Opinion ID: 818004
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Multiple claims

Text: We recently discussed the application of Rule 54(b) in the context of constitutional claims. Planned Parenthood Sw. Ohio Region v. DeWine, 696 F.3d 490 (6th Cir. 2012). Concerned with various constitutional challenges to an Ohio abortion statute, we recognized that we had not previously addressed the application of Rule 54(b) to multiple constitutional claims regarding the same statute. Id. at 501. We observed that the Fifth and Tenth Circuits had applied different tests in considering Rule 54(b) partial judgments in the context of constitutional claims. Id. (citing Jordan v. Pugh, 425 F.3d 820, 827 (10th Cir. 2005); Samaad v. City of Dallas, 940 F.2d 925, 930–32 (5th Cir. 1992), abrogated on other grounds as recognized by Rosedale Missionary Baptist Church v. New Orleans City, 641 F.3d 86, 88–89 (5th Cir. 2011)). While finding cases from the other circuits to be informative, we “decline[d] to adopt a new test for analyzing multiple facial challenges to the same statute.” Id. Importantly, we stated: Statutory challenges will certainly all contain at least one common operative fact—the passage of the challenged law. But the aggregate of operative facts will not necessarily include just the challenged law’s existence; rather, we must also consider the facts relating to the law’s impact on similar or distinct constitutional rights. Id. at 501. We distinguished our prior opinion in Lowery on the ground that there the party brought only one claim under Rule 54(b) by raising “both a Title VII retaliation claim and a state-law breach-of-contract claim, where the basis for the alleged breach and the Title VII claim was the same retaliatory act by the employer.” Id. (citing Lowery, 426 F.3d at 821). By contrast, we reasoned, a “single law that causes distinct injuries to distinct constitutional rights is not so easily analogized to a single retaliatory employment action causing one injury that can be vindicated through multiple channels of relief.” Id. at 501–02 (footnote omitted). All four “potential claims” before us in Planned Parenthood sought to disqualify the statute in question as unconstitutional and all four claims “admittedly [sought] the same declaratory and injunctive relief.” Id. at 502. But we ultimately determined that the “aggregate of operative facts” giving rise to Nos. 11-3327/3798 U.S. Citizens Ass’n, et al. v. Sebelius, et al. Page 6 each constitutional right to be vindicated was “sufficiently separate to confer jurisdiction despite the presence of some overlap.” Id. Review of the counts alleged in Planned Parenthood reveals how the facts attendant to each right were found to be sufficiently distinct. The first count alleged that the statute criminalizing distribution of an abortion drug was unconstitutionally vague and impacted the right of physicians to receive notice of what behavior is criminal before they can be prosecuted. Id. The second count, which alleged that the statute violates a woman’s right to bodily integrity in obtaining an abortion, bore “no relation to whether the Act gives physicians constitutional notice of criminal conduct.” Id. We further decided that counts three and four were the most similar because they alleged “violations of the right not to have an undue burden imposed on the abortion decision,” but while we would employ the same legal framework to decide both claims, we noted that the injuries and the constitutional rights vindicated were distinct from counts one and two. Id. “After reviewing the operative facts necessary to give rise to relief in each claim,” we held “that their differences sufficiently outweigh what they have in common. Because each count involves distinct facts relating to separate injuries, each count is a separate claim for purposes of Rule 54(b).” Id. Further agreeing with the district court that there was no just cause for delay, we held that we had appellate jurisdiction to proceed to the merits. Id. at 502–03. Application of Planned Parenthood to this case begins with recognition that the passage of the individual mandate as part of the PPACA is simply one of the common operative facts before us. We must “consider the facts relating to the law’s impact on similar or distinct constitutional rights” and ask whether the alleged injuries and the constitutional rights asserted in each count are distinct from the other counts such that declaratory and injunctive relief might be imposed on separate counts to vindicate separate rights. Id. at 501. Doing so leads us to conclude that each count of plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint alleges an injury to a constitutional right that is distinct from the other counts. Nos. 11-3327/3798 U.S. Citizens Ass’n, et al. v. Sebelius, et al. Page 7 Plaintiffs assert that the individual mandate violates their freedom of expressive and intimate association (Count Two), their right to liberty (Count Three), and their right to privacy in medical information (Count Four). While certain facts alleged support each of these three claims, plaintiffs alleged other facts that are specifically targeted to the rights of expressive and intimate association, the right to liberty, and the right to privacy in medical information. The grant of declaratory or injunctive relief on one of these counts would not vindicate the constitutional right asserted in the other counts. Therefore, under Planned Parenthood, Counts Two through Four allege separate constitutional claims, not merely separate legal theories aimed at one declaration of unconstitutionality. We agree with the district court that multiple claims were presented and hold that they provide a sufficient basis for the Rule 54(b) partial judgment.