Stewart v. Town of Rossville
| Docket Number | Case No. 2:21-cv-02358-JPM-atc |
| Decision Date | 18 August 2022 |
| Parties | Jerry STEWART, Plaintiff, v. TOWN OF ROSSVILLE, TENNESSEE; Dave Hamric, Personally and in his Official Capacity as Chief of Police; Judy Watters, Personally and in her Official Capacity as Mayor; Zach Moore, Personally and in his Official Capacity as Vice Mayor; Bobby Williams, Personally and in his Official Capacity as Alderman; Doug Kranz, Personally and in his Official Capacity as Alderman; Sondra Harris, Personally and in her Official Capacity as Alderman; Sherrye Rinehart, Personally and in her Official Capacity as Alderman; Mike Swessel, Personally and in his Official Capacity as Alderman, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Tennessee |
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Before the Court is Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, filed on May 9, 2022. (ECF No. 24.) On June 6, 2022, Plaintiff Jerry Stewart ("Stewart") filed Plaintiff's Response to Motion for Summary Judgment. (ECF No. 25.) Defendants replied on June 20, 2022. (ECF No. 28.)
For the reasons discussed below, Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is hereby GRANTED.
In 2009, Plaintiff pled guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. § 2423(b), "involving interstate travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a fourteen-year-old female." (Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, "Def. SUMF," ECF No. 24-36 ¶ 1.) Plaintiff is registered as a sex offender with the State of Tennessee pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-203(a). (Id. ¶ 2.) Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211, one of the requirements of the Sex Offender Registry "is that a sex offender cannot establish a primary or secondary residence, or any other living accommodation, within one thousand feet of the property line of any . . . public park." (Id. ¶ 3.)
During the summer of 2020, Plaintiff and his wife, Lindsey Stewart, found a house that they wished to buy at 150 2nd Street in the Town of Rossville, Tennessee (the "Town" or "Rossville"). (Id. ¶ 14.) They were familiar with the surrounding neighborhood, having eaten multiple times at Wolf River Café down the street. (Id. ¶ 16.)
There is a 1.47-acre parcel of land located down the street from 150 2nd Street and across the street from Wolf River Café. (Id. ¶ 17.) Defendants contend, and Plaintiff disputes,3 that this parcel "is known as Lafayette Park." The parcel is owned by Norfolk Southern Railway, which leases it to the Town of Rossville under a lease that provides that "[t]he Premises shall be used for park and public parking and no other purpose." (Def. SUMF, ECF No. 24-36 ¶¶ 18-20.) The Town built a gazebo on the parcel in 1996, has constructed and maintains walking paths, park benches, a bicycle rack, and a public trash receptacle, and mows the grass on the parcel. (Id. ¶¶ 21-23.) The Town of Rossville owns a second, 12.42-acre parcel of land that it refers to as Spring Lake Park,4 which is adjacent to the Lafayette Park parcel. (Id. ¶¶ 24-25.) In 2013, the Town received a grant of $200,000 from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation ("TDEC") to construct a pedestrian bridge connecting the two parcels, and in 2014, TDEC contracted with the Town to construct the bridge, as well as walking trails on the Spring Lake Park parcel. (Id. ¶¶ 27-28.) The parcels referred to as Lafayette Park and Spring Lake Park "are open to the public for the recreational use and enjoyment of the public." (Id. ¶ 29.) Each of these two parcels is less than 1,000 feet from the property line of 150 2nd Street. (Id. ¶¶ 30-31.)
Prior to 2020, Plaintiff and his wife had visited the parcel referred to as Lafayette Park and entered the gazebo several times and had once crossed the pedestrian bridge to the Spring Lake Park parcel. (Id. ¶ 32.) During the summer of 2020, Plaintiff knew that "he could not reside, as a primary or secondary residence, within 1,000 feet of a public park." (Id. ¶ 33.)
