Metro Display Advertising, Inc. v. City of Victorville

This is a qualified immunity claim by municipal officials relating to censorship of posters in bus shelters. The district judge wrote a sound and well articulated decision with which we agree.

Facts.

This is an appeal from denial of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), so we assume for purposes of decision that the facts are as stated in the complaint. The facts below are as alleged, and have not been proved. The reason that we have jurisdiction, despite the interlocutory nature of the decision, is that the motion was by public officials to obtain the benefit of qualified immunity from suit, and they have appealed under Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511 , 105 S.Ct. 2806 , 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985).

Metro Display is in the business of leasing bus shelter advertising space. It spent hundreds of thousands of dollars building bus shelters for the City of Victorville, with 76 sign spaces in 38 shelters. In exchange, its contract with the City of Victorville entitled Metro to use the shelters it built for advertisements.

Metro Display’s standard policy is to sell advertising space throughout southern California to “all…