Charlynn G. Hulse v. Indiana State Fair Board
Charlynn G. Hulse v. Indiana State Fair Board
Opinion
*728 Statement of the Case
[1] Charlynn G. Hulse ("Hulse") appeals the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Indiana State Fair Board ("Fair Board") on her complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief. She argues that the trial court erred when it granted summary judgment in favor of the Fair Board because a condition for participating in the State Fair's china painting competition violates her First Amendment right to free speech. Because we conclude that Hulse does not have standing to raise her First Amendment claim and does not have a ripe overbreadth claim, we affirm the trial court's grant of summary judgment.
[2] We affirm.
Issue
Whether the trial court erred when it granted summary judgment in favor of the Fair Board.
Facts
[3] The Fair Board administers Indiana's annual State Fair, including the fair's Home and Family Arts Department's fine arts competitions. In order to exhibit at the State Fair and compete in the fine arts competitions, participants must agree to the "General Terms and Conditions" ("Terms and Conditions") listed in the fair's entry book and follow the individual rules for each competition. (App. Vol. 2 at 24). General Principle number 6 ("General Principle 6") of the Terms and Conditions states that "No exhibitor may take exception to the decisions of an official and/or judge in an unprofessional and/or public manner nor shall any exhibitor or person representing the exhibitor interfere with or show disrespect to any judge or show official." (App. Vol. 2 at 26). An exhibitor that takes exception to the decisions of an official or judge must, instead, follow the fair's established procedure for filing a grievance. 1
[4] Hulse regularly exhibited in the State Fair's fine arts competitions for several years. During this time, she believed that she witnessed several exhibitors violate the fair's china painting competition rules by entering copied, rather than original, work and by violating the rules in other respects. In 2014, Hulse discussed these violations with Fair Board member Douglas W. Huntsinger ("Huntsinger"). However, she did not file a written grievance or pay the $500 filing fee required for an official grievance; nor did Huntsinger act on her complaints.
[5] Subsequently, Hulse saw the following statement in the Indiana World Organization of China Painters' ("IWOCP") September 27, 2014 meeting minutes:
The person in charge of the china [p]ainting exhibit at the State Fair had a complaint from an individual that some of the china painting exhibits were copies. The complaint was dismissed because of insufficient evidence. The State Fair people are going to document future complaints and this particular individual may be banned from the State Fair if the complaints become a nuisance. The rules for non-professional pieces are more lenient. Regina reported *729 that the State Fair exhibit and demonstrations went well.
(App. Vol. 2 at 124). Hulse filed a public record request asking for documentation of "[a]ny grievances, complaints, or other similar documents, filed or attempted to be filed," in the 2014 State Fair china painting competitions. (App. Vol. 2 at 148). She received a response that no records matched her request because no grievances had been filed in 2014.
[6] In the summer of 2015, Hulse again participated in the State Fair and again thought she witnessed several china painting competition rule violations, as well as unethical judging practices. As a result, she filed an official written grievance with the Fair Board on August 21, 2015. Huntsinger responded to the grievance, telling her that he refused to accept it because it was untimely. Over the next month, Hulse exhausted her administrative appeal remedies and then filed a petition for judicial review.
[7] While her petition for judicial review in that cause was pending, Hulse filed a complaint in the instant cause seeking a declaratory judgment that General Principle 6 of the Terms and Conditions is unconstitutional. She also sought preliminary and permanent injunctions preventing the State Board from enforcing General Principle 6. In her complaint, Hulse argued that General Principle 6 is a content-based restriction on her right to free speech that is unconstitutional under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution because it is not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest.
[8] On December 30, 2015, Hulse filed a motion for summary judgment on her complaint. In support of this motion, Hulse designated an affidavit in which she averred that, when she had discussed her grievances with Huntsinger in 2014, he had told her not to pay the $500 filing fee required for a formal grievance and that he would handle the issues she had raised. She believed that this discussion with Huntsinger was the complaint mentioned in the IWOCP minutes because her public records request had revealed that no one else had filed any grievances regarding the china painting competitions in 2014. As a result, she claimed that the IWOCP's minutes demonstrated that she faced the prospect of being banned from participation in the State Fair if she exercised her right to free speech by criticizing the judging in the china painting competitions.
[9] On March 23, 2016, the Fair Board filed a response in opposition to Hulse's motion for summary judgment, as well as a cross-motion for summary judgment. The Board argued, in relevant part, that General Principle 6 does not violate the First Amendment because it is content-neutral and narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest.
