Shanks v. Forsyth County Park Authority, Inc.

• Decision Date: 04 October 1994
• Docket Number: No. 6:93CV602.,6:93CV602.
• Citation: 869 F. Supp. 1231
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina
• Parties: Donald M. SHANKS, Plaintiff, v. FORSYTH COUNTY PARK AUTHORITY, INC., and Lash Sanford, Defendants.

869 F. Supp. 1231

Donald M. SHANKS, Plaintiff, v. FORSYTH COUNTY PARK AUTHORITY, INC., and Lash Sanford, Defendants.

No. 6:93CV602.

United States District Court, M.D. North Carolina, Winston-Salem Division.

October 4, 1994.

James F. Wyatt, III, Charlotte, NC, for plaintiff.

Michael E. Ray, Winston-Salem, NC, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

TILLEY, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Donald Shanks ("Shanks") has brought this civil rights action against Defendant Forsyth County Park Authority, Inc. ("Park Authority") and Lash Sanford ("Sanford"), the Manager of Tanglewood Park. In his original complaint, Shanks alleges that the Park Authority and Sanford have wrongfully excluded all motorcyclists from Tanglewood Park through a motorcycle ban in violation of North Carolina statutory law, the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, and similar provisions of the North Carolina Constitution. Shanks seeks injunctive relief as well as attorney's fees and costs under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. Shanks also seeks to amend his original complaint under Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a) in order to add a claim for declaratory relief, add an out of state party-plaintiff in case the Court finds that Shanks cannot assert a right to interstate travel, and add various allegations to solidify his standing. Defendants have moved to deny Shanks' motion to amend his complaint. Defendants have also moved to dismiss all claims, pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for lack of standing and failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. For reasons discussed below, the Court will DENY Shanks' motion to amend because the Court finds that the proposed amendment to the complaint would be futile. In addition, the Court will GRANT Defendant's motion to dismiss on Shanks' First Amendment claim and GRANT Defendant's motion to dismiss Shanks' equal protection claim. Finally, the Court finds that assuming arguendo that there is a right to intrastate travel under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, such a right is not infringed upon on these facts.

I.

The facts as stated in a light most favorable to Shanks are as follows. Shanks is a resident of Forsyth County and is duly licensed to ride a motorcycle in North Carolina. He owns and actively rides a motorcycle throughout the United States and Canada. In August of 1992, Shanks was assisting in the "Tour of Tanglewood," a bicycle tour for charity at Tanglewood Park. When Shanks arrived at Tanglewood Park on his motorcycle, a Tanglewood Park employee told him that he could not enter Tanglewood Park on a motorcycle. In addition, several other motorcyclists were also told that they could not enter the park on motorcycles. The reason for this exclusion was a 1981 resolution adopted by the Park Authority which banned all motorcycles from Tanglewood Park. There are signs posted at the entrance which give notice of the motorcycle ban.

In May of 1993, the Park Authority formed a task force to discuss repealing the motorcycle ban for the Tour of Tanglewood. In July of 1993, the Park Authority modified the ban by allowing motorcycles in Tanglewood Park during the Tour of Tanglewood and also giving Sanford, the manager of Tanglewood Park, discretionary authority over the admission of motorcycles at all other times.¹

In his original complaint, Shanks alleges that "as a direct and proximate result of the wrongful actions of Defendants, the Plaintiff has been wrongfully excluded from Tanglewood Park; has suffered humiliation and mental distress; and has been unreasonably selected for exclusion from this park." Complaint at ¶ 15. Shanks also alleges in his original complaint that "Defendant Sanford does not, based on information and belief, intend to allow motorcycles into the park, except for the Tour of Tanglewood." Complaint at ¶ 9.

Moreover, Shanks seeks to amend his complaint to add a claim for declaratory relief, add an out of state party-plaintiff in case the Court finds that Shanks cannot assert a right to interstate travel claim, and add inter alia that in January 1994, Shanks himself was not allowed to enter Tanglewood Park on his motorcycle, that the exclusion of motorcyclists at Tanglewood Park will indefinitely continue in the future, and that Shanks desires to enter the park in the future for recreational purposes.

II.

The Court will first consider Defendants' motion to dismiss the claims in the complaint. In ruling on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the Court should accept as true all well-pleaded allegations, and, viewing the complaint in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, should not dismiss the case unless it appears certain that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts which would entitle him to relief. Mylan Laboratories, Inc. v. Matkari, 7 F.3d 1130, 1134 (4th Cir.1993), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 114 S.Ct. 1307, 127 L.Ed.2d 658 (1994). Defendants' main contention on its motion to dismiss is that Shanks does not have standing to sue. The Court finds that it need not determine that question because even if Shanks has standing, he has not stated a claim for which relief can be granted under Rule 12(b)(6). Therefore, the Court will GRANT Defendants' motion to dismiss.

