W. Watersheds Project v. Michael
W. Watersheds Project v. Michael
Opinion of the Court
This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 95) and State Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 98) joined by County Defendants Patrick Lebrun and Joshua Smith (ECF No. 105). The parties agree that this matter is appropriate for resolution by summary judgment with each contending they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The Court, having reviewed the wealth of motions, memoranda, responses, and other documentation in this case, listening to oral argument, and being otherwise fully advised, finds as follows:
BACKGROUND
This case has a long history before this Court. The dispute centers on recently enacted Wyoming statutes which impose criminal and civil penalties for data collection on private land or when private land is crossed to reach public land without landowner permission. The Tenth Circuit has summarized many of the relevant facts,
In 2015, Wyoming enacted a pair of statutes that prohibited individuals from entering "open land for the purpose of collecting resource data" without permission from the owner. Wyo. Stat. §§ 6-3-414 (2015) ; 40-27-101 (2015). The statutes were largely identical, with one imposing criminal punishment, § 6-3-414(c) (2015), and the other imposing civil liability, § 40-27-101(c) (2015). "Resource data" was defined as "data relating to land or land use," including that related to "air, water, soil, conservation, habitat, vegetation or animal species." § 6-3-414(d)(iv) (2015). And the term "collect" was defined as requiring two elements: (1) taking a "sample of material" or a "photograph." or "otherwise preserv[ing] information in any form" that is (2) "submitted or intended to be submitted to any agency of the state or federal government." § 6-3-414(d)(i) (2015). Information obtained in violation of these provisions could not be used in *1180any proceeding other than an action under the statutes themselves. §§ 6-3-414(e) (2015) ; 40-27-101(d) (2015). The statutes also required government agencies to expunge data collected in violation of their provisions and forbade the agencies from considering such data "in determining any agency action." §§ 6-3-414(f) (2015) ; 40-27-101(f) (2015).
The 2015 criminal statute imposed heightened penalties above and beyond Wyoming's general trespass provision. It provided a maximum term of imprisonment of one year and a S1,000 fine for first time offenders. § 6-3-414(c)(i) (2015). Repeat offenders faced a mandatory minimum ten days' imprisonment, a maximum of one year, and a $5,000 fine. § 6-3-414(c)(ii) (2015). The 2015 civil statute imposed liability for proximate damages and "litigation costs," including attorneys' fees. § 40-27-101(c)(2015).
Plaintiffs, who are advocacy organizations, filed suit to challenge the 2015 statutes. They argued that the statutes violated the Free Speech and Petition Clauses of the First Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and were preempted by federal law. Defendants moved to dismiss. Granting the motion in part and denying it in part, the district court held that plaintiffs had stated plausible free speech, petition, and equal protection claims, but failed to state a preemption claim.
After the district court's decision, Wyoming amended the two statutes. Wyo. Stat. §§ 6-3-414 (2016) ; 40-27-101 (2016). The revised statutes continue to impose heightened criminal punishment, § 6-3-414, and civil liability, § 40-27-101. But the amendments eliminate reference to "open lands" and instead penalize any individual who without authorization: (1) enters private land "for the purpose of collecting resource data"; (2) enters private land and "collects resource data"; or (3) "crosses private land to access adjacent or proximate land where he collects resource data." §§ 6-3-414(a) - (c) ; 40-27-101(a)-(c). Under the current version of the statutes, there is no requirement that resource data be submitted to, or intended to be submitted, to a government agency. Instead, the term "collect" now means: (1) "to take a sample of material" or "acquire, gather, photograph or otherwise preserve information in any form"; and (2) "recording ... a legal description or geographical coordinates of the location of the collection." §§ 6-3-414(e)(i) ; 40-27-101(h)(i).
Plaintiffs amended their complaint to challenge the 2016 statutes, re-alleging free speech and equal protection claims. Defendants again moved to dismiss. This time, the district court granted the motion in full. It concluded that the revised version of the statutes did not implicate protected speech. Plaintiffs timely appealed.
....
