Opinion ID: 778327
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Effective Revocation

Text: 20 Med Corp. also argues that by depriving it of the opportunity to receive 911 dispatches from the City for one week, the City's proposed suspension would effectively deprive Med Corp. of its property interest in its ambulance license by rendering the license valueless during the term of the suspension. Med Corp. contends that the suspension is merely an attempt by the City to suspend Med Corp.'s ambulance license without affording Med Corp. the procedural protections required for suspensions of licenses under the Lima Municipal Code. See Lima Mun. Code § 840.12, Appellant's Br., Ex. A. 21 The property interest asserted in this instance is Med Corp.'s interest in its license, not its right to receive 911 dispatches. Med Corp. does possess a protected property interest in its license to operate ambulances. See Stidham v. Peace Officer Standards & Training, 265 F.3d 1144, 1149-50 (10th Cir.2001) (The Supreme Court has held that a license to practice one's calling or profession is a protected property right.). The Lima Municipal Code authorizes revocation or suspension of ambulance licenses as a penalty for an ambulance company's failure to comply with the provisions of the Code. Moreover, under the Code, revocation or suspension can occur only after the company receives a warning and reasonable time for compliance. Lima Mun.Code § 840.12(a), Appellant's Br., Ex. A. Thus, the Lima Municipal Code imposes explicit substantive constraints on the discretion of Lima officials to revoke or suspend licenses, thereby creating a legitimate claim of entitlement to the continued enjoyment of ambulance licenses. See Barry v. Barchi, 443 U.S. 55, 64, 99 S.Ct. 2642, 61 L.Ed.2d 365 (1979) (It is conceded that, under New York law, Barchi's license could have been suspended only upon a satisfactory showing that his horse had been drugged and that he was at least negligent in failing to prevent the drugging. As a threshold matter, therefore, it is clear that Barchi had a property interest in his license sufficient to invoke the protection of the Due Process Clause.). 22 The question, however, is whether Med Corp. will be deprived of its property interest in its license for the purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment if the proposed suspension takes effect. There is no allegation that Med Corp.'s license will be actually suspended or revoked during the period of suspension. Med Corp. will be allowed to retain its license and conduct business; it simply will not receive 911 dispatches from the City. Nevertheless, a number of courts of appeals have held that under certain circumstances, [a]ctions taken by the State which destroy the value or utility of a protected property interest constitute a Fourteenth Amendment deprivation of that interest, even though the state does not formally deprive the owner of title to the property. Stidham, 265 F.3d at 1153 (holding that state official's ultra vires action in disseminating damaging information about the plaintiff that prevented him from obtaining employment constituted effective revocation of plaintiff's certification to work as a peace officer); see also Westborough Mall, Inc. v. City of Cape Girardeau, 794 F.2d 330, 336 (8th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 918, 107 S.Ct. 1373, 94 L.Ed.2d 688 (1987); Reed v. Village of Shorewood, 704 F.2d 943, 949 (7th Cir.1983). In Reed, for example, the proprietors of a music venue that served alcohol claimed that village officials deprived them of their property rights in their liquor license by engaging in a pattern of official harassment, which included arresting customers and employees on baseless charges, demanding proof of age from customers who obviously were many years over the legal drinking age, and bringing groundless proceedings, and which ultimately forced the plaintiffs to close their establishment and surrender their liquor license. 704 F.2d at 947. The Seventh Circuit concluded that, although [t]he defendants never succeeded in taking away the plaintiffs' license either by revocation or nonrenewal, village officials may still have deprived the plaintiffs of their property interests in the liquor license. Id. at 949. The court explained: 23 [D]eprive in the due process clause cannot just mean destroy. If the state prevents you from entering your house it deprives you of your property right even if the fee simple remains securely yours. A property right is not bare title, but the right of exclusive use and enjoyment. 24 Id. The court drew this conclusion, in part, from related doctrines concerning Fifth Amendment takings, where it is recognized that [i]f government makes your house uninhabitable, that is a taking of your property even if you retain clear title. Id. Med Corp. urges this court to follow the reasoning of these cases and hold that, by denying Med Corp. the right to receive 911 calls from the City for one week, the proposed suspension would effectively deprive Med Corp. of the use and enjoyment of its property interest in its license without the procedural protections normally attendant to a suspension of a license under the Lima Municipal Code. We find Med Corp.'s argument unpersuasive. 25 Assuming that Med Corp. could assert a due process claim based upon the indirect loss in the value of its ambulance license that would result from the proposed suspension, summary judgment for the City would nonetheless be appropriate. Med Corp. has not alleged facts sufficient to show that the proposed suspension would completely destroy the value of its license. Although ordinarily the extent of the injury [to the asserted property interest] is irrelevant except for determining what process is due, courts have typically recognized indirect injuries to the value of property as constitutional deprivations only when such indirect injuries effectively render the property valueless. Wells Fargo Armored Serv. Corp. v. Georgia Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 547 F.2d 938, 941 (5th Cir.1977) (emphasis added) (rejecting claim that approval of a certification for competitor of plaintiff destroyed value of plaintiff's license without due process); see also Indus. Safety Equip. Ass'n v. Envt'l. Prot. Agency, 837 F.2d 1115, 1122 (D.C.Cir.1988); Pirolo v. City of Clearwater, 711 F.2d 1006, 1013 (11th Cir.1983) ([U]nlike the case in Reed, we cannot say that this action on the part of the city, even if done in bad faith as alleged, had the effect of destroying the value of Pirolo's business.). The evidence in the record is not sufficient to support a finding that the loss of 911 dispatches would render Med Corp.'s license valueless, even during the limited term of the proposed suspension. In his affidavit, Mayor Berger stated: 26 Had the suspension ... gone into effect, Med Corp. would have had the right to respond to emergency calls made directly to its private telephone number, and it could still have provided ambulance services to other customers it may have under contract such as nursing homes, elderly care facilities, hospitals, or funeral homes. 27 J.A. at 29 (Berger Aff.). Med Corp. offers no evidence to dispute this claim. The record contains no evidence to show that 911 dispatches constitute all, or even the majority of, Med Corp.'s business. Absent such a showing, Med Corp. has not shown a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the proposed 911-call suspension would constitute an effective suspension or revocation of its license.