Lone Star Security & Video, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles

The City of Los Angeles routinely towed vehicles owned by Lone Star Security & Video, Inc. (Lone Star) for violating an ordinance that Lone Star contends was preempted by the California Vehicle Code. Lone Star brought a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , arguing that because the ordinance was invalid under state law, the City violated Lone Star’s due process rights under the United States Constitution. We must decide not simply whether this claim makes out a federal constitutional violation — it does not — but whether the claim is so “ ‘wholly insubstantial and frivolous’ ” that the district court lacked jurisdiction to entertain it. Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 523 U.S. 83, 89 , 118 S.Ct. 1003 , 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998) (quoting Bell v. Hood, 327 U.S. 678, 682-83 , 66 S.Ct. 773 , 90 L.Ed. 939 (1946)); see 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 , 1343. We also address whether due process required the City to pro-vide notice to Lone Star, a chronic violator of the ordinance, each time it towed one of Lone Star’s vehicles.

BACKGROUND

The California Vehicle Code preempts municipal vehicle ordinances inconsistent with its provisions. In relevant part, the Code provides that “no local authority…