Thomas v. Nakatani, CIV. 00-125 ACK.
| Decision Date | 13 October 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. 00-125 ACK.,CIV. 00-125 ACK. |
| Parties | Sue THOMAS, Plaintiff, v. James J. NAKATANI, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | Hawaii Supreme Court |
Michael A. Lilly, Ning Lilly & Jones, Honolulu, HI, for Sue Thomas, plaintiff.
Deborah Day Emerson, Office of the Attorney General-Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, for James J. Nakatani, Dept. of Agriculture, State of Hawaii, John Does 1-10, Doe Government Agencies 1-10, defendants.
ORDER GRANTING IN PART, DENYING IN PART, AND STAYING CONSIDERATION IN PART OF DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS OR FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Sue Thomas ("Plaintiff") is profoundly deaf and navigates her way through life with the assistance of her hearing guide dog, "Amazing Grace." Plaintiff is an inspirational speaker and it is in that role that she visited Hawaii in 1999, accompanied by Amazing Grace. The instant case arises from Plaintiff and Amazing Grace's encounter with Hawaii's animal quarantine laws. Plaintiff alleges that in the course of enforcing the animal quarantine laws, James J. Nakatani, both in his individual and his official capacities as the Chairman of the Board of Agriculture, State of Hawaii; the Department of Agriculture of the State of Hawaii ("DOA"); and the State of Hawaii ("State") (collectively, "Defendants") all deprived her of various constitutional, statutory, and common law rights. Plaintiff brings this action on behalf of the class of "all deaf Americans who desire to freely travel to and/or from Hawaii for business and/or pleasure with their hearing dogs exempt from Hawaii's Animal Quarantine requirements." Compl. ¶¶ 6-7.
Pursuant to the authority granted it under H.R.S. § 142-2, the DOA has promulgated rules for dealing with animal diseases and quarantine. These rules appear in the Hawaii Administrative Rules ("H.A.R."), Title 4, Chapter 29. Their objective "is to prevent the introduction of rabies into the State through quarantine of cats, dogs, and other carnivores entering the State." H.A.R. § 4-29-1.1 Section 4-29-9 establishes a 120-day quarantine2 for carnivores entering Hawaii from the United States mainland or from any other country that has not been designated by the DOA as rabies-free. See H.A.R. § 4-29-9. The rules apply to both visitors and returning residents. See H.A.R. § 4-29-8(6).3 The Ninth Circuit recently held that the old version of the H.A.R. violated the ADA with respect to the treatment of blind persons wanting to enter the state with guide dogs. Crowder v. Kitagawa, 81 F.3d 1480, 1481 (9th Cir.1996) (). Subsequent to the Crowder decision, the H.A.R. have been amended (as recently as July of 2000) to provide new exemptions for, inter alia, blind and deaf users of service dogs. See H.A.R. §§ 4-29-20 through 4-29-26 (current version). It is undisputed that the requirements to gain an exemption for non-blind service dog users are more strict. See id. The current exemptions for deaf users of service dogs were not available in April of 1999 when Plaintiff traveled to Hawaii. See Mot., Nakatani Decl, Ex. 4.
Plaintiff filed her second amended complaint4 ("Complaint") on August 17, 2000. The following background is taken from the Complaint and declarations filed by the parties, as well as Defendants' CSF.5 According to Plaintiff, she and Amazing Grace are an "inseparable team." Compl. ¶ 9. Id.; see also Pl. Decl. ¶ 3 (attached to Opp.). Amazing Grace had received all appropriate vaccinations, including those for rabies. See Pl. Decl. ¶ 3.
Plaintiff flew to Hawaii on April 26, 1999 for the purpose of delivering a speech.6 Upon arrival at Honolulu International Airport, Plaintiff and Amazing Grace were taken to the airport quarantine station where, according to the Complaint, they were "detained." See Compl. ¶ 11.7 Initially Plaintiff was not allowed to leave the airport with Amazing Grace and go to her hotel. Defendants gave Plaintiff the option of either staying at the quarantine station cottage or the airport quarantine station if she wished to be with Amazing Grace. According to Aileen Wakayama, the supervisor of the airport quarantine facility, Plaintiff insisted on remaining at the airport facility8 to be with Amazing Grace. Waykayama Decl. ¶ 4 (attached to Motion).
