Opinion ID: 463757
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Injunction and Declaratory Judgment Claims

Text: 7 The district court dismissed appellants' claims for injunctive and declaratory relief on mootness, Rule 12(b)(1), and 12(b)(2) grounds. Because the complaint sought injunctive relief only against appellees Winter, Carr, Cortwright, and Patterson, they were accordingly dismissed from this action by this ruling. We affirm the district court. 8 Appellants prevailed in the recall election that they sought to enjoin. A claim becomes moot when the issues presented are no longer 'live' or the parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome. Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, 496, 89 S.Ct. 1944, 1951, 23 L.Ed.2d 491, 502 (1969). Appellants clearly have no interest in receiving an injunction to prevent a recall election they have already won. Thus, the claim for injunctive relief is moot. 9 Likewise, the claim for declaratory relief is moot. Appellants' declaratory claim urges that the recall statute is unconstitutional. Because appellants have already prevailed in the recall election, their complaint for declaratory relief is moot unless: (1) the challenged action [is] in its duration too short to be fully litigated prior to its cessation or expiration; and (2) there [is] a reasonable expectation that the same complaining party would be subjected to the same action again. Weinstein v. Bradford, 423 U.S. 147, 149, 96 S.Ct. 347, 349, 46 L.Ed.2d 350, 353 (1975). This exception to mootness is known as the capable of repetition, yet evading review doctrine. Id. The first prong of the exception does not apply to the instant case because the complaint lacks an allegation that time pressures made it impossible to litigate the issue before the recall election was held. The second prong does not apply because there is no allegation or showing otherwise that appellants will be subjected to another recall petition. Although all public officials are subject to recall under the Mississippi statute, there is no reason to believe from the record that appellants are more likely to face a recall election today than are any other public officials. See O'Shea v. Littleton, 414 U.S. 488, 94 S.Ct. 669, 38 L.Ed.2d 674 (1974) (injury or threat of injury must be both real and immediate, not abstract, conjectural, or hypothetical). We affirm, therefore, the district court's dismissal of the injunctive and declaratory judgment claims. Accordingly, we affirm the dismissal of the state appellees from this action.