Opinion ID: 1288302
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: ... In the following cases relief may be obtained in the district court....

Text: .... (4) Where any governmental body ... exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions has exceeded its jurisdiction or abused its discretion, and there is no plain, speedy and adequate remedy otherwise provided by law: (I) Review shall be limited to a determination of whether the body or officer has exceeded its jurisdiction or abused its discretion, based on the evidence in the record before the defendant body or officer. .... (V) The proceedings before or decision of the body or officer may be stayed, pursuant to Rule 65 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. .... (VIII) The court may accelerate or continue any action which, in the discretion of the court, requires acceleration or continuance. [8] The plaintiffs initially argue that the Ordinance does not authorize any judicial review process for licensing officer denial of license applications because section 8-1-808 of the Code is located in that portion of the Code dealing with suspension and revocation procedures. We reject this narrow construction of the Ordinance and the Code. The Ordinance is designed to ensure rapid and adequate judicial review of license applications as well as license suspensions and revocations. The only provisions of the Code defining appeal procedures in the City Council are established by Part 8 thereof. Section 8-1-808(A) applies to all cases under the Code. Section 8-1-808(B) authorizes judicial review of every decision of the City Council. Moreover, sections 8-1-602(C) and (D) of the Code expressly establish the right of an applicant to appeal the denial of any license application to the City Council. When considered together, part 6 and part 8 of the Code provide that an unsuccessful applicant for a sexually explicit business license may appeal that determination pursuant to section 8-1-808 thereof. The plaintiffs contend that the procedures provided by section 8-1-808 of the Code and C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) do not withstand prior restraint analysis because they do not establish a mandatory mechanism to preserve the status quo for the shortest fixed period compatible with sound judicial resolution and do not minimize the deterrent effect of an interim and possible erroneous denial of a license. Freedman, 380 U.S. at 59, 85 S.Ct. at 739. We disagree. In Fernandes v. Limmer, 663 F.2d 619, 628 (5th Cir.1981), cert. dismissed, 458 U.S. 1124, 103 S.Ct. 5, 73 L.Ed.2d 1395 (1982), the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals observed that to an unsuccessful permit applicant, the unavoidable delay posed by judicial review is tantamount to an effective denial of First Amendment rights. In Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad, 420 U.S. 546, 95 S.Ct. 1239, 43 L.Ed.2d 448 (1975), and in National Socialist Party v. Village of Skokie, 432 U.S. 43, 97 S.Ct. 2205, 53 L.Ed.2d 96 (1977), the Supreme Court recognized that in the absence of a stay of an adverse determination, persons may be forced to abandon constitutionally protected rights to freedom of expression during the period of time necessary to complete appellate judicial review of such adverse determination. In Conrad, the Court held that the denial by municipal licensing authorities of a promoter's application to present scheduled performances of the musical Hair based on the content of the production constituted a prior restraint and that the procedures for appellate review available to the promoter were inadequate to obviate the dangers of censorship. Conrad, 420 U.S. at 562, 95 S.Ct. at 1249. In Skokie, the Court concluded that in the absence of a stay of an initial injunction prohibiting a controversial march by a political group or of an expedited review of such injunctive order, the injunction constituted an impermissible prior restraint on the First Amendment rights of the group. Skokie, 432 U.S. at 44, 97 S.Ct. at 2206. The availability of an expedited procedural mechanism to stay adverse administrative decisions assures that an applicant's ability to exercise constitutionally protected rights of expression are not unreasonably restrained. Such procedures preserve the status quo of the parties. See FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 228, 110 S.Ct. at 606 (plurality opinion). In some circumstances an adverse administrative decision would not alter the status quo of the parties. The Ordinance distinguishes between applicants seeking new licenses and applicants appealing the suspension or revocation of previously issued licenses. In the former case, the sexually oriented enterprise will not open for business because no license will have been issued. The status quo for a business seeking a permit to begin operating a sexually oriented business ... is non-operation. The city, therefore, does not need to allow operation pending review. East Brooks Books, 48 F.3d at 225; accord TK's Video, 24 F.3d at 708 (an applicant for a license not in business when the licensing regulations were adopted is not free to operate while its license is pending). However, if the sexually oriented business is operational, preservation of the status quo will in all probability require that the suspension or revocation be stayed pending final judicial resolution on the merits. TK's Video, 24 F.3d at 708 (Maintaining the status quo means in our view that the County cannot regulate an existing business during the licensing process.). We conclude that C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) provides adequate procedural safeguards. The rule authorizes district courts to enter orders staying the effect of decisions of the licensing officer and the city council. Although in some circumstances an applicant may be entitled to a judicial order staying such decisions even before filing a C.R.C.P. 106 claim, such a stay will not be required in every case. The provisions of C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4)(V) and C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4)(VIII) establish procedures for both a stay of the effect of an adverse decision and expedited review thereof. [9] Under these circumstances, we conclude that C.R.C.P. 106 and the Ordinance provide adequate safeguards to ensure that any impermissible prior restraint on a particular applicant's protected rights of free speech may be remedied promptly by judicial intervention. We also conclude that C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4)(V) and C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4)(VIII) provide an avenue for prompt judicial review so as to minimize suppression of the speech in the event of a license denial. FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 229, 110 S.Ct. at 606 (plurality opinion). The provisions of C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4)(VIII) specifically authorize a district court to accelerate or continue any action, and, as indicated, C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4)(V) authorizes a district court to stay any decision to deny, suspend, or revoke a license. These provisions are adequate to withstand the plaintiffs' facial challenge to the Ordinance. [10]