Opinion ID: 786183
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Perez's Lawsuit

Text: 10 On June 19, 2001, Perez filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Perez subsequently filed an amended complaint on July 11, 2001, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, seeking: (i) a declaratory judgment finding section 4022.13 unconstitutional, both facially and as applied; (ii) a permanent injunction barring the defendants from penalizing him for his behavior; and (iii) a declaratory judgment that the fine levied by defendants pursuant to section 4022.13 was an unconstitutional taking without due process of law. 11 By order dated February 28, 2002, the District Court granted defendants' summary judgment motion and dismissed the complaint. Perez v. Hoblock, 248 F.Supp.2d 189, 201 (S.D.N.Y.2002). Analogizing state-licensed horse owners to public employees, the court engaged in the balancing analysis for regulating public employee speech mandated by Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968). Perez, 248 F.Supp.2d at 196-97. The District Court weighed Perez's interest in speaking on matters of public concern against the State's interest in promoting the efficiency of services performed by its employees. In so doing, the court found that Perez was not penalized for commenting on a matter of public concern, but rather for the abusive manner in which he behaved and that, in any event, the disruptiveness of Perez's conduct outweighed any First Amendment value his speech might have had. Id. at 197. The court alternatively observed that Perez's First Amendment claim failed because the Stewards' meeting was a nonpublic forum, and in such a forum, the State could impose restrictions that are reasonably related to maintaining order as long as those restrictions are viewpoint neutral. Id. at 197 n. 11. Finally, the court determined that section 4022.13 was neither overbroad nor unconstitutionally vague. Id. at 197-200. On March 20, 2003, Perez filed a timely notice of appeal.