Case Law Updates
| Publication year | 2021 |
| Author | Written by Christopher B. Whitman, Anais Aquino, Suzanne Ambrose, and Ryan Griffith |
Written by Christopher B. Whitman, Anais Aquino, Suzanne Ambrose, and Ryan Griffith
Pasadena Republican Club v. Western Justice Center, 985 F.3d 1161 (9th Circuit 2021), filed January 25, 2021.
When a public entity leases real estate to a non-profit private entity, the entity will not be deemed a state actor for the purpose of Section 1983 liability without a finding of substantial coordination and significant financial integration between the entity and the public entity.
The Pasadena Republican Club ("Club") brought an action against the City of Pasadena ("City") and its lessee, the Western Justice Center ("WJC"), alleging First Amendment violations based on the WJC's Executive Director's decision to rescind a meeting room rental agreement because of the Club's political and religious viewpoints. Before the meeting took place, the WJC learned that the Club held "positions on same-sex marriage, gay adoption, and transgender rights that are antithetical to [its] values." In its lawsuit, the Club claimed that because the WJC leased the building pursuant to a long-term, $1 per month lease from the City, it could bring constitutional claims against the WJC, which is a private, nonprofit organization.
In making this claim, the Club relied on Burton v. Wilmington Parking Auth. (1961) 365 U.S. 715. In Burton, a state parking authority engaged in a long-term parking lease with a restaurant client that refused to serve customers on the basis of race. The Supreme Court held that the restaurant was a state actor on a theory of joint participation because the parking authority was not self-sustaining without its tenant leases with private actors, like the restaurant. The Court pointed to the substantial coordination and significant financial integration between the restaurant tenant and the government to find a symbiotic, joint participation relationship.
In order to evaluate the Club's claim, the Ninth Circuit examined the history and relationship between the WJC and the City. In 1989, the City acquired the property from the U.S. government and entered into a lease agreement with the WJC. The lease required that the property be used for non-profit law-related functions and that the costs of renovation and restoration of the building would be solely the burden of the WJC. The lease agreement also permitted renting the building for meeting space and provided that the City would derive no income and had no control over the entities renting the meeting rooms. The Executive Director of the WJC, retired Judge Judith Chirlin, notified the Club on the day of the planned event that the WJC declined to lease its meeting space to the Club.
The Club sued the WJC, Judge Chirlin, and the City based on 42 U.S.C. section 1983 alleging that they were discriminated against on the basis of their viewpoints in violation of the First Amendment. The district court granted the City's summary judgment motion and Judge Chirlin and the WJC's Rule 12(b) (6) motion to dismiss.
[Page 21]
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's orders on summary judgment and dismissal. It held that the building renovations and lease did not demonstrate a significant integration or interdependency that would provide for liability under the First Amendment. Merely contracting with the government does not transform a private entity into a state actor...
To continue reading
Request your trial