NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, INC., UNIFIED SPORTSMEN OF FLORIDA, INC., W. DAVID TUCKER, SR., AND JOHN DOE, PETITIONERS,
v.
CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, RESPONDENT
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The Florida District Court of Appeal quashed a trial court order requiring the National Rifle Association and Unified Sportsmen of Florida to disclose the names and addresses of their members residing in South Miami. The court held that merely initiating litigation as plaintiffs does not waive associational privacy rights protected under the First Amendment.
The court held that filing suit as a plaintiff does not automatically waive associational privacy rights and that the discovery order requiring disclosure of member names should not have been issued. The court expressed no opinion on standing itself, leaving that determination to the trial court.
[1] Disclosure of an organization's membership list may infringe upon members' rights to associational privacy.
[2] Initiating litigation as a plaintiff does not automatically waive an organization's privacy rights concerning its members' identities.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We are not convinced that simply because the Associations filed the action as plaintiffs, they have waived their privacy rights concerning the members' names.”
Establishes that plaintiff status does not automatically waive associational privacy protections
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe Associations filed a complaint challenging the City of South Miami's gun locking device ordinance as preempted and unconstitutional, seeking injun…
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PER CURIAM.
The National Rifle Association of America, Inc. and Unified Sportsmen of Florida, Inc. (the “Associations”) seek a writ of certiorari to quash an order requiring that the Associations reveal names and addresses of their members who live in the City of South Miami (the “City”). We grant the petition and quash the order. The Associations (along with two other plaintiffs) filed a complaint seeking a declaration that the City’s Ordinance 14-00-1716, a gun locking device ordinance, is preempted by the laws of Florida and the United States and infringes upon the constitutional right to keep arms. The Associations also sought injunctive relief precluding enforcement of the ordinance by the City.
The City filed a motion to dismiss contending that the Associations had not demonstrated that they had any members in the City to permit them standing. The City also served notices of taking the depositions of representatives of the Associations. The notices of taking deposition required the Associations to bring to the depositions, among other things, the lists of Association members who were residents of the City. In response, the Associations filed a motion, for protective order and argued that disclosure of the identity of their members infringes on the members’ rights to associational privacy. See National Ass’n for Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama, 357 U.S. 449, 78 S.Ct. 1163, 2 L.Ed.2d 1488 (1958).
After a hearing, the trial court entered an order requiring the Associations to produce a list of names and addresses of ten of their respective members who reside in the City. The Associations then filed this petition for writ of certiorari seeking to quash that order. In response to the petition, the City has argued that a right of privacy should not prevent disclosure where, as here, the Associations have voluntarily initiated this litigation as plaintiffs. The Associations have alleged that they have numerous members in South Miami. The City claims that it has no way to test this allegation if the Associations successfully object on the grounds of privilege.
We are not convinced that simply because the Associations filed the action as plaintiffs, they have waived their privacy rights concerning the members’ names. The discovery of the names should not have been ordered. See id. at 462, 78 S.Ct. 1163. We therefore quash the order. We express no opinion on whether the Associations have, or will be able to establish, standing. Those issues await consideration in the first instance by the trial court.
Certiorari granted.
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Citizens for Thoughtful Growth - W. Palm Beach, Inc. v. THE City of W. Palm Beach & Flagler Residential, LLC (Fla. 4th DCA 2020)…163.3215, Florida Statutes (2019). The petitioners contended that disclosure would violate a right of privacy of its members. We grant the petition and quash the order based upon National Rifle Association of America, Inc. v. City of South Miami, 774 So. 2d 815, 816 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (granting certiorari to petitioner National Rifle Association to quash trial court order compelling production of names and addresses of members living in Miami for the purpose of determining NRA’s standing to challenge ordin…
Authorities Cited
- Nat'l Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex rel. Patterson, 357 U.S. 449 (U.S. 1958)