Myers v. Sioux City, No. 18-2138 (8th Cir. 2019)
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The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's claims challenging the city's ordinance based on lack of standing. The challenged ordinance made it unlawful for any person to own, possess, keep, exercise control over, maintain, harbor, transport or sell within the City of Sioux City, Iowa, any pit bull. In this case, plaintiff admitted that she does not currently own a dog because she and her fiance work full time and do not have the time to own a dog, but she intended to adopt a dog in the near future.
The court held that, to the extent plaintiff sought prospective relief against future conduct, she failed to show that she owns a dog and does not live in the city. Furthermore, her intention to adopt a dog in the near future was uncertain and insufficient to confer standing. The court also held that plaintiff's past injuries did not grant her standing because she failed to demonstrate how her proposed relief redressed them. Finally, the district court did not abuse its discretion by declining to hold an evidentiary hearing prior to its sua sponte dismissal of plaintiff's claim.
Court Description: Gruender, Author, with Wollman and Shepherd, Circuit Judges] Civil case- Civil rights. Myers, who neither owns a dog nor lives in Sioux City, did not have standing to challenge the city's ordinance banning pit bulls; statements of intention to own a dog and bring the dog into the city are "some day" intentions which, without descriptions of concrete plans or indeed any specifications of when the some day will be, do not support a finding of the kind of actual or imminent injury necessary to create standing; the district court did not abuse its discretion by not holding an evidentiary hearing prior to its sua sponte dismissal of Myers' claims. [ April 08, 2019
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