Opinion ID: 166896
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Alleged Injury Caused by the Citation and Criminal Record

Text: 39 We next consider whether Mr. Winsness has standing based on allegations that he was issued a citation and has been harmed because he now has a criminal record for an alleged violation of the Statute. App. 12, 13. Unlike the brief criminal prosecution discussed above, a permanent criminal record could cause a continuing injury to Mr. Winsness. We assume for purposes of this appeal that Mr. Winsness has alleged a concrete injury as a result of the citation and criminal record. See Ambus v. Utah State Bd. of Educ., 800 P.2d 811, 813-14 (Utah 1990) (noting permissible uses of criminal records and emphasizing that, even in the absence of a criminal record, employers may independently check[] the background of employees to uncover evidence of arrests or convictions). 40 The citation and criminal record do not, however, provide Mr. Winsness with standing to sue these defendants. Standing requires not only a judicially cognizable injury, but a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of and a likelihood that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision. Phelps, 122 F.3d at 1326. These defendants did not issue the citation to Mr. Winsness and are not responsible for maintaining any record of it. 41 We confronted a similar issue in Nova Health Systems v. Gandy, 416 F.3d 1149, 1153-54 (10th Cir.2005), where an abortion provider sought to enjoin enforcement of an Oklahoma statute that imposed liability on abortion providers for any subsequent medical costs resulting from an abortion performed on a minor without parental consent or knowledge. The provider had alleged an adequate injury in fact because, as a result of the statute, it faced an imminent likelihood that it would lose some minor patients seeking abortions. Id. at 1155. Yet the provider brought suit against public officials who oversaw state medical facilities, none of which had actually sought to recover damages under the statute. Id. at 1157. Noting that a plaintiff must show that his or her injury is `fairly traceable to the challenged action of the defendant, and not the result of the independent action of some third party not before the court,' this Court found no causal connection between the actions of the defendants and the injury alleged by the provider. Id. at 1156-57 (quoting Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130). Further, we found no substantial likelihood that declaratory or injunctive relief against the public officials would redress the provider's injury, as it would enjoin[] only these defendants from filing suit to recover damages under the statute. Id. at 1158-59 (emphasis in original). 42 Whatever injury Mr. Winsness has suffered as a result of the citation and criminal record, the Defendants in this case— the Governor, Attorney General, and Salt Lake County prosecutors—had nothing to do with it. The citation was issued by a sheriff's deputy without any prompting from the District Attorney's office. By operation of law, again without prosecutorial intervention, the citation became part of Mr. Winsness's criminal record. As in Nova Health Systems, no causal relationship exists between the actions of the Defendants and the alleged injury. Mr. Winsness therefore lacks standing to sue these defendants based on injuries resulting from the citation and criminal record.