On appeal, plaintiffs challenge only the district court's ruling regarding subsections (c) of the statutes under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
Western Watersheds Project v. Michael ,
Upon review, the Tenth Circuit reversed, concluding "that plaintiffs' collection of resource data constitutes the protected creation of speech."
*1181STANDARD OF REVIEW
Summary judgment is appropriate where a movant shows "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a) (emphasis added). "A dispute is genuine if there is sufficient evidence so that a rational trier of fact could resolve the issue either way. A fact is material if under the substantive law it is essential to the proper disposition of the claim." Crowe v. ADT Sec. Servs., Inc. ,
"The mere filing of cross motions for summary judgment does not establish that there is no issue of material fact or obligate the trial court to render summary judgment; the trial court must independently determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact, perusing the record through the standard summary judgment prism, and applying the standard of review to each motion separately." 73 Am. Jur. 2d Summary Judgment § 45. "The denial of one does not require the grant of the other" and "in considering cross motions, the court should draw all inferences against each movant in turn." See
DISCUSSION
The parties raise numerous issues in their cross-motions that the Court reduces to the following major topics: standing, the validity of a facial challenge, content-neutrality and forum analysis, and the appropriate level of scrutiny. The Court will take each topic in turn and apply the standard of review as outlined above.
I. Standing
Plaintiffs assert the Court should find they do have standing in their motion for summary judgment. Conversely, Defendants argue Plaintiffs lack standing. Prior to addressing the substantive law, the Court believes the issue of standing has already been resolved by the mandate rule and the law of the case. The mandate rule "is a discretion-guiding rule that generally requires trial court conformity with the articulated appellate remand." United States v. Hicks ,
*1182N. Nat. Gas Co. v. Approximately 9117.53 Acres in Pratt, Kingman , No. 10-1232-JTM,
"At the summary judgment stage, a plaintiff's standing must be supported by specific evidentiary facts and not by mere allegations." Phelps v. Hamilton ,
Given these concerns, "plaintiffs in a suit for prospective relief based on a 'chilling effect' on speech can satisfy the requirement that their claim of injury be 'concrete and particularized' by (1) evidence that in the past they have engaged in the type of speech affected by the challenged government action; (2) affidavits or testimony stating a present desire, though no specific plans, to engage in such speech; and (3) a plausible claim that they presently have no intention to do so because of a credible threat that the statute will be enforced." Initiative & Referendum Inst. v. Walker ,
Assessing whether there is a credible threat of enforcement is often a difficult matter. See Initiative & Referendum Inst. ,
*1183D.L.S. v. Utah ,
As before, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have sufficiently established standing (see ECF No. 40 (finding Plaintiffs had standing at motion to dismiss stage during first challenge) ). First, taking Plaintiffs' motion and drawing all inferences against Plaintiffs, they have shown standing to bring a First Amendment claim. Plaintiffs have shown a causal connection and redressability, which Defendants do not contest. Plaintiffs have also shown, and Defendants do not contest, they have engaged in the past in the type of speech affected by the challenged government action. Further, Plaintiffs have provided affidavits stating a present desire, though no specific plans, to engage in such speech. Only element three of the Initiative & Referendum Inst. 'chill test' is truly at issue.
Defendants argue any harm resulting from mistaken trespass is conjectural because Plaintiffs are professionals who should know their location and cannot rely on the assumption they will mistakenly trespass. Defendants point to the fact that Plaintiffs can utilize various measures to ensure they do not trespass and can exercise caution knowing the limitations of the resources available. These arguments ignore the language of the test for standing. Plaintiffs must only assert a "a plausible claim" that they have self-censored "because of a credible threat that the statute will be enforced." Initiative & Referendum Inst. ,
Plaintiffs have provided specific affidavits to prove that self-censorship has resulted from the credible threat of prosecution (see ECF Nos. 96-1, 96-3, 96-4, 96-9, 96-10, 96-11) (Affidavits of Sharon Buccino, Erik Molvar, Briana Mordick, Jonathan Ratner, Angus Thuermer Jr., and Mary Umekubo). Defendants do not directly challenge these affidavits in their responsive briefing beyond stating the chill is "unsupported by [Plaintiffs'] responses to the State Defendants' interrogatories," but do thoroughly cover this argument in their own motion for summary judgment. Even drawing all inferences against Plaintiffs, the affidavits do support a finding of standing. The Natural Resources Defense Council ("NRDC") Plaintiffs point to an investigation of air quality near the Beartooth Front that was suspended in light of the 2015 and 2016 statutes and that NRDC continues to be interested in carrying out (see Buccino Aff. ¶ 12-13). The fact that this chill began with the 2015 laws and continues with the laws today does not invalidate the claim as Defendants suggest.
