Wall-Desousa v. Fla. Dep't of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles
| Decision Date | 02 June 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. 16-10410,16-10410 |
| Parties | DANIEL WALL-DESOUSA, SCOTT WALL-DESOUSA, Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES, et al., Defendants, MAUREEN JOHNSON, Chief, Bureau of Records, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Division of Motorist Services, in her individual capacity, CLAYTON BOYD WALDEN, Director of Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Division of Motorist Services, in his individual capacity, DIANNE BOWMAN, Supervisor of the Brevard County Tax Collector's Office in Indian Harbour Beach, in her individual capacity, Defendants - Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
D.C. Docket No. 6:14-cv-01959-CEM-DAB Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
Before TJOFLAT, HULL, and O'MALLEY,* Circuit Judges.
Plaintiffs Daniel Wall-DeSousa and Scott Wall-DeSousa (the "Wall-DeSousas") appeal the district court's dismissal of their second amended complaint for failure to state a claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The Wall-DeSousas brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging First Amendment retaliation claims against defendants Maureen Johnson, Clayton Walden, and Dianne Bowman (the "defendants"). The defendants, as agents of the State of Florida, defended on the basis of qualified immunity.
After review, and with the benefit of oral argument, we must affirm the district court's dismissal of the Wall-DeSousas' second amended complaint.
The Wall-DeSousas describe themselves as a same-sex, married couple living in Brevard County, Florida. Defendant Bowman is the supervisor of the Indian Harbour Beach office of the Brevard County Tax Collector. Defendant Johnson is the Chief of the Bureau of Records for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles ("DHSMV"), Division of Motorist Services. Defendant Walden is the Director of the DHSMV. According to the second amended complaint, at all relevant times, the defendants acted under color of state law.
On December 6, 2013, the Wall-DeSousas legally married in New York state. Before their marriage, the couple's names were Daniel DeSousa and Scott Wall. When Daniel and Scott married, they both changed their surnames to Wall-DeSousa. Their New York state marriage license reflected this change. The marriage license did not indicate whether the Wall-DeSousas were a same-sex or opposite-sex couple.
Later in December, the Wall-DeSousas returned to Florida. On December 27, 2013, the Wall-DeSousas visited a Social Security Administration office in Melbourne, Florida and successfully obtained social security cards with thesurname "Wall-DeSousa." Thereafter, Daniel went to the Brevard County Tax Collector's Office in Palm Bay, Florida, to change the surname (at that point, "DeSousa") on his Florida driver's license. The Palm Bay office issued Daniel a Florida driver's license with the surname "Wall-DeSousa."
Scott also attempted to change the surname (at that point, "Wall") on his Florida driver's license, but he went the Brevard County Tax Collector's Office in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida—where defendant Bowman is the supervisor— to do so. At the Indian Harbour office, Scott presented defendant Bowman with his new social security card and the Wall-DeSousas' New York state marriage license. Defendant Bowman allegedly refused to issue Scott a new driver's license and "tossed the marriage certificate back to [him]," indicating that it could not be used to support a name change on a Florida driver's license under Florida law. At the time, Florida law, Fla. Stat. § 741.212 (2013), prohibited the recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages, providing that:
Fla. Stat. § 741.212(1), (2) (2013). Accordingly, at the time, defendant Bowman followed the law in not recognizing Scott's out-of-state same-sex marriage.
After denying Scott's request to change his driver's license, defendant Bowman allegedly called the Palm Bay office in order to have Daniel's driver's license canceled. The Palm Bay office did not cancel Daniel's driver's license.