Prior to making an offer on the house at 150 2nd Street, Plaintiff and his wife did not advise his real estate agent, Judy Jones, that Plaintiff could not live within 1,000 feet of a public park and did not discuss either parcel with her. (Id. ¶ 34.) Plaintiff also "did not contact anyone at Rossville Town Hall regarding the parcels of land known as Lafayette Park or Spring Lake Park," nor did he visit the Town's website, whose Parks Department page contains a photograph of the gazebo. (Id. ¶¶ 37-38.) He did not "speak with any property owners or business owners near 150 2nd Street to ask about the parcels of land known as Lafayette Park or Spring Lake Park." (Id. ¶ 39.) He did speak with Detective Brian Dickey—a then-detective with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office assigned to the sex offender registry—who advised Plaintiff that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's ("TBI") website contained a map of "prohibited properties." (Id. ¶¶ 13, 41.) Before making an offer on 150 2nd Street, Plaintiff visited the TBI website and saw the following disclaimer:
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (herein "TBI") makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of this map and the information contained within nor to its fitness for a particular purpose or use. The purchaser or user accepts this map on an "AS IS" basis and assumes all responsibilities for the use thereof. The user will assume the entire risk and agrees to hold the TBI and its staff harmless of any liability resulting from any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or other damages, including loss of profit, arising out of the use of this map. The user is responsible for independent verification of all information on this map.
(Id. ¶ 43.)5 Plaintiff never advised Detective Dickey of the address of the property he was considering purchasing. (Id. ¶¶ 42, 44.) He did not speak with Detective Dickey or anyone else at the Shelby County Sheriff's Office after viewing the disclaimer. (Id. ¶¶ 44-45.) He did not speak with anyone at Rossville City Hall, the Rossville Police Department, the Fayette County Sheriff's Office, or TBI regarding the parcels of land referred to as Lafayette Park and Spring Lake Park. (Id. ¶¶ 46-48.)
On October 6, 2020, Plaintiff and his wife closed on the 150 2nd Street property. (Id. ¶ 49.) The next day, Defendant Dave Hamric, Chief of Police for the Town of Rossville, visited Plaintiff at his home in Collierville, Tennessee, and "asked him whether he intended to reside at 150 2nd Street, Rossville, Tennessee." (Id. ¶¶ 4, 50.) Plaintiff stated that he did. (Id. ¶ 51.) Chief Hamric gave Plaintiff a copy of Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211 and advised him that if he moved into 150 2nd Street with the intent to reside there, he would be in violation of that statute due to the proximity of Lafayette Park and would be subject to arrest. (Id. ¶ 52.) Plaintiff and his wife never moved into 150 2nd Street and sold that property. (Id. ¶ 54.) Neither Chief Hamric nor any member of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen ever advised Plaintiff that he had to sell 150 2nd Street, and Plaintiff was never arrested. (Id. ¶¶ 53, 63.) Plaintiff and his wife subsequently bought another residence in the Town of Rossville, which is not located within 1,000 feet of a public park. (Id. ¶¶ 60-61.)
Plaintiff filed this action on May 28, 2021 (ECF No. 1) and then filed an Amended Complaint (the "Complaint") on September 29, 2021 (ECF No. 20). Defendants filed an Answer to the Amended Complaint on April 23, 2022. (ECF No. 21.) Defendants then filed the instant Motion for Summary Judgment, along with a Memorandum of Law in Support, on May 9, 2022. (ECF Nos. 24, 24-35.) They also filed a Statement of Material Facts. (ECF No. 24-36.) Plaintiff filed a Response to Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment on June 6, 2022. (ECF No. 25.) Defendants filed a Reply in Support of their Motion for Summary Judgment on June 20, 2022. (ECF No. 28.) Plaintiff then moved the Court for leave to file his Response to Defendants' Statement of Material Facts out of time, having realized that he had inadvertently failed to file this document with his Response to Defendants' Motion. (ECF No. 29.) The Court granted Plaintiff's Motion (ECF No. 32), and Plaintiff subsequently filed his Response to Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, which also contains Plaintiff's Statement of Additional Undisputed Facts (ECF No. 33). Defendants then filed a Supplemental Reply in Support of Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 34) and a Response to Plaintiff's Statement of Additional Undisputed Facts (ECF No. 34-1).
A party is entitled to summary judgment "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). "A fact is 'material' for purposes of summary judgment if proof of that fact would establish or refute an essential element of the cause of action or defense." Bruederle v. Louisville Metro Gov't, 687 F.3d 771, 776 (6th Cir. 2012).
"In considering a motion for summary judgment, [the] court construes all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party." Robertson v. Lucas, 753 F.3d 606, 614 (6th Cir. 2014) (citing Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)). "The moving party bears the initial burden of demonstrating the absence of any genuine issue of material fact." Mosholder v. Barnhardt, 679 F.3d 443, 448 (6th Cir. 2012) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). "Once the moving party satisfies its initial burden, the burden...
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