Woods v. Township of West Whiteland

Decision Date23 September 1999
Docket NumberNo. 97-1944,97-1944
Citation193 F.3d 177
Parties(3rd Cir. 1999) WHITELAND WOODS, L.P., APPELLANT, V. TOWNSHIP OF WEST WHITELAND; WEST WHITELAND BOARD OF SUPERVISORS; WEST WHITELAND PLANNING COMMISSION; DIANE S. SNYDER; JERRY POLETTO; JACK C. NEWELL; KATHI HOLAHAN; NANCY CARVILLE; CARL DUSINBERRE, V. JOHN D. SNYDER
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

THOMAS A. RILEY, JR., ESQUIRE, (ARGUED 6/5/98 and 12/4/98), Riley, Riper, Hollin & Colagreco, Paoli, Pennsylvania, for Appellant

THOMAS X. McANDREW, JR.,, ESQUIRE, Siana & Vaughan, Exton, Pennsylvania, JEFFREY R. BALDYGA, ESQUIRE, (ARGUED 6/5/98)*, Siana, Shields & Vaughan, Exton, Pennsylvania, for Appellees, Township of West Whiteland; West Whiteland Board of Supervisors; West Whiteland Planning Commission; Diane S. Snyder; Jerry Poletto; Jack C. Newell; Kathi Holahan; Nancy Carville; Carl Dusinberre.

GEOFFREY C. JARVIS, ESQUIRE, (ARGUED 12/4/98), RICHARD A. SPRAGUE, ESQUIRE, Sprague & Sprague, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, GUY A. DONATELLI, ESQUIRE, Lamb, Windle & McErlane, West Chester, Pennsylvania, for Appellee, John D. Snyder.

Before: Scirica, Nygaard and SEITZ,** Circuit Judges

Before: Scirica, Nygaard and Rosenn, Circuit Judges

OPINION OF THE COURT

Scirica, Circuit Judge

In this civil rights action, real estate developer Whiteland Woods, L.P., a subsidiary of Toll Brothers, asserts that its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated by a township's refusal to allow videotaping of a meeting of the Township Planning Commission. In a parallel state court action, the township acknowledged that Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act, 65 Pa. Stat. Ann. §§ 271-86 (West Supp. 1998), requires the township to allow videotaping of Planning Commission proceedings and agreed not to enforce the ban at future meetings. Whiteland Woods then filed this lawsuit under 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 (West 1994) seeking monetary damages and attorney's fees. The District Court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment. We will affirm.

I.

On June 24, 1996, Whiteland Woods filed a tentative application with West Whiteland Township, Chester County, to build a residential community on a 162.5-acre parcel in the township. The application was placed on the agenda for the September 25, 1996 meeting of the West Whiteland Planning Commission.

At the September 25 meeting, attorney Thomas A. Riley presented Whiteland Woods' application to the Planning Commission. Whiteland Woods had arranged for a video camera operator to attend the meeting and record the proceedings. Apparently in response to this videotaping, Township Solicitor John D. Snyder stated early in the meeting that he intended to discuss rules governing videotaping, but that any changes to the rules would apply only to future meetings. During the meeting, Snyder prepared a resolution barring the use of all video cameras at future Planning Commission meetings. The resolution provided in part: "The following rules shall govern the use of mechanical/electrical recording and/or stenographic devices during public meetings: . . . (5) No video taping or video recording and no additional lighting shall be employed."

Jack Newell, president of the Planning Commission, placed Snyder's resolution on the agenda and Snyder presented it at the end of the meeting. Members of the Planning Commission discussed the proposed resolution, with participation by Riley and Michael Greenberg, vice president of Toll Brothers. Newell explained that he believed videotaping would inhibit candid Discussion by township residents. Other members of the Planning Commission expressed resentment at being videotaped and stated that videotaping could be intimidating. Greenberg, on the other hand, said he wanted a video record of all proceedings and Riley informed the Commission that he believed allowing videotaping was required by Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act. Nevertheless, the Planning Commission adopted the resolution banning videotaping by a vote of four to two. The Planning Commission did not prevent Whiteland Woods from videotaping the September 25 meeting.

On October 4, 1996, counsel for Whiteland Woods sent the Planning Commission written notification of Whiteland Woods' intention to videotape a meeting scheduled for October 9, 1996. On October 8, 1996, Snyder wrote informing Whiteland Woods that the Township would not permit videotaping and stating, "Under the circumstances, if you decide to undertake the effort and expense of bringing video cameras and videotaping equipment to the meeting you must do so at your own risk . . . ." The same day, the township's Board of Supervisors, following the lead of the Planning Commission, enacted Resolution 96-10 banning the use of video recording devices at meetings of the Board of Supervisors. Resolution 96-10 provided in part: "The following regulations shall govern the use of electrical/mechanical recording equipment during public meetings of the Board: . . . (c) Only audio recording or stenographic recording equipment may be used i.e. no video recording equipment shall be permitted . . . ."