The Western Watersheds Project ("WWP") Plaintiffs also identify numerous sites they would collect data from if not for the threat imposed by the statutes (see Molvar Aff. ¶ 21). The Affidavit indicates numerous measures have been taken to prevent mistaken trespass, but that "maps often are not at the scale needed to determine exact boundaries, boundaries in Wyoming are often unmarked, and, even if WWP knows the exact location of the boundary, GPS devices are imprecise" (see id. ¶ 15). Defendants argue WWP Plaintiffs could do more to ascertain the correct boundaries, but even taking this as true, Plaintiffs' can establish standing where the statute imposes sufficiently significant and costly compliance measures. See Johnson ,
Finally, Defendants challenge the specific claims of Plaintiff National Press Photographers Association ("NPPA"). NPPA Plaintiffs identify several stories and photographs they have not been able to complete *1185given fears of mistaken trespass and the pressing timelines that exist in the field of journalism (see Thuermer Aff. ¶¶ 12-14). Defendants argue NPPA Plaintiffs could take measures to avoid much of this risk. However, this again ignores what Plaintiffs need to show to establish the challenged element, a plausible claim that they presently have no intention to engage in the protected speech or conduct because of a credible threat that the statute will be enforced. Further, given the highly time-sensitive deadlines involved in journalism, NPPA Plaintiffs have a strong argument regarding the high costs of compliance measures. The NPPA allegations support a finding of standing.
Turning to Defendants' motion for summary judgment and making all inferences against Defendants, the Court finds this motion must be denied. Defendants have not shown Plaintiffs' chill claims are too speculative or that the specific Plaintiffs lack concrete injuries. Plaintiffs have made a plausible claim that they presently have no intention to carry out their desired speech activities because of a credible threat that the statutes will be enforced. Defendants make identical arguments in their own motion for summary judgment as they do in response to Plaintiffs' motion. These claims will be rejected for the reasons outlined above. If anything, Plaintiffs' claims are even stronger in this framework given the posture of this motion which requires the Court to draw all inferences in favor of Plaintiffs. The Court finds Plaintiffs have standing and now turns to the claims on the merits.
II. Facial Challenge
First, the Court must address whether the challenge is as-applied or facial in nature. Defendants argue Plaintiffs' facial challenge fails because "the laws at issue can be applied constitutionally, at a minimum, in some circumstances." Defendants rely upon United States v. Salerno ,
A plaintiff "may challenge the constitutionality of a statute by asserting a facial challenge, an as-applied challenge, or both. However, the label is not what matters. "[T]he distinction between facial and as-applied challenges is not so well defined that it has some automatic effect or that it must always control the pleadings and disposition in every case involving a constitutional challenge." See United States v. Supreme Court of New Mexico ,
*1186The fact that a Plaintiff brings "a facial challenge does not automatically compel the application of a specific test, must less the Salerno formulation." Doe v. City of Albuquerque ,
III. Content Neutrality
Plaintiffs and Defendants dispute whether the Wyoming statutes are content neutral or content based. "[A]s a general matter, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content. As a result, the Constitution demands that content-based restrictions on speech be presumed invalid ... and that the Government bear the burden of showing their constitutionality." United States v. Alvarez ,
First, the Court turns to Plaintiffs' motion and allegation that the statutes are content based. The plain language of Wyoming statute § 6-3-414 provides:
(c) A person is guilty of trespassing to access adjacent or proximate land if he:
(i) Crosses private land to access adjacent or proximate land where he collects resource data; and
(ii) Does not have:
(A) An ownership interest in the real property or, statutory, contractual or other legal authorization to cross the private land; or
(B) Written or verbal permission of the owner, lessee or agent of the owner to cross the private land.
