a minimum. See A Helping Hand, LLC, v. Baltimore Cnty., Maryland, 299 F. Supp. 2d 501, 503-04 (D. Md. 2004) (collecting cases where ordinances and resolutions affecting only one business were deemed not to be bi......
-
Lulu Shriners v. Twp. of Whitemarsh
...the ordinance is a proactive measure, meant to protect the public and exotic animals in the future. See A Helping Hand, LLC v. Baltimore County , 299 F. Supp. 2d 501, 504 (D. Md. 2004) ("Finally, while the County Council's motivation may have been improper under the Americans with Disabilit......
-
Shriners v. Twp. of Whitemarsh
... ... Entertainment Group, LLC, the subcontractor that supplies the ... COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF ... See A Helping Hand, LLC v. Baltimore County , 299 ... ...