Opinion ID: 199835
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mootness of Claims for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief

Text: 23 Tomaiolo's claims for injunctive and declaratory relief are moot and indeed were moot before the district court dismissed them. The conduct by the municipal defendants of which Tomaiolo complains — that is, their demand in alleged violation of federal and state law that she and her class pay their property taxes annually rather than quarterly — has ceased. There is, of course, the familiar principle that a request for injunctive or declaratory relief does not become moot simply because a defendant voluntarily ceases the allegedly unlawful conduct. E.g., Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs. (TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 189-93, 120 S.Ct. 693, 145 L.Ed.2d 610 (2000). The actions of the municipal defendants, however, were not voluntary but rather compelled by superior state officials: the Attorney General in 1998, and the state legislature in 1999. Tomaiolo's claims for injunctive and declaratory relief concern conduct with no possibility of recurring, and are moot. See United States v. W.T. Grant Co., 345 U.S. 629, 633, 73 S.Ct. 894, 97 L.Ed. 1303 (1953). Counsel for Tomaiolo conceded this point at oral argument. Tomaiolo's claims for damages remain. We will address these claims separately as to the municipal and the escrow defendants. 24