The language of the civil statute is nearly identical but replaces "guilty of trespassing" with "commits a civil trespass." See
"Collect" means to take a sample of material, acquire, gather, photograph or otherwise preserve information in any form and the recording of a legal description or geographical coordinates of the location of the collection;
....
"Resource data" means data relating to land or land use , including but not limited to data regarding agriculture, minerals, geology, history, cultural artifacts, archeology, air, water, soil, conservation, habitat, vegetation or animal species. "Resource data" does not include data:
(A) For surveying to determine property boundaries or the location of survey monuments;
(B) Used by a state or local governmental entity to assess property values;
(C) Collected or intended to be collected by a peace officer while engaged in the lawful performance of his official duties.
In response to Plaintiffs' motion Defendants argue the laws are content neutral because "they apply regardless of the contents of the 'resource data' collected" (ECF No. 104 at 7). This is a viewpoint-neutrality argument. It is not necessary for the law to discriminate against a particular viewpoint to be subject to strict scrutiny. See Reed ,
*1188simply establishes a minor place restriction on an extremely broad category of communications with unwilling listeners. Instead of drawing distinctions based on the subject that the approaching speaker may wish to address, the statute applies equally to used car salesmen, animal rights activists, fundraisers, environmentalists, and missionaries. Each can attempt to educate unwilling listeners on any subject, but without consent may not approach within eight feet to do so.
In Defendants' motion for summary judgment, Defendants make nearly identical arguments. Again, the Defendants argue the laws are viewpoint neutral, but this is irrelevant.
The Wyoming statutes are clearly content based. For the reasons above, the Court will grant Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on this issue even after drawing all inferences against Plaintiffs. As explained in the preceding paragraph, the Court will deny Defendants' motion on this issue.
IV. Forum Analysis
Defendants argue Plaintiffs' challenge is premature
A restriction that regulates only the time, place, or manner of speech may be imposed so long as it is reasonable. But when regulation is based on the content of speech, governmental action must be scrutinized more carefully to ensure that communication has not been prohibited "merely because public officials disapprove the speaker's views. As a consequence, we have emphasized that time, place, and manner regulations must be 'applicable to all speech irrespective of content.' Governmental action that regulates speech on the basis of its subject matter 'slip[s] from the neutrality of time, place, and circumstance into a concern about content.' Therefore, a constitutionally permissible time, place, or manner restriction may not be based *1190upon either the content or subject matter of speech.
Consol. Edison Co. of New York v. Pub. Serv. Comm'n of New York ,
V. Strict Scrutiny
The Court has reached the conclusion that strict scrutiny is proper as the statutes are content based. Plaintiffs argue the laws cannot survive strict scrutiny. In their own motion Defendants do not address strict scrutiny, however they do discuss it in the responsive briefing to Plaintiffs' motion. To survive strict scrutiny, the government must "prove that the restriction furthers a compelling interest and is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest." Reed ,
Defendants have an even greater problem when it comes to narrow tailoring. They have failed to identify any reason why the curtailment of speech is "actually necessary to the solution" of the identified problem. See Brown , 564 U.S. at 799,
Here, the government has not proven a strengthening of the state's trespass laws would not accomplish the same goals without infringing on protected speech. Defendants argue any alternative statute would be at best, equally chilling and restrictive because the notice requirement would have to be removed to achieve any results. This argument is speculative at best and is a not-so-veiled attempt at burden shifting. The Court is not persuaded. Wyoming could also more rigorously enforce its' existing statutes. See The Indep.Inst. v. Buescher ,
CONCLUSION
The First Amendment's guarantee of free speech in this case leads the Court to find Wyoming statutes §§ 6-3-414(c) and 40-27-101 (c) are facially unconstitutional. Therefore, it is hereby
ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 95) is GRANTED, it is;
FURTHER ORDERED that State Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 98) is DENIED, it is;
FURTHER ORDERED that the State of Wyoming is permanently enjoined from enforcing Wyoming statutes §§ 6-3-414(c) and 40-27-101(c) as both are in violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.