A. First Amendment Claim

Shanks claims that the Defendants' ban on motorcycles violates his freedom of speech rights as guaranteed by the First Amendment. To determine whether Shanks can invoke the First Amendment in challenging the motorcycle ban, the Court must determine whether Shanks' motorcycle riding is expressive conduct. See Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 403, 109 S.Ct. 2533, 2538, 105 L.Ed.2d 342 (1989); see also Spence v. Washington, 418 U.S. 405, 410-11, 94 S.Ct. 2727, 2730-31, 41 L.Ed.2d 842 (1974). The First Amendment protection does not stop at the written or spoken word but can also extend to certain conduct. Johnson, 491 U.S. at 404, 109 S.Ct. at 2539. Indeed, while the Supreme Court has rejected "the view that an apparently limitless variety of conduct can be labeled `speech' whenever the person engaging in the conduct intends thereby to express an idea," id. (quoting United States v. O'Brien, 391 U.S. 367, 376, 88 S.Ct. 1673, 1678, 20 L.Ed.2d 672 (1968)), the Court has also acknowledged that "conduct may be `sufficiently imbued with elements of communication to fall within the scope of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.'" Johnson, 491 U.S. at 404, 109 S.Ct. at 2539 (quoting Spence, 418 U.S. at 409, 94 S.Ct. at 2730). To determine whether certain conduct is communicative for First Amendment purposes, courts must ask whether "an intent to convey a particularized message was present, and whether the likelihood was great that the message would be understood by those who viewed it." Johnson, 491 U.S. at 404, 109 S.Ct. at 2539 (quoting Spence, 418 U.S. at 410-11, 94 S.Ct. at 2730-31).

In this case, under the standard as articulated in Johnson, the Court finds that Shanks' motorcycle riding is not speech within the confines of the First Amendment. Shanks does not allege that he intended to convey any particularized message by riding his motorcycle at Tanglewood Park nor does it appear that any such message would be understood by those who viewed it. Thus, no speech is involved by Shanks' motorcycle riding so as to bring the conduct within the purview of the First Amendment. See American Motorcyclist Ass'n v. Park Comm'n of The City of Brockton, 31 Mass. App.Ct. 149, 575 N.E.2d 754 (1991), rev'd on other grounds, 412 Mass. 753, 592 N.E.2d 1314 (1992); see also State v. Quinnam, 367 A.2d 1032 (Me.1977). Thus, viewing the complaint in a light most favorable to Shanks, it appears certain that Shanks cannot prove a set of facts which would entitle him to relief under the First Amendment. Therefore, the Court will GRANT Defendants' motion to dismiss on Shanks' First Amendment claim.

B. Equal Protection Claim

Shanks further claims that Defendants' ban on motorcycles violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Specifically, Shanks alleges that Defendants' ban on motorcycles infringes upon his fundamental rights of interstate and intrastate travel. The Supreme Court has long recognized a fundamental right to interstate travel. See Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618, 629, 89 S.Ct. 1322, 1328-29, 22 L.Ed.2d 600 (1969) (stating that "this Court long ago recognized that ... our constitutional concepts of personal liberty ... require that all citizens be free to travel throughout the length and breadth of our land uninhibited by statutes, rules, or regulations which unreasonably burden or restrict this movement."); see also United States v. Guest, 383 U.S. 745, 757, 86 S.Ct. 1170, 1177, 16 L.Ed.2d 239 (1966) (stating that "the constitutional right to travel from one state to another ... occupies a position fundamental to the concept of our Federal Union.").

In Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic, ___ U.S. ___, 113 S.Ct. 753, 122 L.Ed.2d 34 (1993), the Supreme Court dealt in part with the constitutional right to interstate travel. The Court noted that "the federal guarantee of interstate travel ... protects interstate travelers against two sets of burdens: `the erection of actual barriers to interstate movement' and `being treated differently' from intrastate travelers." Id. at ___, 113 S.Ct at 763 (quoting Zobel v. Williams, 457 U.S. 55, 60 n. 6, 102 S.Ct. 2309, 2312 n. 6, 72 L.Ed.2d 672 (1982)). The Court then added that "a purely intrastate restriction does not implicate the right of interstate travel, even if it is applied intentionally against travelers from other states, unless it is applied discriminatorily against them." Id. (emphasis in original).

In this case, Defendant's motorcycle ban does not implicate either of the protections enunciated in Bray. First, the only barrier resulting from Defendants' policy is in the immediate area of Tanglewood and would, thus, restrict movement from one area of North Carolina to another. Se...