[10] In support of its cross-motion for summary judgment, the Fair Board designated an affidavit from Huntsinger. In the affidavit, Huntsinger averred that he had not been "required" to act on Hulse's attempted 2014 grievance because she had never filed a formal, written grievance. (App. Vol. 2 at 171). He said that Hulse had "led [him] to believe that she would put her suggested edits to the rules in writing and send them to [him]" but had not done so in spite of "multiple" follow-up requests. (App. Vol. 2 at 171-72). As for the IWOCP's minutes, Huntsinger "strongly refuted" that any State Fair staff or Board members had made any comments to the IWOCP about a person filing a complaint during the 2014 state fair. (App. Vol. 2 at 172). Further, Huntsinger averred that the State Fair had never directly or indirectly threatened to ban Hulse from exhibiting at the fair.
*730 [11] On November 6, 2016, the trial court entered an order granting summary judgment in favor of the Fair Board. The trial court concluded that Hulse had waived her constitutional rights by agreeing to be bound by the Terms and Conditions when she entered the china painting competitions. In addition, the trial court also addressed the merits of Hulse's claim and concluded that General Principle 6 does not violate the First Amendment because it is content-neutral and narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest. Hulse now appeals.
Decision
[12] On appeal, Hulse argues that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the Fair Board. She requested in her motion for summary judgment for the trial court to issue a declaratory judgment that General Principle 6 is unconstitutional, and the Fair Board filed a cross-motion for summary judgment arguing that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because Hulse had waived her constitutional rights and because General Principle 6 is not unconstitutional. Now, Hulse contends that the Fair Board failed to prove that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In response, the Fair Board argues, among other arguments, that the trial court did not err in concluding that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because Hulse lacked standing to raise her claim.
[13] We review an order for summary judgment de novo, which is the same standard of review applied by the trial court.
Miller v. Town Bd. of Sellersburg
,
[14] Preliminarily, we will address the Fair Board's argument that Hulse lacked standing. While the trial court did not address the issue of standing in its order, we may affirm the entry of summary judgment on any grounds supported by the designated evidentiary materials.
Bragg v. Kittle's Home Furnishings, Inc.
,
[15] " 'The doctrine of standing focuses on whether the complaining party is the proper person to invoke the Court's power.' "
Bd. of Trustees of Purdue Univ. v. Eisenstein
,
[16] Although Indiana has very little precedent regarding the issue of standing in the context of the First Amendment, we find federal holdings on the subject dispositive. Federal cases reveal that a plaintiff must show evidence of three elements to establish standing: (1) the plaintiff has suffered
*731
an "injury in fact"-an invasion of a legally protected interest that is "concrete and particularized" and " 'actual or imminent, not 'conjectural' or 'hypothetical,' "
Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife
,
[17] Hulse argues that she has suffered and will suffer an "injury in fact" because the Fair Board may ban her from exhibiting at a fine arts competition under General Principle 6 if she expresses disagreement with the china competition results. She also argues that fear of being banned has "chilled" her speech on the issue. (Hulse's Reply Br. 9).
[18] As for Hulse's argument that General Principle 6 has "chilled" her speech, we note that "[c]hilled speech is, unquestionably, an injury supporting standing."
Bell v. Keating
,
[19] As for Hulse's argument that it is likely she might be banned from participating in the fair in the future, we note that an allegation of a potential future injury " 'may suffice" to establish standing "if the threatened injury is certainly impending, or there is a substantial risk that the harm will occur.' "
Kiser v. Reitz
,
[20] Here, Hulse has not established that she will imminently suffer an injury in fact because her intended conduct is not "proscribed by statute."
See
Babbitt
,
[21] Additionally, Hulse has not shown that she faces a credible threat of prosecution.
See
Babbitt
,
[22] Nevertheless, Hulse notes that, in the First Amendment context, plaintiffs generally have standing to raise claims on behalf of others, even if they do not have standing themselves.
See
Dream Palace v. Cty. of Maricopa
,
[23] However, we conclude that Hulse's overbreadth claim is not ripe. While the overbreadth doctrine provides exceptions to the general rules on standing, it does not establish ripeness.
Hallandale Professional Fire Fighters Local 2238 v. City of Hallandale
,
[24] Hulse has not designated any evidence that any other potential plaintiff has suffered or will suffer an imminent injury in fact as a result of General Principle 6. As a result, we conclude that her claim that she may challenge General Principle 6 as being overly broad is not ripe for our review.
[25] Because Hulse lacked standing to raise her "as applied" challenge to General Principle 6 and her overbreadth challenge is not yet ripe, we conclude that the Fair
*733
Board was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
See
Prasco, LLC v. Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp.
,
[26] Affirmed.
May, J., and Brown, J., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.