The Court makes every effort to separate the parties' motions, however, the parties have treated their separate motions as responsive to one another. The Court will apply the correct burden to the relevant party when addressing each motion even if the arguments often overlap.
Given that the remand was limited to subsection (c) of the statutes in question no need exists to discuss any issues concerning severability.
The Court does not find the Defendants attempt to distinguish this authority persuasive. Plaintiff is correct that in this case, as in American Booksellers , the challenged statute facially chills the Plaintiffs' speech as well as possible third parties. This harm is the relevant issue.
The Court recognizes "the Supreme Court has instructed courts facing simultaneous as-applied and facial challenges to first resolve the as-applied challenge before addressing the facial challenge in order to avoid 'proceed[ing] to an overbreadth [facial] issue unnecessarily.' " Martinez v. City of Rio Rancho ,
And questionable given the evidence of animus presented by Plaintiffs. Still, given the way in which the Court resolves the motions, strict scrutiny will apply regardless and a further finding on viewpoint neutrality is irrelevant to this standard. See Pahls v. Thomas ,
To the extent the Court construes this as a ripeness claim, this claim is unpersuasive. See Supreme Court of New Mexico , 839 F.3d at 903 ("The requirements of standing and constitutional ripeness overlap; if an injury 'is sufficiently 'imminent' to establish standing, the constitutional requirements of the ripeness doctrine will necessarily be satisfied.")
Defendants also argue Plaintiffs have no protected speech right on private land based upon this Court's prior order. This Court does not read the Tenth Circuit opinion so narrowly. See Western Watersheds ,
The State's final argument is that even if the lying and recording criminalized by the Act are otherwise protectable speech, the First Amendment plays no role in this case because the Act applies only to speech on private property, and the First Amendment does not apply on private property.
....
The cases cited by the State deal with the first concept. They stand for the proposition that the First Amendment is typically not a defense to generally-applicable tort laws. Specifically, as relevant here, they hold that the First Amendment does not provide a license to trespass on private property, and, as a corollary, nor does it provide a defense in a trespass suit. In short, the cases cited by the State answer the question of whether a landowner can remove someone from her property or sue for trespass even when the person wishes to exercise First Amendment rights. And generally, as the cases make clear, the answer is yes. But that is not the question before the court. The question here is whether the State (not a private landowner) can prosecute (not sue for damages) a person based on her speech on private property. And at this point in the analysis, the question is the threshold one of whether it can do so without even justifying or tailoring the law. The State cites no authority for this proposition. Nor has the court found any, and seemingly for good reason: it is contrary to basic First Amendment principles. If a person's First Amendment rights were extinguished the moment she stepped foot on private property, the State could, for example, criminalize any criticism of the Governor, or any discussion about the opposition party, or any talk of politics whatsoever, if done on private property. This runs directly afoul of the First Amendment, which "was fashioned to assure unfettered interchange of ideas for the bringing about of political and social changes desired by the people," whether in the public square or in private coffee shops and cafes.
Animal Legal Def. Fund v. Herbert ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- WESTERN WATERSHEDS PROJECT National Press Photographers Association and Natural Resources Defense Council v. Peter K. MICHAEL, in His Official Capacity as Attorney General of Wyoming Todd Parfitt, in His Official Capacity as Director of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality Patrick J. Lebrun, in His Official Capacity as County Attorney of Fremont County, Wyoming Joshua Smith, in His Official as County Attorney of Lincoln County, Wyoming Clay Kainer, in His Official Capacity as County and Prosecuting Attorney of Sublette County, Wyoming
- Status
- Published