Court Opinion

ID: 9479599
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 07:23:00.423183+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:47:08.831602
License: Public Domain

EUGENE A. WRIGHT, Circuit Judge,
Specially Concurring:
Although the majority and I agree that the panoram licensing ordinance fails to meet the test of City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc., 476 U.S. 41, 106 S.Ct. 925, 89 L.Ed.2d 29 (1986), I disagree with its conclusion that the district court clearly erred by finding that panorams foster criminal activity. See FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas, 837 F.2d 1298, 1304-05 (5th Cir.*2271988) (Renton applied to licensing scheme), cert. granted, — U.S. -, 109 S.Ct. 1309, 103 L.Ed.2d 578 (1989).
The district court analogized the city’s panoram licensing ordinance to the zoning provision in Renton, holding that the city was attempting to control the secondary effects of panorams on the areas in which they operated.1 It found specifically that panorams “foster criminal activity.”
The majority acknowledges that it must uphold this finding unless “clearly erroneous” but concludes that:
The record yields no evidence to support the district court’s broad finding that panorams foster criminal activity on “the Block.”2
If our review was de novo, I might agree with the majority’s evaluation of the evidence. But our review is for clear error, and plenty of evidence supports the district court’s finding that panorams foster criminal activity.3
However, I would find the ordinance unconstitutional on other grounds. Renton instructs us that an acceptable content-neutral time, place and manner regulation must be “designed to serve a substantial government interest and allow[] for reasonable alternative avenues of communication.” Tollis, Inc. v. San Bernardino County, 827 F.2d 1329, 1332 (9th Cir.1987) (citing Renton, 106 S.Ct. at 930). As part of this analysis, we look to see if the ordinance is narrowly tailored, asking if there is “a logical relationship between the evil feared and the method selected to combat it.” Id. at 1332-33 (citing Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc., 427 U.S. 50, 80, 96 S.Ct. 2440, 2457, 49 L.Ed.2d 310 (1976)).
Here, the city has presented no evidence that panorams off the Block have any *228harmful secondary effects on the community. It has attempted to control the secondary effects in panoram establishments on one block in downtown Seattle, but the ordinance applies to panorams not on this block. These panorams contributed approximately 50% of all revenue raised from the licensing scheme.
The ordinance is unconstitutional because the city has failed to show that it was sufficiently narrowly tailored to affect only that category of panorams shown to produce the unwanted secondary effects. See Tollis, 827 F.2d at 1338 (citing Renton, 106 S.Ct. at 931).

. The City’s evidence established that panoram rooms foster criminal activity. Even if the pa-norams are not the sole cause of the criminal conduct, they contribute substantially to it. Combatting this effort, preventing the use of panorams for illegal ends, is by all accounts an important and substantial government interest. Thus, the court finds that the City met its burden of proof on the first issue of fact: panorams create substantial secondary effects which the City has acted to prevent.
Order at pages 4-5.

. I disagree also with the majority’s characterization of the district court’s finding. It did not find that panorams fostered criminal activity "on the Block.” It found only that panorams fostered criminal activity.
I understand the district court’s finding to be that panorams foster criminal activity at pano-ram establishments. That finding is consistent with the city’s theory that panorams foster criminal activity on the premises. It is also consistent with the evidence presented. The majority acknowledges that the city "focused its evidence at trial on criminal activity occurring in the panorams, rather than the secondary effects of panorams on crime on 'the Block.’ ”

. Sergeant Dorman testified that the new ordinance for booths solved some of the problems at panorams, but that the rooms themselves were still gathering places for many different types of persons, including prostitutes who used them to attempt to solicit business. Although the sergeant admitted that his unit had not made any prostitution arrests of customers in the booths, they had arrested persons working in the panoram establishments.
Officer Niemiec had observed acts of prostitution, persons using narcotics, and others doing lewd acts in panoram rooms. He stated that criminal activity seemed to be situated around where the pan rooms were located and that a portion of the criminal activity “on the Block” used the panoram premises. As the majority has noted, he observed also that the criminal activity seemed to gravitate toward where the pan rooms were located.
Officer Rodriguez had seen prostitutes working in the panoram room and had personally made one prostitution and one theft arrest.
When asked about the type of enforcement activity expected in the panoram room, Lieutenant Hunt testified that there was a potential for more criminal activity in the establishments.
Officer Englin had observed narcotics transactions, the transfer of stolen goods, and occasional sexual misconduct in the panoram establishments. He thought they fostered such activity because they were off the street, out of sight, and were open late at night. Although he could not remember any arrests that had been made in the panoram establishments, he had observed what he believed was criminal activity. He spent approximately three quarters of his time in the panorams and only one quarter at other locations.
Officer Ash had also observed narcotics activity in panoram rooms. When asked if his presence as a uniformed police officer had any effect on persons in the panoram establishments, he stated: “I believe our presence acts as a deterrent to any type of crime in panorams or outside on the panoram sidewalks.”
Officer Wirth also stated that his presence in the panorams acted as a deterrent.