Progressohio.Org, Inc. v. Jobsohio

• Decision Date: 10 June 2014
• Docket Number: No. 2012–1272.,2012–1272.
• Parties: PROGRESSOHIO.ORG, INC., et al., Appellants, v. JOBSOHIO et al., Appellees.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

139 Ohio St.3d 520

13 N.E.3d 1101

2014 Ohio 2382

PROGRESSOHIO.ORG, INC., et al., Appellants,

v.JOBSOHIO et al., Appellees.

No. 2012–1272.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted Nov. 6, 2013.

Decided June 10, 2014.

1851 Center for Constitutional Law and Maurice A. Thompson; and McTigue & McGinnis, L.L.C., Donald J. McTigue, Columbus, Mark A. McGinnis, and J. Corey Colombo, for appellant ProgressOhio.org, Inc.

Michael J. Skindell, pro se.

Dennis E. Murray Jr., Sandusky, pro se.

Squire Sanders (US), L.L.P., and Aneca E. Lasley ; Organ Cole & Stock, L.L.P., and Douglas R. Cole, Columbus, for appellee JobsOhio.

Michael DeWine, Attorney General, Michael J. Hendershot, Chief Deputy Solicitor, Stephen P. Carney, Deputy Solicitor, and Pearl M. Chin, Assistant Attorney General, for appellees Governor John R. Kasich, Christiane Schmenk, Timothy S. Keen, and Treasurer Josh Mandel.

Linda K. Fiely, Columbus; and Kalniz, Iorio & Feldstein Co., L.P.A., and Christine Reardon, Toledo, urging reversal for amicus curiae Ohio Education Association.

Victoria E. Ullman, pro se, urging reversal as amicus curiae.

Black McCuskey Souers & Arbough, L.P.A., and Thomas W. Connors, Canton, urging reversal for amicus curiae American Policy Roundtable, d.b.a. Ohio Roundtable.

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, L.L.P., and Michael A. Snyder, Columbus, urging affirmance for amici curiae Thomas Niehaus and Mark Wagoner.

Jones Day and Chad A. Readler, Columbus, urging affirmance for amici curiae Jonathan H. Adler, Bradford D. Mank, Andrew S. Pollis, Michael E. Solimine, Cassandra Burke Robertson, Lee J. Strang, and Christopher J. Walker.

FRENCH, J.

{¶ 1} In this appeal, we consider whether appellants, ProgressOhio.org, Inc., Michael J. Skindell, and Dennis E. Murray Jr., have standing to challenge the JobsOhio Act, R.C. 187.01 et seq. and 4313.01 et seq. We have long held that a party wishing to sue must have a direct, personal stake in the outcome of his or her case; ideological opposition to a program or legislative enactment is not enough. Applying that precedent here, we conclude that appellants have failed to show that they have any personal stake in the outcome of this litigation. They therefore lack the direct injury required for common-law standing. Appellants similarly fail to allege a cognizable basis for statutory standing. Accordingly, we conclude that appellants are not proper parties to challenge the constitutionality of the JobsOhio legislation.

Facts and Procedural History

{¶ 2} This case concerns appellants' constitutional challenge to the JobsOhio Act. The act authorized the creation of a nonprofit corporation, JobsOhio, for "the purposes of promoting economic development, job creation, job retention, job training, and the recruitment of business" to Ohio. R.C. 187.01. An appropriation from the Department of Development initially funded and established JobsOhio. 2011 Am.Sub.H.B. No. 1, Section 5. Thereafter, JobsOhio was given the right to purchase the state's liquor distribution and merchandising operations and to operate from revenues of the liquor enterprise. R.C. 4313.02(A).

{¶ 3} Appellant, ProgressOhio.org, Inc., is an entity organized under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(4). It was "created to provide a progressive voice for Ohio citizens[,] * * * to inform and educate the public about progressive ideals, values and politics [and] to ensure that the government follows the dictates of the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions." Joining ProgressOhio as appellants are Michael J. Skindell, a member of the Ohio Senate, and Dennis E. Murray, a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives.

{¶ 4} Appellants filed this action for declaratory and injunctive relief in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court. Appellants sought a declaration that the act violated the Ohio Constitution and an injunction prohibiting the formation and continued operation of JobsOhio. Appellants primarily claimed that JobsOhio violated constitutional prohibitions on spending, corporate creation, and corporate investment.

{¶ 5} The trial court dismissed the case, finding that appellants lacked standing to sue. The Tenth District Court of Appeals agreed. It held that appellants lacked the personal stake and direct injury necessary for standing. 2012-Ohio-2655, 973 N.E.2d 307, ¶ 19 (10th Dist.). It also held that appellants did not present an issue of public interest great enough to otherwise warrant standing under State ex rel. Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers v. Sheward, 86 Ohio St.3d 451, 715 N.E.2d 1062 (1999). 2012-Ohio-2655, 973 N.E.2d 307, at ¶ 32.

{¶ 6} This court accepted appellants' discretionary appeal. The only issue before us is whether appellants have standing to bring this action.

