Opinion ID: 8704903
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: ANSWER Has Adequately Pled its Intent to Use Space Outside of Freedom Plaza

Text: NPS’ motion seems to attack ANSWER’S as-applied challenge on two grounds. NPS argues that ANSWER, in its supplemental complaint, never alleged that it planned to use areas outside of Freedom Plaza, and thus cannot show injury. See, e.g., Def.’s Mot. at 2-3; Def.’s Reply at 2. NPS also suggests that a permit denial is necessary for plaintiff to demonstrate standing. See id. at 2. The Court disagrees and finds that ANSWER has pled an interest in accessing sidewalk space outside of Freedom Plaza, and that ANSWER has sufficiently shown injury resulting from the application of the regulations to that area. The Supplemental Pleading must be viewed in conjunction with the Amended Complaint. See 6A Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller, Mary Kay Kane, and Richard L. Marcus, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1504 at 254 (3d ed. 2010) (Supplemental pleadings, in contrast to amended pleadings, “deal with events subsequent to the pleading to be altered and represent additions to or continuations of the earlier pleadings.”) (emphasis added). Read together, these pleadings indicate that ANSWER and its members and affiliates intend to access the entirety of the parade route along Pennsylvania Avenue at each Inaugural Parade. See e.g. Am. Compl. ¶ 1 (“ANSWER Coalition has concrete plans to organize mass demonstration activity for the 2009 Inaugural Parade route and for the foreseeable future, and seeks to line the Inaugural Parade route with protesters and activists.”) (emphasis added); id. ¶ 77 (“ANSWER’S interests lie both in securing space for use as a rally and assembly site(s) and to ensure that ANSWER and those affiliated with ANSWER or who support its political message have the ability to line the parade route with a mass demonstration of collective action.”); id. ¶ 105 (“The intended expressive activity of the demonstrators is to collectively line the parade route with their signs, their bodies and to amplify their presence with their collective voices.”) (emphasis in original). Although the Supplemental Pleading focuses primarily on the restrictions on ANSWER’S access to Freedom Plaza, which ANSWER plans to use as a rally and assembly site, this pleading does not indicate that ANSWER had abandoned its intention to line the parade route at the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Parade. While the Court finds ANSWER’S pleadings sufficient, it may also consider materials outside of the pleadings to resolve a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See Jerome Stevens Pharms., Inc. v. FDA, 402 F.3d at 1253-54; ANSWER I, 493 F.Supp.2d at 46 (considering affidavit attached to opposition brief when analyzing standing); Vietnam Veterans of Am. v. Peake, Civil No. 08-1934, 2009 WL 6179013 at  (D.D.C. June 23, 2009) (same). NPS has submitted no evidence to counter ANSWER’S assertion that it intends to use space beyond Freedom Plaza during the 2013 Inauguration. In contrast, ANSWER has filed a declaration of the organization’s National Director, Brian Becker, who states that ANSWER anticipates that ten thousand or more members and affiliates will come to Washington for the Inauguration, intending to engage in free expression activities along the route. See Becker Decl. According to ANSWER, “[t]he sheer number of ANSWER coalition constituents anticipated to be present along the Inaugural Route will exceed the capacity of Freedom Plaza, and will necessitate the presence of persons in locations along the route including in areas designated as ‘PIC Bleacher Areas on NPS regulatory maps.’” Id. ¶ 10. These members, along with others who may not make it to Freedom Plaza because of pedestrian traffic and security checkpoints, will instead “fill[ ] in along the parade route on a first come first serve basis.” PL’s Opp. at 9. For the foregoing reasons, the Court concludes that ANSWER has pleaded facts sufficient to demonstrate its interest in accessing portions of the Inaugural Parade route beyond Freedom Plaza. C. ANSWER’S Lack of Permit for Areas Outside of Freedom Plaza Does Not Deprive ANSWER of Standing to Challenge the SeP-Aside in those Areas This Court noted in ANSWER I that plaintiff had organizational and representational standing to litigate claims related to an anticipated permit denial in 2008, as “the courts ‘have consistently treated a license or permit denial pursuant to a state or federal administrative scheme as an Article III injury.’” ANSWER I, 493 F.Supp.2d at 45, 47 (citing Parker v. District of Columbia, 478 F.3d 370, 376 (D.C.Cir.2007)). A permit denial, however, is not a prerequisite to establish standing. See, e.g., Dearth v. Holder, 641 F.3d 499, 502 (D.C.Cir.2011) (upholding plaintiffs claim against standing challenge in the absence of permit denial). The fact that ANSWER did not apply for, and thus was not denied, a permit for sidewalk space along Pennsylvania Avenue does not bar ANSWER from establishing standing with respect to its lack of access to those areas. ANSWER maintains, and NPS does not contest, that ANSWER is not required to obtain a permit to engage in its intended conduct along Pennsylvania Avenue, which includes lining the parade route on a first-come, first-served basis, and peacefully distributing leaflets and literature. PL’s Opp. at 4 n. 4; Becker Decl. ¶¶ 6-12. A permit generally is not needed to engage in this kind of conduct; in fact, ANSWER asserts that it has previously attempted to file permit applications for non-exclusive use of public sidewalks, but that these applications have been rejected by NPS on the grounds that “no permit or request is needed for such assembly.” PL’s Opp. at 4 n. 4. But for the presence of the reserved PIC bleachers, ANSWER and its members would be able to join other members of the public in lining the parade route along Pennsylvania Avenue. 5 ANSWER has sufficiently alleged that the challenged regulation injures both ANSWER’S members and the organization itself — specifically, that the regulation interferes with them asserted First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights to assemble and engage in political dissent along the Inaugural Parade route. This injury is “concrete and particularized.” See In re Navy Chaplaincy, 697 F.3d 1171, 1175 (D.C.Cir.2012); Am. Compl. HI (“ANSWER Coalition has concrete plans to organize mass demonstration activity for the 2009 Inaugural Parade route and for the foreseeable future, and seeks to line the Inaugural Parade route with protesters and activists.”); Becker Decl. ¶¶ 2-3 (ANSWER “anticipates in excess of ten thousand persons, and potentially tens of thousands of persons” to come to Washington with the intent to “collectively line the parade route.”). The alleged injury is “fairly traceable” to NPS’ conduct — specifically, NPS’ anticipated enforcement of regulations that reserve portions of Pennsylvania Avenue for exclusive PIC use— and a favorable declaration from this Court would “likely ... redress” ANSWER’S injury. See In re Navy Chaplaincy, 697 F.3d at 1175 (citing Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992)). NPS has not provided any evidence or legal authority to the contrary. The Court therefore concludes that ANSWER has met its burden of presenting factual allegations of injury resulting from NPS’ conduct sufficient to support its as-applied challenge to the regulatory set-aside of both Freedom Plaza and other portions of the Inaugural Parade route.