On August 21, 2014, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida ruled that the Florida law in § 741.212 was unconstitutional and issued a preliminary injunction enjoining its enforcement. Brenner v. Scott, 999 F. Supp. 2d 1278, 1290-92 (N.D. Fla. 2014). The district court stayed the issuance of its preliminary injunction until ninety-one days after the Supreme Court's decision on then-pending stay applications in three separate same-sex marriage cases. Id. at 1292. On October 6, 2014, the Supreme Court denied those stay applications. See Schaefer v. Bostic, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S. Ct. 308 (2014); Smith v. Bishop, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S. Ct. 271 (2014); Herbert v. Kitchen, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S. Ct. 265 (2014). This meant that the district court's stay of its preliminary injunction would be lifted on January 6, 2015 (ninety-one days after October 6, 2014) and thus that, beginning on January 6, 2015, enforcement of § 741.212 would be enjoined. However, up until January 6, 2015, § 741.212 remained legally in effect.
In early October 2014, an assistant to the Brevard County Tax Collector took the Wall-DeSousas' marriage certificate to the DHSMV in Tallahassee, Florida for guidance on the surname issue. After doing so, the assistant informed Scott that, because the marriage certificate was not marked "same-sex," Scott could use the document to obtain a driver's license with the "Wall-DeSousa" surname in a county other than Brevard. The assistant, however, informed Scott that she could not personally issue him a driver's license because she now knew that his marriage was between same-sex partners. The Brevard County assistant advised Scott to try to obtain his driver's license in another county because "the tax collector in another county would not be aware nor would they be able to ask."
On October 15, 2014, Scott traveled to a new county—Orange County, Florida—to obtain a new driver's license. A clerk with the Orange County Tax Collector's Office informed Scott that the DHSMV had a "don't ask, don't tell" policy in place. Scott successfully obtained a driver's license reflecting his new surname by presenting his marriage certificate, his social security number, and a car insurance bill.
On October 30, 2014, the Wall-DeSousas spoke to a local news anchor on a televised broadcast about their difficulties obtaining driver's licenses, the DHSMV policy, and how other people could deal with the same issue. According to the second amended complaint, defendant Bowman saw the news story and thencontacted the DHSMV to request that it cancel the Wall-DeSousas' driver's licenses.
On November 5, 2014, the DHSMV sent each of the Wall-DeSousas an individually addressed copy of a single letter indicating that the Wall-DeSousas' driver's licenses would be canceled indefinitely as of November 25, 2014. The DHSMV letter stated that, "[b]ecause same sex marriage certificates are not recognized as valid in Florida under 741.212, F.S., . . . we are unable to change your last name." Defendants Johnson and Walden both signed the letter. On November 7, 2014, the Wall-DeSousas received the letter.
On November 11, 2014, the Wall-DeSousas reached back out to the same local news station for a follow-up news story. A follow-up news story aired later that day.
On November 13, 2014, Scott asked the DHSMV to reconsider its decision to cancel the Wall-DeSousas' driver's licenses. The DHSMV representative, in a "scripted manner," told Scott to apply for an administrative hearing. The DHSMV representative indicated that the DHSMV and the Tax Collector's offices were "following the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law."
On November 24, 2014, the day before the DHSMV planned to cancel the Wall-DeSousas' driver's licenses, Scott returned to the Indian Harbour Beach office to change his driver's license back to his pre-marriage surname. At theoffice, defendant Bowman told Scott that he could only receive a temporary courtesy license, valid for ninety days, which would be canceled if he did not present a passport reflecting his new surname within that time period. Separately, Daniel returned his own driver's license by cutting it in half and sending it to the DHSMV, in accordance with the DHSMV's license-return policy.
On January 5, 2015, the DHSMV issued a "technical advisory," which directed all DHSMV offices to, "[e]ffective January 6, 2015," recognize "all marriage certificates as sufficient proof to complete a name change on a driver license or identification card." January 6, 2015 marked the first day in which the Florida district court's stay of its preliminary injunction was lifted and the preliminary injunction, barring the enforcement of § 741.212, took effect.
On January 13, 2015, the Wall-DeSousas both successfully obtained licenses with the "Wall-DeSousa" surname at the Palm Bay office in Brevard County.
On November 25, 2014, the Wall-DeSousas filed a complaint against the governor of Florida, the then-director of the DHSMV, and defendant Bowman, alleging a variety of constitutional claims. On January 23, 2015, the Wall-DeSousas filed a first...
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