Analysis

{¶ 7} "Before an Ohio court can consider the merits of a legal claim, the person or entity seeking relief must establish standing to sue." Ohio Pyro, Inc. v. Ohio Dept. of Commerce, Div. of State Fire Marshal, 115 Ohio St.3d 375, 2007-Ohio-5024, 875 N.E.2d 550, ¶ 27. Traditional standing principles require litigants to show, at a minimum, that they have suffered "(1) an injury that is (2) fairly traceable to the defendant's allegedly unlawful conduct, and (3) likely to be redressed by the requested relief." Moore v. Middletown, 133 Ohio St.3d 55, 2012-Ohio-3897, 975 N.E.2d 977, ¶ 22. Standing does not depend on the merits of the plaintiff's claim. Id. at ¶ 23. Rather, standing depends on whether the plaintiffs have alleged such a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy that they are entitled to have a court hear their case. Clifton v. Blanchester, 131 Ohio St.3d 287, 2012-Ohio-780, 964 N.E.2d 414, ¶ 15 ; State ex rel. Dallman v. Franklin Cty. Court of Common Pleas, 35 Ohio St.2d 176, 178–179, 298 N.E.2d 515 (1973).

{¶ 8} Appellants concede that they have no personal stake in the outcome of this litigation. Consequently, they are admittedly unable to meet the requirements to establish traditional standing. Instead, appellants claim that they possess standing through four alternative means: (1) the public-right doctrine, (2) taxpayer standing, (3) statutory standing under a portion of the Declaratory Judgment Act, R.C. 2721.03(A), and (4) statutory standing under a portion of the JobsOhio Act, R.C. 187.09. We disagree on all counts, which we address in turn.

I. The Public–Right Doctrine

{¶ 9} First, appellants claim that they have standing under the public-right doctrine outlined in Sheward, 86 Ohio St.3d 451, 715 N.E.2d 1062. The public-right doctrine represents "an exception to the personal-injury requirement of standing." Id. at 503, 715 N.E.2d 1062. The doctrine provides that "when the issues sought to be litigated are of great importance and interest to the public, they may be resolved in a form of action that involves no rights or obligations peculiar to named parties." Id. at 471, 715 N.E.2d 1062. To succeed in bringing a public-right case, a litigant must allege "rare and extraordinary" issues that threaten serious public injury. (Emphasis deleted.) Id. at 504, 715 N.E.2d 1062. Not all allegedly illegal or unconstitutional government actions rise to this level of importance. Id. at 503, 715 N.E.2d 1062.

{¶ 10} Appellants do not have standing under the public-right doctrine. As Sheward makes clear, the public-right doctrine applies only to original actions in mandamus and/or prohibition. Id. at paragraph one of the syllabus ("Where the object of an action in mandamus and/or prohibition is to procure the enforcement or protection of a public right, the relator need not show any legal or special individual interest in the result * * * " [emphasis added] ). It does not apply to declaratory-judgment actions filed in common pleas courts, and we have never used the doctrine in such a case.

{¶ 11} Nor could we. The Ohio Constitution expressly requires standing for cases filed in common pleas courts. Article IV, Section 4(B) provides that the courts of common pleas "shall have such original jurisdiction over all justiciable matters ." (Emphasis added.) A matter is justiciable only if the complaining party has standing to sue. Fed. Home Loan Mtge. Corp. v. Schwartzwald, 134 Ohio St.3d 13, 2012-Ohio-5017, 979 N.E.2d 1214, ¶ 41 ("It is fundamental that a party commencing litigation must have standing to sue in order to present a justiciable controversy"). Indeed, for a cause to be justiciable, it must present issues that have a "direct and immediate" impact on the plaintiffs. Burger Brewing Co. v. Liquor Control Comm., Dept. of Liquor Control, 34 Ohio St.2d 93, 97–98, 296 N.E.2d 261 (1973). Thus, if a common pleas court proceeds in an action in which the plaintiff lacks standing, the court violates Article IV of the Ohio Constitution. Article IV requires justiciability, and justiciability requires standing. These constitutional requirements cannot be bent to accommodate Sheward .

{¶ 12} Even assuming that Sheward could apply to common-pleas actions, it would not apply in this case. Appellants make little effort to present a rare and extraordinary public issue. Instead, they assert that citizens should be able to challenge any alleged constitutional violations, regardless of rarity or magnitude. Appellants' position is incompatible with Sheward, which clearly states that not all allegations of constitutional harm warrant an exception to the personal-stake requirement of standing. 86 Ohio St.3d at 503, 715 N.E.2d 1062 ; see also State ex rel. Leslie v. Ohio Hous. Fin. Agency, 105 Ohio St.3d 261, 2005-Ohio-1508, 824 N.E.2d 990, quoting Sheward at 504, 715 N.E.2d 1062 (constitutional challenge to state spending measures was "not a ‘rare and extraordinary case’ warranting invocation of the public-right exception to the personal-stake requirement of standing"). Thus, another reason that appellants' Sheward argument fails is that they do not show the type of rare and extraordinary public-interest issue required by Sheward . Accordingly, we find that appellants cannot establish standing under the public-right...