Coalition for Life St. Louis v. City of Carbondale ( 2023 )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS COALITION FOR LIFE ST. LOUIS d/b/a COALITION LIFE, Plaintiff, Case No. 23-cv-01651-SPM v. CITY OF CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS, Defendant. MEMORANDUM AND ORDER McGLYNN, District Judge: On May 16, 2023, plaintiff Coalition Life filed its Complaint for Civil Rights Violations, Injunctive Relief, and Declaratory Judgment against defendant, City of Carbondale “Carbondale” (Doc. 1). Specifically, Coalition Life raises numerous Constitutional challenges against Carbondale’s newly enacted “Bubble Zone Ordinance” (Id.). Pending before the Court is a Motion to Dismiss filed by defendant, City of Carbondale (“Carbondale”), which argues that dismissal is warranted as both Seventh Circuit and Supreme Court precedent bind this Court (Doc. 14); see also Hill v. Colorado, et al., 530 U.S. 703 (2000); Price v. City of Chicago, 915 F.3d 1107 (7th Cir. 2019). In Hill, the Supreme Court upheld a similar “bubble zone” Colorado statute as a content-neutral time, place and matter restriction. Hill, 530 U.S. at 719- 720. More recently, this Circuit upheld a similar “bubble zone” ordinance enacted by Page 1 of 2 the City of Chicago after holding that Hill remained good law and directly controlled the issue, even though Hill was decided more than twenty years ago and appears inconsistent with other Supreme Court decisions. Price, 915 F.3d at 1119 (“While the Supreme Court has deeply unsettled Hill, it has not overruled the decision. So it remains binding on us.”). It its response, Coalition Life maintains that Carbondale’s abortion “bubble zone” ordinance flagrantly violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment (Doc. 15). Indeed, Coalition Life points out that the holding in Hill has eroded through the years, most recently being cited by the Supreme Court for “distort[ing] First Amendment doctrines”. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., 142 S.Ct 2228, 2276 & n. 65 (2022). Nevertheless, Coalition Life concedes that the Price and Hill decisions preclude Coalition Life from succeeding, unless and until Price or Hill are overruled (Doc. 15). CONCLUSION For the reasons set forth above, defendant City of Carbondale’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED in its entirety. IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: July 6, 2023 s/ Stephen P. McGlynn_ STEPHEN P. McGLYNN U.S. District Judge Page 2 of 2