Opinion ID: 745299
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mootness of the Kansas Anti-Stalking Statute Claim

Text: 67 The first issue we must address is whether the plaintiffs' constitutional challenge to the Kansas Anti-Stalking Statute is moot because of a Kansas Supreme Court ruling in an unrelated case that the statute is unconstitutional. Subsequent to the district court's ruling in the underlying case, the Kansas Supreme Court in State v. Bryan, 259 Kan. 143, 910 P.2d 212 (1996), held that the Kansas Anti-Stalking Statute was unconstitutionally vague. Id. at 220-21. Specifically, the court found that the terms alarms, annoys, and harasses, as used in the statute without any definition or objective standard to measure the prohibited conduct were unconstitutionally vague. Id. Because the court held the statute unconstitutional, Ms. Hamilton argues in her supplemental memorandum that the issue of the plaintiffs' standing to challenge the Kansas Anti-Stalking Statute is now moot. 68 The constitutional mootness doctrine is grounded in Article III's requirement that federal courts only decide actual, ongoing cases or controversies. Lewis v. Continental Bank Corp., 494 U.S. 472, 477, 110 S.Ct. 1249, 1253, 108 L.Ed.2d 400 (1990). [I]f an event occurs while a case is pending on appeal that makes it impossible for the court to grant 'any effectual relief whatever' to a prevailing party, the appeal must be dismissed. Osborn v. Durant Bank & Trust Co., 24 F.3d 1199, 1203 (10th Cir.1994) (citation omitted). The central question in determining whether a case has become moot is whether the issues presented are no longer 'live' or the parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome. Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, 496, 89 S.Ct. 1944, 1951, 23 L.Ed.2d 491 (1969). 69 In applying the constitutional mootness test, we hold that the plaintiffs' claims related to the Kansas Anti-Stalking Statute are now moot due to the Kansas Supreme Court's ruling in Bryan. The plaintiffs no longer have a live or redressable claim as related to the Kansas Anti-Stalking Statute because the statute has been held unconstitutional. Therefore, the plaintiffs no longer face any threat of prosecution under the statute as alleged in their Second Amended Complaint. Accordingly, we dismiss the plaintiffs' appeal of the district court's denial of their standing to challenge the Kansas Anti-Stalking Statute. 70