Representatives of Whiteland Woods brought video recording equipment to the Planning Commission's October 9, 1996 meeting, but Officer John Curran of the West Whiteland Township Police Department informed Whiteland Woods' representatives they could not make a video recording of the meeting. Accordingly, Whiteland Woods left the camera facing the wall and made no videotape of the meeting.

On October 14, 1996, Whiteland Woods filed suit in the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County, seeking injunctive relief and relief under the Pennsylvania Declaratory Judgments Act, 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 7531-41 (West 1998), for violating the Sunshine Act, 65 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 271-86. Whiteland Woods also sought a preliminary injunction barring the Township from enforcing the two resolutions. On October 16, 1996, the Township, through counsel, wrote to the Court of Common Pleas conceding the Township could not enforce either resolution, citing Hain v. Board of Sch. Directors, 641 A.2d 661, 663-64 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1994) (holding that the Sunshine Act requires Pennsylvania government agencies to permit videotaping of their meetings). The Township defendants waived their right to a hearing on the preliminary injunction and the Court of Common Pleas on October 17 enjoined the Township from enforcing or attempting to enforce the two resolutions or any other resolutions prohibiting the videotaping of public meetings. The Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission complied with the injunction and did not try to enforce the resolutions. In fact, Whiteland Woods has videotaped every Board of Supervisors meeting since October 22, 1996.

Whiteland Woods then sought additional relief, filing a suit in the Court of Common Pleas for Chester County on November 13, 1996 for alleged violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments under 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 (West 1994), the Pennsylvania Constitution, and Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act. The complaint sought damages in excess of $2,100,000 and attorney's fees.1 The Township removed the case to federal court and filed a third-party complaint against Snyder, alleging that he advised the Commission that it legally could adopt the resolution barring videotaping. The Planning Commission rescinded its resolution on December 11, 1996; the Board of Supervisors rescinded Resolution 96-10 on December 18, 1996.

The District Court granted summary judgment on behalf of the Township defendants on the § 1983 claims. The court held the ban was not a violation of the First Amendment because it was a reasonable time, place, and manner restriction and dismissed the Fourteenth Amendment claim because the Township's conduct did not constitute a substantive due process violation. The court also determined that plaintiff 's request for injunctive relief was moot. After disposing of the federal claims, the District Court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiff 's state law claims or the Township's claim against Snyder. See Whiteland Woods v. Township of West Whiteland, No. 96-CV-8086, 1997 WL 653906, at *4-*8 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 21, 1997).

II.

The District Court had federal question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We exercise plenary review of a grant of summary judgment. See Wicker v. Consolidated Rail Corp. , 142 F.3d 690, 696 (3d Cir. 1998). We view all evidence and draw all inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the non- moving party and grant summary judgment if no reasonable jury could find for the non-moving party. See Sameric Corp v. City of Philadelphia, 142 F.3d 582, 590 (3d Cir. 1998).

III.
A.

The primary issue on appeal is whether there is a federal constitutional right to videotape public meetings of a township planning commission when other effective means of recording the proceedings are available. "It is now well established that the Constitution protects the right to receive information and ideas." Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557, 564 (1969). Because a "major purpose of[the First] Amendment was to protect the free Discussion of governmental affairs," Globe Newspaper v. Superior Ct., 457 U.S. 596, 604 (1982) (internal quotation marks omitted), the public and press have the right to attend certain types of governmental proceedings. See, e.g., id. at 603 (criminal trials); Publicker Indus., Inc. v. Cohen, 733 F.2d 1059, 1067-1070 (3d Cir. 1984) (civil trials).

We have no hesitation in holding Whiteland Woods had a constitutional right of access to the Planning Commission meeting on October 9, 1996. Whether the public has a First Amendment right of access to a particular government proceeding depends on "two complementary...

To continue reading

Request your trial
112 cases
  • People for Ethical Treatment of Animal v. Giuliani, 00 Civ. 3972(VM).
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. Southern District of New York
    • July 25, 2000
    ......42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2000); West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48, 108 S.Ct. 2250, 101 L.Ed.2d 40 ...2676 ("Congress, no more than a suburban township, may not by its own ipse dixit destroy the `public forum' ... use of the "limited public forum." See, e.g., Whiteland Woods, L.P. v. Township of West Whiteland, 193 F.3d 177, ......
  • PG Publ'g Co. v. Aichele
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)
    • January 15, 2013
    ...... judicial proceedings was once again evidenced in Whiteland Woods, L.P. v. Township of West Whiteland, 193 F.3d 177 ......
  • Civil Liberties Union v. City Transit Authority, 09 Civ. 3595(RJS).
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. Southern District of New York
    • December 23, 2009
    .......1992), state municipal planning meetings, see Whiteland Woods, L.P. v. W. Whiteland, 193 F.3d 177 (3d Cir.1999), ......
  • Mocek v. City of Albuquerque
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 10th Circuit. District of New Mexico
    • February 28, 2014
    ......Woods", 209 F.3d 1179, 1185 (10th Cir.2000). See        \xC2"...Whiteland Woods, L.P. v. Township of West Whiteland, we held that a ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT