On Behalf Of Those Similarly Situated v. City Of Grand Forks

• Decision Date: 27 July 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-2119.,09-2119.
• Citation: 614 F.3d 495
• Parties: Bruce Roger MILLS, individually and on behalf of those similarly situated, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF GRAND FORKS, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

614 F.3d 495

Bruce Roger MILLS, individually and on behalf of those similarly situated, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.CITY OF GRAND FORKS, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 09-2119.

United States Court of Appeals,Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: March 9, 2010.

Filed: July 27, 2010.

Jonathan T. Garaas, I, argued, Fargo, ND, for appellant.

Randall J. Bakke, argued, Bismarck, ND, Shawn A. Grinolds, on the brief, Bismarck, ND, for appellee.

Before RILEY, Chief Judge, ¹ BRIGHT, and JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judges.

BRIGHT, Circuit Judge.

Bruce Roger Mills brought a federal civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City of Grand Forks (“City”), claiming that the City, fining him for a traffic violation under a city ordinance, with the fine exceeding the amount of money authorized under North Dakota state law, violated various federal constitutional rights. He claims violations of due process of law, equal protection under the law, and to be free from excessive fines. The district court ² entered a judgment of dismissal on the pleadings under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). Mills appeals. We affirm because the complaint fails to state any federal constitutional violation.

I. Background

In 2004, a Grand Forks City police officer cited Mills with careless driving in violation of Grand Forks City Code § 08-0701. Mills pleaded not guilty and proceeded to trial. The municipal judge imposed a $150.00 traffic fine, a $15.00 prepayment deposit for court costs, and a $1.00 administrative surcharge, all pursuant to the ordinances of the City.

Under North Dakota state law, a person found guilty of careless driving may be punished by a $30.00 fine. See N.D.C.C. § 39-06.1-06(4). Mills then appealed the City's fine against him to the state district court. That court affirmed the imposition of the fines and fees. Mills further appealed to the North Dakota Supreme Court. The North Dakota Supreme Court dismissed his appeal as not appealable under N.D.C.C. § 39-06.1-03(5). Order Dismissing Appeal, No. 20040283 (Dec. 1, 2004).

The City of Grand Forks was not the only municipality levying traffic fines in excess of the amount stated in the state's statutes. In 2008, the North Dakota Supreme Court considered whether the City of Fargo was imposing fines in excess of that allowed by North Dakota state law. See Sauby v. City of Fargo, 2008 ND 60, 747 N.W.2d 65. The North Dakota Supreme Court concluded the penalties for “noncriminal traffic offenses” could not exceed fines established for similar offenses under state law. Sauby, 2008 ND 60, ¶¶ 10, 13, 747 N.W.2d 65.

One day after the North Dakota Supreme Court issued its decision in Sauby, the City of Grand Forks stopped charging fines in excess of the allowable amount under N.D.C.C. § 39-06.1-06. In March 2008, Mills filed a complaint against the City. As we have noted, Mills alleged in his complaint that the City violated his federal constitutional rights under: (1) the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; (2) the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; and (3) the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment, as applied to the City through the Fourteenth Amendment.

The City moved for judgment on the pleadings, arguing Mills's allegations did not amount to federal constitutional violations. After holding a hearing, the district court granted the motion for judgment on the pleadings on all three of Mills's allegations of illegality. On appeal, Mills argues the district court erred as to each allegation.

II. Standard of Review

This court reviews de novo a grant of a motion for judgment on the pleadings. Porous Media Corp. v. Pall Corp., 186 F.3d 1077, 1079 (8th Cir.1999). Judgment on the pleadings is appropriate when there are no material facts to resolve and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Faibisch v. Univ. of Minn., 304 F.3d 797, 803 (8th Cir.2002). The facts pleaded by the non-moving party must be accepted as true and all reasonable inferences from the pleadings should be taken in favor of the non-moving party. Id. The court may consider the pleadings themselves, materials embraced by the pleadings, exhibits attached to the pleadings, and matters of public record. Porous Media Corp., 186 F.3d at 1079.

