Opinion ID: 794639
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Review Includes the Administrative Instruction

Text: 54 Before addressing the merits of Food Not Bombs' challenge to the Events Ordinance, we must take another detour and address the scope of this facial challenge. At oral argument, there was some confusion over the role played by the Administrative Instruction. On the one hand, the Events Ordinance does call for promulgation of administrative regulations that are consistent with and that further the terms and requirements set forth within this Chapter. SMMC § 4.68.200. On the other hand, counsel for Santa Monica stated that although available to the public online, the Instruction principally is meant to bind staff in their application of the Events Ordinance, including as a prosecutorial directive. Appellants' counsel, for her part, maintained that the Events Ordinance, not the Instruction, informs the public as to what the law is. 55 In like circumstances, it is common to consider a city's authoritative interpretation of its guidelines and ordinances. See Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement, 505 U.S. 123, 131, 112 S.Ct. 2395, 120 L.Ed.2d 101 (1992) (In evaluating respondent's facial challenge, we must consider the county's authoritative constructions of the ordinance, including its own implementation and interpretation of it.); Ward v. Rock Against Racism, 491 U.S. 781, 795-96, 109 S.Ct. 2746, 105 L.Ed.2d 661 (1989) (Administrative interpretation and implementation of a regulation are, of course, highly relevant to our analysis, for `[i]n evaluating a facial challenge to a state law, a federal court must . . . consider any limiting construction that a state court or enforcement agency has proffered.' (quoting Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455 U.S. 489, 494 n. 5, 102 S.Ct. 1186, 71 L.Ed.2d 362 (1982) (alterations in original))). To affect the constitutional analysis, such a limiting construction must be made explicit by textual incorporation, binding judicial or administrative construction, or well-established practice. City of Lakewood, 486 U.S. at 770, 108 S.Ct. 2138. 56 The district court found that [t]he City has adopted Administrative Instruction II-4-4. . . as amended July 7, 2003, to provide specific standards and guidelines for implementation of the Community Events Ordinance. See Ward, 491 U.S. at 795, 109 S.Ct. 2746 (looking to district court's express findings). The Instruction is thus binding on the City's enforcement staff, as well as explicitly authorized by the ordinance. That the Instruction has been amended a number of times does not affect its pertinence, as the amendments, like the original Instruction, are publicly available. The Instruction is therefore properly viewed as Santa Monica's authoritative interpretation of the Events Ordinance, and we review the constitutionality of the ordinance in light of the Instruction. 57