After the decision was made that Plaintiff would stay at the airport quarantine station, a mattress, blankets, and pillows were placed on the floor for her and Amazing Grace. See Compl. ¶ 12; Pl. Decl. ¶ 6.9 Later that evening, Plaintiff demanded to see the Acting Quarantine Station Manager, Dr. James F. Foppoli, and the Animal Quarantine Branch Program Manager, Dr. Dewey Sturges. See Compl. ¶ 12; Pl. Decl. ¶ 6. At 11:20 p.m. that night, Drs. Foppoli and Sturges, on behalf of the DOA, released Amazing Grace on provisional quarantine to Plaintiff's hotel room. See Compl. ¶ 13; Pl. Decl. ¶ 7; Opp., Ex. T; Wakayama Decl. ¶ 6. Amazing Grace was only permitted to leave the room to relieve herself in designated areas of the hotel grounds. See Compl. ¶ 13; Pl. Decl. ¶ 7.
The terms of the provisional quarantine included that inspections be conducted by animal quarantine employees to confirm that Amazing Grace was indeed present in the room in compliance with the agreement. See Compl. ¶ 13 & Ex. A; Wakayama Decl. ¶ 6; Opp., Ex. T. Plaintiff contends that she was subject to inspections at any time and that through her five day stay, twelve visits were made. See Compl. ¶ 13; Pl. Decl. ¶ 8. Inspections were made whether Plaintiff was present in the room or not — if Plaintiff did not answer the door, hotel security let the investigators into the room. See Wakayama Decl. ¶ 7; Pl. Decl. ¶ 8. Plaintiff spent most of her time in Hawaii in the hotel room with Amazing Grace, afraid to be away both because she relied heavily on Amazing Grace for her personal safety and out of concern for the effect separation would have on the dog's well-being. See Compl. ¶ 14; Pl. Decl. ¶ 9.
Plaintiff's speech was scheduled for May 1, 1999. Although Plaintiff contends that initially, Defendants did not agree to let Amazing Grace attend the speech, eventually the dog was permitted to leave the hotel and participate in Plaintiff's presentation. See Compl. ¶ 15; Pl. Decl. ¶ 10; Nakatani Decl. ¶ 7. An inspector from the DOA accompanied Amazing Grace and Plaintiff. See Compl. ¶ 15; Pl. Decl. ¶ 10.
Plaintiff left Hawaii later on the day of May 1, 1999. Plaintiff met with Dr. Foppoli at the airport who, according to Plaintiff, told her that she would never be able to return with Amazing Grace until the laws were changed. See Compl. ¶ 17; Pl. Decl. ¶ 11. After Plaintiff boarded her plane, she opened an envelope a friend had given her, containing a letter dated April 29, 1999 from Nakatani. See Compl. ¶ 18; Pl. Decl. ¶ 12. The letter stated that the provisional quarantine agreement reached with Drs. Foppoli and Sturges on April 26, 1999 which exempted Amazing Grace from the quarantine requirements was "not valid," "made without legal authority," and "hereby repudiated." See Compl., Ex. A.; Opp., Ex. T. The letter also stated that Amazing Grace must be taken to the Halawa quarantine station until either the end of the 120-day quarantine period, or until Plaintiff left Hawaii, and that Plaintiff could stay at either Halawa or the hotel. See id. The letter stated that failure to comply could result in fines or imprisonment or both.10
Plaintiff subsequently received a document dated June 18, 1999 from the District Court for the First Circuit of the State of Hawaii and entitled "Notice of Failure to Respond to Animal Industry Violation." See Compl., Ex. C; Opp., Ex. U. The notice stated that Plaintiff was being fined $525 for "failure to meet post shipment requirements," i.e., removing Amazing Grace from the airport quarantine station on April 26, 1999. See id.11 Plaintiff is "fearful that if she returns to Hawaii she will be arrested, imprisoned, and separated from her inseparable companion, Amazing Grace." See Compl. ¶ 10. Plaintiff alleges no desire or plans to return to Hawaii in either the Complaint or the Opposition.
According to Nakatani, he has never met Plaintiff, but in his position as Chairman of the Board of Agriculture, he was informed of the agreement to allow Amazing Grace to have provisional quarantine at Plaintiff's hotel. See CSF ¶ 1. He also states that the Animal Quarantine Program of the Division of Animal Industry does not receive any federal financial assistance. See CSF ¶ 4. Moreover, Nakatani avers that in his individual capacity he does not receive or control the receipt of any federal financial assistance in any way related to the animal quarantine program. See id. To the extent that this is a motion for summary judgment, neither of these facts were refuted by Plaintiff and are therefore deemed admitted. See L.R. 56.1. Finally, in defense of the quarantine program, Nakatani stated that,
Hawaii is a rabies-free state. The quarantine statutes and administrative rules are intended to protect the public health and safety by assuring that the state remains rabies-free, specifically by preventing animals from being brought into the state without the assurance of a quarantine period or strict control to prevent exposure or transmission to other animals.
Nakatani Decl. ¶ 6. He also informed the Court that the Hawaii Administrative Rules governing quarantine for service and guide dogs were amended...
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