Summum v. Duchesne City
| Decision Date | 17 April 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-4282.,No. 05-4168.,No. 05-4162.,No. 05-4272.,05-4162.,05-4168.,05-4272.,05-4282. |
| Citation | 482 F.3d 1263 |
| Parties | SUMMUM, a corporate sole and church, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. DUCHESNE CITY, a governmental entity; Clinton Park, Mayor of Duchesne City; Yordys Nelson; Nancy Wager; Paul Tanner; Darwin McKee; Jeannie Mecham, city council members, Defendants-Appellees/Cross-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Brian M. Barnard (James L. Harris, with him on the briefs), Utah Legal Clinic, Salt Lake City, UT, appearing for Appellant.
Francis J. Manion, American Center for Law & Justice, New Hope, KY (Geoffrey R. Surtees, American Center for Law & Justice, New Hope, KY, Edward L. White, III, Thomas More Law Center, Ann Arbor, MI, and Cindy Barton-Coombs, Duchesne City Attorney, Roosevelt, UT, with him on the briefs), appearing for Appellees.
Before TACHA, Chief Judge, EBEL, Circuit Judge, and KANE,* District Judge.
Summum, a religious organization, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Duchesne City, its mayor, and its city council members (collectively "City") for alleged violations of Summum's First Amendment free speech rights. Summum appeals the District Court's entry of summary judgment in favor of the City with respect to Summum's request for prospective injunctive relief from alleged ongoing violations of its free speech rights. The City cross-appeals the District Court's entry of summary judgment in favor of Summum with respect to Summum's request for declaratory relief and nominal damages for the City's past violations of its free speech rights. In addition, the City cross-appeals the District Court's denial of its motion for summary judgment based on lack of standing, and both parties appeal the District Court's order awarding Summum attorneys' fees. We exercise jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
This dispute arises from Summum's request to erect a monument of the Seven Aphorisms of Summum in a city park in Duchesne City, Utah. In September 2003, Summum sent a letter to the mayor of Duchesne City asking the City to transfer a small (10' × 11') plot of land in Roy Park to Summum for the display of its monument. Summum requested a plot of land (rather than simply seeking permission to erect its monument on public property) because, in August, the mayor had transferred a 10' × 11' plot of land in Roy Park containing a Ten Commandments monument to the Duchesne Lions Club. At the time of the transfer, the Ten Commandments monument had been displayed in Roy Park for nearly twenty-five years. In an attempt to remove the monument from public property, the mayor transferred the land to the Lions Club by quitclaim deed. The contract for the transaction cites the club's work in cleaning and beautifying the city as consideration for the transfer. Summum, in its request for a similar land transfer, asked that the City grant it the same access to public property that the City had granted the Lions Club. The City responded by letter, notifying Summum that it would grant Summum a similarly sized plot of land in Roy Park if the organization contributed the same amount of service to the City as the Lions Club had contributed.
Construing the City's response as a denial of its request for a plot of land in Roy Park, Summum filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in federal district court, alleging violations of its free speech rights under the First Amendment. It also alleged the City violated its rights under the Utah Constitution's Free Expression and Establishment Clauses. It sought declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as monetary damages. Both parties moved for summary judgment. At a hearing on the motions, the District Court expressed reservations about the City's land transfer to the Lions Club. In particular, it questioned whether the sale was supported by adequate consideration and was an arm's-length transaction (the mayor of the City was also president of the Lions Club). The court also noted that the City had not erected any fences, signs, or other indications of its disassociation from the plot of land and monument. After the court encouraged the parties to seek other solutions to the problem, the Lions Club transferred the plot of land back to the City by quitclaim deed, and the City sold the plot to the daughters of Irvin Cole, in whose honor the monument was originally donated. The Cole daughters paid $250 for the property, which they are free to use and dispose of as they wish. In addition, a white-picket fence approximately four feet high currently encircles the property, and a sign states that the City does not own the property. The City notified the District Court of the changed circumstances.
Summum argued that the City's sale of the property to the Cole daughters did not cure the violation of Summum's free speech rights. But in response to both parties' motions for summary judgment, the District Court entered an order in favor of the City, finding that the second sale ended the City's association with the Ten Commandments monument. The court concluded that because the monument was now private speech on private property, Summum was not entitled to injunctive relief facilitating the display of its monument in the park. In a subsequent order, the District Court concluded that prior to the sale of the plot to the Cole daughters, the City was violating Summum's free speech rights; it therefore granted Summum's motion for declaratory relief and awarded it nominal damages of $20. Summum now appeals the District Court's denial of its request for injunctive relief. The City cross-appeals the District Court's decision regarding declaratory relief and damages, as well as the court's denial of the City's motion for summary judgment based on lack of standing. In addition, both parties appeal the District Court's order awarding attorneys' fees to Summum as a prevailing party under 42 U.S.C. § 1988.
Before we reach the merits of Summum's First Amendment claim, we first address the City's contention that Summum lacks standing to bring this claim. Our review of this legal question is de novo. Lippoldt v. Cole, 468 F.3d 1204, 1216 (10th Cir.2006).
To ensure that an Article III case or controversy exists, a party asserting federal jurisdiction must establish three elements to have standing to bring a claim. Doctor John's, Inc. v. City of Roy, 465 F.3d 1150, 1155 (10th Cir.2006); Utah Animal Rights Coal. v. Salt Lake City Corp., 371 F.3d 1248, 1255 (10th Cir.2004). First, the party must establish an injury-in-fact by showing "an invasion of a legally protected interest that is (a) concrete and particularized and (b) actual or imminent, i.e., not conjectural or hypothetical." Utah Animal Rights Coal., 371 F.3d at 1255 (quotations omitted). Second, the party must demonstrate causation by "showing that the injury is fairly trace[able] to the challenged action of the defendant, rather than some third party not before the court." Id. (alteration in original) (quotations omitted). And third, the party must establish redressability by showing "that it is likely that a favorable court decision will redress the injury to the plaintiff." Id. (quotations omitted).
Summum claims that its First Amendment rights were violated when the City denied its request to erect a permanent monument in the park while allowing others to do so. The City maintains, however, that it removed the Ten Commandments monument from the park by selling the underlying property and that, consequently, a forum for permanent displays no longer exists in the park. Thus, the City argues, Summum has failed to establish an injury-in-fact. But the efficacy of the City's closure of the park as a forum for permanent displays is a matter of debate. And as we have cautioned, "we must not confuse standing with the merits." Id. at 1256; see also Initiative and Referendum Inst. v. Walker, 450 F.3d 1082, 1088 (10th Cir.2006) (en banc) ( ). If Summum is correct that the Ten Commandments monument is part of a public forum to which it was denied access, it may have suffered a deprivation of its free speech rights, which would clearly be an injury-in-fact caused by the City's actions and redressable by a favorable court decision. We therefore conclude that Summum has standing to bring its First Amendment claim.
We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same standard the district court applied. First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City v. Salt Lake City Corp., 308 F.3d 1114, 1120 (10th Cir.2002); see also Jacklovich v. Simmons, 392 F.3d 420, 425 (10th Cir. 2004) (). Summary judgment is proper only if the record shows "that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In addition, because the case before us involves First Amendment interests, "we have an obligation to conduct an independent review of the record and to examine constitutional facts and conclusions of law de novo." First Unitarian Church, 308 F.3d at 1120.
According to Summum, because the City has permitted a private party to erect a monument in a public forum, but denied Summum's request to do the same, it has violated Summum's free speech rights. In other words, Summum claims that the City has denied it access to a public forum on the same terms it has granted to others....
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