Amiriantz v. New Jersey
Opinion of the Court
OPINION OF THE COURT
George Amiriantz appeals from the district court’s dismissal of his complaint for failure to state a claim. For the following reasons, we will affirm the district court’s judgment.
I.
On April 13, 2006, Amiriantz filed a complaint against the State of New Jersey challenging the state’s newly enacted “New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act” (the
On November 30, 2006, 2006 WL 3486814, the district court issued an opinion and order dismissing the complaint for failure to state a claim. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). First, the court determined that because Amiriantz had named the State of New Jersey in his complaint, rather than the state officials responsible for enforcing the Act, it was subject to dismissal under the Eleventh Amendment. See MCI Telecomm. Coop. v. Bell Atlantic-Pa., 271 F.3d 491, 503-08 (3d Cir. 2001); see also Penn. Fed’n of Sportsmen's Clubs, Inc. v. Hess, 297 F.3d 310, 323 (3d Cir. 2002). Nevertheless, permitting him the benefit of the doubt, and allowing for the possibility that Amiriantz could have amended his complaint to name state officials with the court’s permission, the court went further and discussed the merits of the equal protection claim. Citing Schumacher v. Nix, 965 F.2d 1262, 1269 (3d Cir. 1992), the court determined that the casino exemption was entitled to rational basis review because Amiriantz failed to allege that the New Jersey Legislature’s classification affected any fundamental rights. Under this standard, the court concluded, the same economic policy considerations underlying the creation of gaming areas in New Jersey also provided support for the exemption of the casinos from the Act. See N.J. Stat. Ann. § 5:12-1 et seq.
II.
We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. This court’s review of a district court’s dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is plenary. See Kost v. Kozakiewicz, 1 F.3d 176, 183 (3d Cir. 1993). A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) “tests the sufficiency of the allegations contained in the complaint.” Id. When reviewing a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal, we view the allegations of the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Pinker v. Roche Holdings, Ltd., 292 F.3d 361, 374 n. 7 (3d Cir. 2002).
III.
Having reviewed the parties’ submissions and relevant portions of the district
As the district court determined, because the casino exemption does not infringe on a fundamental right, it need only have a rational basis; we agree that it does.
. New Jersey Statutes Annotated § 26:3D-59(e) exempts the area within the perimeter of:
(1) any casino as defined in section 6 of P.L.1977, c. 110 (C.5:12-6) approved by the Casino Control Commission that contains at least 150 stand-alone slot machines, 10 table games, or some combination thereof approved by the commission, which machines and games are available to the public for wagering; and
(2) any casino simulcasting facility approved by the Casino Control Commission pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1992, c. 19 (C.5:12 — 194) that contains a simulcast counter and dedicated seating for at least 50 simulcast patrons or a simulcast operation and at least 10 table games, which simulcast facilities and games are available to the public for wagering.
. We agree also with the district court's conclusion that Amiriantz, as the owner/operator of a transportation company, was not similarly situated to the casinos and casino simulcasting facilities addressed under the exemption.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- V. George AMIRIANTZ v. State of NEW JERSEY
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published