III. Due Process

The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment ensures that states do not deprive individuals of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. “Under the rubric of substantive due process, the Due Process Clause protects individual liberty against certain government actions regardless of the fairness of the procedures used to implement them.” Ganley v. Minneapolis Park & Recreation Bd., 491 F.3d 743, 749 (8th Cir.2007) (internal quotations and citations omitted). A valid substantive due process claim requires that a plaintiff show (1) a right under the Fourteenth Amendment; and (2) the defendant deprived the plaintiff of that right. Id. “[T]he theory of substantive due process is properly reserved for truly egregious and extraordinary cases.” Chesterfield Dev. Corp. v. City of Chesterfield, 963 F.2d 1102, 1105 (8th Cir.1992) (quoting Myers v. Scott County, 868 F.2d 1017, 1019 (8th Cir.1989)). A plaintiff must establish “the government action complained of is truly irrational, that is something more than ... arbitrary, capricious, or in violation of state law.” Ganley, 491 F.3d at 749 (citations omitted). “Truly irrational” conduct is “conscience shocking, in a constitutional sense.” Skokos v. Rhoades, 440 F.3d 957, 962 (8th Cir.2006) (citations omitted).

Mills's statements in his complaint fail to meet the standards required to show a due process violation. At the time the City cited Mills for careless driving, no binding legal precedent existed to show that the City's traffic fines violated state law, or that the City's conduct was “truly irrational.”

In 1982, the North Dakota Attorney General considered the question: “[w]hether a home rule city may establish a fee for violations of speed limit ordinances where the fee exceeds the amount set forth in Section 39-06.1-06, N.D.C.C.” N.D. Op. Atty. Gen. 82-62 (Aug. 19, 1982). In its opinion, the attorney general acknowledged that N.D.C.C. § 39-06.1-06 restricted fees for traffic offenses in violation of city ordinance. Id. But the attorney general determined that cities that have adopted a home rule charter “shall supersede conflicting state law within the jurisdiction of the city.” Id. The attorney general concluded that a home rule city has statutory power to regulate traffic and motor vehicle activities, and, under that authority, the city could impose greater fees than permitted under state law. Id. The attorney general reaffirmed this determination in an opinion stating that “[h]ome rule cities may supersede state law ... as long as any of those powers is delineated in the city's home rule charter and implemented through ordinances.” N.D. Op. Atty. Gen.2001-F-07 (July 20, 2001). The City of Grand Forks is a home rule city.

In North Dakota, an attorney general's opinion serves as controlling law until it is superseded by a judicial decision. See Fargo Women's Health Org. v. Schafer, 18 F.3d 526, 530 (8th Cir.1994) (citing Johnson v. Baker, 74 N.D. 244, 21 N.W.2d 355, 364 (1945) (“The Supreme Court of North Dakota has held that an Attorney General's opinion has the force and effect of law until a contrary ruling by a court.”)). ³ Thus, these two attorney general's opinions served at the time to validate that a home rule city could establish fees for violations of traffic ordinances in excess of the fees set forth by state law. The City could rely on the attorney general's opinions when it created and enforced its fines structure.

The City contends that those attorney general opinions served as the applicable interpretation of the law for the City until 2008, when the North Dakota Supreme Court decided Sauby. Mills disagrees, asserting that the City could no longer rely on the attorney general opinions after 1991, when the North Dakota Supreme Court decided City of Fargo v. Little Brown Jug, 468 N.W.2d 392 (N.D.1991). We examine that case.

In Little Brown Jug, the City of Fargo cited Little Brown Jug, an off-sale drinking establishment, with selling alcohol to minors. Id. at 393. The applicable state law treated this as a class A misdemeanor, while the city ordinance imposed a lesser penalty of a class B misdemeanor. Id. The North Dakota Supreme Court considered whether a home rule city could “enact an ordinance which defines an offense in language similar to state law, but provides for a lesser penalty than the state law.” Id. at 394. The North Dakota Supreme Court held that the city could impose a different penalty from that imposed under state law, but limited its holding “to those situations in which the municipality authorizes imposition of up to the maximum allowable municipal penalty which is lesser than the state law penalty for an equivalent statute.” Id. at 396. Little Brown Jug does not apply here.

Little Brown Jug raised the issue of whether a city may supersede state law as to criminal offenses and did not preclude the City from imposing traffic fines in excess of state statute. The limitations of the Little Brown Jug case received recognition as being inapplicable to the traffic fines at issue in its decision in Sauby when the North Dakota Supreme Court opinion stated: “This is the first time this Court has considered whether noncriminal municipal offenses may supersede state law.” 2008 ND 60, ¶ 11, 747 N.W.2d 65. Consequently, we reject Mills's argument that the City should have known its noncriminal ordinances were invalid based on Little Brown Jug when the North Dakota Supreme Court had not considered that issue prior to Sauby. ⁴

Mills next argues that the City could not rely on the attorney general opinions as of 2001, after a North Dakota state district court had issued an opinion in City of Fargo v. Cose, ...