Opinion ID: 797832
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: STTOP's Motion for Intervention as of Right

Text: 60 We turn now to STTOP's appeal of the denial of its motion for intervention. Rule 24 provides in pertinent part that 61 [u]pon timely application anyone shall be permitted to intervene in an action . . . when the applicant claims an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and the applicant is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede the applicant's ability to protect that interest, unless the applicant's interest is adequately represented by existing parties. 62 Fed.R.Civ.P. 24(a). A proposed intervenor must establish four elements to be entitled to intervene as of right: (1) that the motion to intervene was timely; (2) that the intervenor has a substantial legal interest in the subject matter of the case; (3) that its ability to protect that interest may be impaired in the absence of intervention; and (4) that the parties already before the court may not adequately represent its interest. Grutter v. Bollinger, 188 F.3d 394, 397-98 (6th Cir.1999). The district court found that STTOP did not have an adequate legal interest to intervene given its status as a mere supporter of a single piece of legislation, and that the Attorney General would fully protect its interests. This Court reviews de novo motions to intervene as of right, except for the timeliness element, which is reviewed for abuse of discretion. Id. Because the timeliness element is not in dispute here, we review the entire intervention of right issue de novo. 63 We note at the outset that the significance of STTOP's appeal of the denial of its motion for intervention is somewhat unclear in light of our decision to affirm the summary judgment entered by the district court on the merits. The finality of the summary judgment decision clearly has potential to render moot STTOP's motion to intervene. On the other hand, in light of STTOP's argument that it would have argued the case and developed the factual record differently than the state, a remand might be necessary to provide STTOP such an opportunity if the motion to intervene was incorrectly denied. In light of this possibility, we will address STTOP's appeal of the denial of its motion for intervention. 64 STTOP argues that as a public interest group involved in the process leading to the adoption of the challenged statute, it has a legal interest in the subject matter of the lawsuit. It cites to several cases from the Ninth Circuit applying such a rule. Plaintiffs distinguish the cases cited by STTOP by arguing that all of them involved long-standing groups with a broader interest than a single piece of legislation, as opposed to STTOP, which was created and continues to exist only for the purposes of advocating the passage and continued viability of the Act. See Idaho Farm Bureau Fed'n v. Babbitt, 58 F.3d 1392, 1397-98 (9th Cir.1995) (allowing conservation group to intervene in suit related to protected status of snail species); Sagebrush Rebellion, Inc. v. Watt, 713 F.2d 525, 526-28 (9th Cir.1983) (allowing Audobon Society to intervene as of right in suit challenging a birds of prey conservation area); State of Idaho v. Freeman, 625 F.2d 886 (9th Cir.1980) (allowing National Organization for Women to intervene in suit challenging ratification procedures for Equal Rights Amendment). 65 We have cited favorably to the Ninth Circuit cases relied on by STTOP in Michigan State AFL-CIO v. Miller, for the propositions that a public interest group that is involved in the process leading to adoption of legislation has a cognizable interest in defending that legislation, and that rules governing intervention are `construed broadly in favor of the applicants.' 103 F.3d 1240, 1245 (6th Cir. 1997). In Miller, we allowed the Michigan Chamber of Commerce to intervene as of right in a suit challenging amendments to the state's campaign finance law whose enactment the chamber had supported. We noted that the Chamber's legal interest was supported by four significant factors: 66 (1) a vital participant in the political process that resulted in legislative adoption of the 1994 amendments in the first place, (2) a repeat player in Campaign Finance Act litigation, (3) a significant party which is adverse to the challenging union in the political process surrounding Michigan state government's regulation of practical campaign financing, and (4) an entity also regulated by at least three of the four statutory provisions challenged by plaintiffs. 67 Id. at 1247. In finding that the Chamber had a legal interest, we noted that the intervention issue raised in this appeal is a close one. Id. Here, STTOP might share two of these four factors with the Chamber of Commerce, but clearly does not share the other two. Although STTOP was involved in the process that resulted in the passage of the challenged legislation, and might be adverse to the plaintiffs in the state's regulation of abortion practices, it is not a repeat player in litigation, as it was created for only one specific ballot initiative, and is not itself regulated by any of the statutory provisions at issue here. This fourth factor is particularly significant —unlike the Chamber of Commerce in Miller, STTOP has only an ideological interest in the litigation, and the lawsuit does not involve the regulation of STTOP's conduct in any respect. Thus, STOPP's case for intervention here is much weaker than that of the Chamber of Commerce in Miller. 68 The plaintiffs rely largely on our opinion in Providence Baptist Church v. Hillandale Comm., Ltd., which affirmed the denial of a motion to intervene as of right by a committee that existed to support a local referendum to amend a zoning ordinance. 425 F.3d 309, 316 (6th Cir.2005). Because the committee's interest lay only in passing the referendum, the Court reasoned that [a]ny substantial legal interest held by `the duly authorized committee for a referendum which circulated the referendum petitions' was terminated when the referendum was held and the results certified. Id. at 317. Similarly, where STTOP was created and continues to exist for the purpose of passing and upholding the Act, its legal interest can be said to be limited to the passage of the Act rather than the state's subsequent implementation and enforcement of it. 69 The rationale behind denying intervention in Providence Baptist also points to a useful distinction from the Ninth Circuit cases cited in Miller and relied upon here by STTOP—those cases all involved challenges by a public interest group to the procedure required to pass a particular rule, as opposed to the government's subsequent enforcement of the rule after its enactment. See id. (In contrast to the cases cited by Hillandale Committee in its brief, this case raises no issue as to the validity of the election.); see also Idaho Farm Bureau, 58 F.3d at 1397 (involving an underlying suit challenging the process by which a rule was adopted by the Secretary of the Interior); Sagebrush Rebellion, 713 F.2d at 526 (same); Freeman, 625 F.2d at 886 (underlying suit involved state procedure for ratification of constitutional amendment). We find this distinction to be compelling, as the public at large— including public interest groups—has an interest in the procedure by which a given legal requirement is enacted as a matter of democratic legislative process. On the other hand, in a challenge to the constitutionality of an already-enacted statute, as opposed to the process by which it is enacted, the public interest in its enforceability is entrusted for the most part to the government, and the public's legal interest in the legislative process becomes less relevant. 70 To be sure, public interest groups who are regulated by the new law, or, similarly, whose members are affected by the law, may likely have an ongoing legal interest in its enforcement after it is enacted. See Grutter, 188 F.3d at 401 (finding that proposed intervenors, who were applicants to University of Michigan, had a substantial legal interest in the school's admissions process). If the statute in this case regulated STTOP or its members, STTOP would likely have a legal interest, much like the intervenors in Grutter who were applicants to the University of Michigan. Alternatively, had STTOP sought to intervene in a suit challenging the legislative process by which the statute was enacted, its legal interest would be significantly stronger due to its involvement in the passage of the Act. After the Act's passage, however, STTOP's interest in the enforcement of the statute is greatly diminished due to the state's responsibilities in enforcing and defending it as it is written. As things now stand, STTOP's interest in this case simply pertains to the enforceability of the statute in general, which we do not believe to be cognizable as a substantial legal interest sufficient to require intervention as of right. 71 Without these sorts of limitations on the legal interest required for intervention, Rule 24 would be abused as a mechanism for the over-politicization of the judicial process. Because STTOP lacks a substantial legal interest in the outcome of the case, we affirm the district court's denial of its motion to intervene as of right, and need not address the other elements of intervention.