Opinion ID: 1862431
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the substantive due process claim

Text: [11] ¶ 45. Second, the Thorps did not state a claim for violation of substantive due process. The Substantive Due Process Clause also emanates from the Fourteenth Amendment. Penterman, 211 Wis. 2d at 480. See also Wis. Const. art. I, § 8. It protects individuals against governmental actions that are arbitrary and wrong, `regardless of the fairness of the procedures used to implement them.' Id. Substantive due process forbids a government from exercising power without any reasonable justification in the service of a legitimate governmental objective. County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833, 846 (1998). A substantive due process claim may apply to a violation of property interests. [14] New Burnham Prairie Homes, Inc. v. Village of Burnham, 910 F.2d 1474, 1480 (7th Cir. 1990). See also Brady v. Town of Colchester, 863 F.2d 205, 216 (2d Cir. 1988) (when a party may have been denied a building permit because of impermissible political animus, the party may claim a violation of substantive due process); Bello v. Walker, 840 F.2d 1124, 1129-30 (3d Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 851 (1988) (a party may bring a substantive due process claim if evidence shows the denial of a permit for partisan political or personal reasons); Scott v. Greenville County, 716 F.2d 1409, 1420-21 (4th Cir. 1983) (a party's substantive due process claim was allowed when a county moratorium on building permits appeared to be intended only for the party's application). In Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365 (1926), the United States Supreme Court first articulated the Substantive Due Process Clause in relationship to a zoning ordinance. It stated that a zoning ordinance is unconstitutional when its provisions are clearly arbitrary and unreasonable, having no substantial relation to the public health, safety, morals or general welfare. Id. at 395. The Euclid test was later affirmed in Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Hous. Dev. Corp., 429 U.S. 252, 263 (1977); Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1, 3-5 (1974); and Nectow v. City of Cambridge, 277 U.S. 183, 187 (1928). ¶ 46. This court has stated that when evaluating a substantive due process claim, a plaintiff must demonstrate that he or she has been deprived of a liberty or property interest that is constitutionally protected. Penterman, 211 Wis. 2d at 480. See also Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 577 (1972). A property interest is constitutionally protected if state law recognizes and protects that interest. Penterman, 211 Wis. 2d at 480. ¶ 47. The Thorps argue that they have alleged a deprivation of substantive due process in both their first and third claims. The first claim relates to the invalidity of the zoning ordinance, and the third claim relates to the denial of a fair and impartial hearing. ¶ 48. We address the allegations contained in the claim relating to the invalidity of the ordinance first. In their complaint, the Thorps stated that their substantive due process rights were violated because the Town failed to comply with the five member zoning committee requirement as set forth in Wis. Stat. § 60.61(4). The alleged violation of § 60.61(4) relates to the procedures used to create the zoning ordinance, not the property interest the Thorps have in their land. In Roth, 408 U.S. at 577-78, the United States Supreme Court held that an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh did not have a property interest in his employment because his tenure was not secured by state statute or university rule. Likewise, in this case the Thorps do not have a property interest in their land which was secured by § 60.61(4) or similar state statute. Section 60.61(4) involves procedures for enacting town zoning ordinances. ¶ 49. The Thorps also alleged that the Town and the County misinterpreted and misused the various surveys that were conducted before the rezoning was implemented. Similarly, we agree with the court of appeals that the Thorps' allegations do not constitute a violation of substantive due process. Smithfield Concerned Citizens for Fair Zoning v. Town of Smithfield, 907 F.2d 239, 245 (1st Cir. 1990) (stating that a governmental entity does not have to justify its actions by the use of any specific studies). ¶ 50. Finally, we note the similarity between the test for a violation of equal protection and substantive due process: one test deals with the rational basis for a statute or ordinance, while the other test deals with the arbitrariness of the statute or ordinance. See Daniel R. Mandelker, Land Use Law, § 2.47 (4th ed. 1997). Here, the court of appeals found that the Thorps' remaining allegations supporting a substantive due process claim were better suited to their equal protection claim, and therefore, did not permit the Thorps to use the allegations to support both claims. Thorp, 225 Wis. 2d at 699. We agree. In Sacramento, the United States Supreme Court expressed its reluctance to expand the concept of substantive due process and stated that `where a particular amendment provides an explicit textual source of constitutional protection against a particular sort of government behavior, that Amendment, not the more generalized notion of substantive due process, must be the guide for analyzing these claims.' 523 U.S. at 842. Because the factual allegations pertaining to the classification of the Thorps' property and other Town properties support the Thorps' equal protection claim, we necessarily do not address them with regard to the substantive due process claim. ¶ 51. We also do not address the allegations in the complaint relating to the denial of a fair and impartial hearing at this point in our analysis. The denial of a fair and impartial hearing implicates the procedural component of due process, not the substantive component. See Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254, 271 (1970). [12] ¶ 52. We conclude that the Thorps' complaint does not make any allegations that the zoning ordinance was clearly arbitrary and unreasonable.