Summary
holding plaintiff's claims for declaratory and injunctive relief rendered moot by university's issuance of "revis[ed]" policy
Summary of this case from Young Americas Found. v. NapolitanoOpinion
No. 08-15905.
Argued October 20, 2009. Submitted November 20, 2009.
Filed December 11, 2009.
David Austin French, Alliance Defense Fund, Columbia, TN, Heather Gebelin Hacker, Esquire, Alliance Defense Fund, Folsom, CA, Gary McCaleb, Alliance Defense Fund, Scottsdale, AZ, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
Michael Goodwin, Arizona Attorney General's Office, Phoenix, AZ, for Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, Mary H. Murguia, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. 2:06-CV-01824-MHM.
Before: O'CONNOR, Associate Justice (Ret.), KOZINSKI, Chief Judge, and IKUTA, Circuit Judge.
The Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (Ret.) sitting by designation pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 294(a).
MEMORANDUM
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
We take judicial notice of Arizona State University's (ASU) revisions to its one-zone and insurance policy. ASU Students for Life (ASUSL) is not challenging this new policy. It is "absolutely clear" that ASU will not revert to its 2005 policy, see Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs., Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 189, 120 S.Ct. 693, 145 L.Ed.2d 610 (2000), because, among other reasons, Appellees stated in open court that ASU will not return to that policy and ASU's revised insurance requirements are consistent with current case law, see Long Beach Area Peace Network v. City of Long Beach, 574 F.3d 1011, 1031 (9th Cir. 2009); Santa Monica Food Not Bombs v. City of Santa Monica, 450 F.3d 1022, 1057-58 (9th Cir. 2006). Therefore, ASUSL's claims for prospective relief are moot. We vacate the portion of the district court's order that deals with ASUSL's claims for prospective relief and remand with instructions to dismiss these claims. See U.S. Bancorp Mortgage Co. v. Bonner Mall P'ship, 513 U.S. 18, 25, 115 S.Ct. 386, 130 L.Ed.2d 233 (1994).
ASUSL's claims for nominal damages against Ramage and Schroeder in their individual capacities also fail. Even assuming ASU's insurance requirement and one-zone policy violated ASUSL's First Amendment rights, ASUSL has failed to establish that it would be clear to a reasonable official that applying these requirements was unlawful. See Pearson v. Callahan, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 808, 818, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009). At the time of the events in this case, we had only upheld a city's requirement that speakers post a bond for liability insurance to cover damages resulting from the effects of the speech on park visitors. Gerritsen v. City of Los Angeles, 994 F.2d 570, 578-79 (9th Cir. 1993). ASUSL has not identified "a consensus of cases of persuasive authority" that would make it clear to Ramage and Schroeder that their actions were unlawful. Wilson v. Layne, 526 U.S. 603, 617, 119 S.Ct. 1692, 143 L.Ed.2d 818 (1999).