Patrick Novak v. United States

I. Background

Plaintiffs are six individuals and one corporation.1 All reside in Hawaii and claim to have suffered pecuniary injury when they purchased “domestic ocean cargo shipping services on west coast Hawaii routes.” They sued the United States, claiming that the root of their problem is found in the cabotage provisions of the Jones Act, formally known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. Cabotage is the transport of goods or passengers between two points in the same country. Black’s Law Dictionary 243 (10th ed. 2014).

The purpose of the Jones Act is to support this country’s merchant marine and its shipbuilding and repair facilities, at least in part so they may be available in times of war or national emergency. 46 U.S.C. § 50101. One way the statute aims to accomplish this objective is by limiting the domestic shipping market to American companies, excluding foreign competitors. Under the cabotage provisions, any ship carrying cargo between two points in the United States must have been “built in the United States,” 46 U.S.C. § 12112(a)(2)(A), and be “wholly owned by citizens of the United States,” id. § 55102(b)(1).

1 The individual plaintiffs and appellants are Patrick…

concurring:

I concur in Judge Clifton’s thoughtful opinion, which faithfully applies our circuit precedent. I write separately to express my view that San Diego County Gun Rights Committee v. Reno, 98 F.3d 1121 (9th Cir.1996), which drives the opinion’s conclusion that Plaintiffs lack Article III standing, should be reconsidered in an appropriate case.

Gun Rights ignores one of the most basic rules of microeconomics. According to Gun Rights, the fact that a law “re *1024 strict[s] supply” of a good is insufficient to support the inference that the law causes an increase in the price of that good. 98 F.3d at 1130 . But the law of supply and demand tells us that, when demand for a good remains constant, a decrease in the supply of that good will cause an increase in price. See David BesanKow & Ronald R. BrAEUTIGAM, MICROECONOMICS 37 (4th ed.2010); see also Charles Alan Weight, AethüR R. Miller & Edward H. Cooper, 13a Federal PRACTICE & Procedure § 3531.5 n. 35 (3d ed.2008) (criticizing the causation analysis in Gun Rights for failing to recognize that “[r]estriction of lawful supply inevitably increases the price absent a change in the demand schedule”).

In accordance with basic…

Opinion by Judge CLIFTON; Concurrence by Judge FRIEDLAND.

OPINION

This action challenges the constitutionality of the Jones Act’s cabotage provisions, which prohibit foreign competition in the domestic shipping market. Plaintiffs allege that these provisions impair interstate trade between Hawaii and the rest of the United States to such an extent that they violate the Constitution. . The district court dismissed the action with prejudice, concluding that Plaintiffs failed to satisfy what it framed as prudential standing requirements because they alleged only generalized grievances shared with all residents and businesses in Hawaii.

We affirm the dismissal of this action. Plaintiffs have alleged more than generalized grievances and have demonstrated an “injury in fact,” but have not met their burden to show causation or redressability, the other two elements of Article III standing. Although it is possible that Plaintiffs could establish standing if they amended their complaint, any amendment would be futile because Plaintiffs’ challenge to the Jones Act would fail on the merits. An amended complaint' would, we conclude, be subject to dismissal for failure to state a claim…