NEW JERSEY BANKERS ASSOCIATION v. ATTORNEY GENERAL NEW JERSEY
Nos. 21-2352, 21-2433
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
September 28, 2022
Before: GREENAWAY, JR., MATEY, and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges.
PRECEDENTIAL
Recommended Citation “New Jersey Bankers Association v. Attorney General New Jersey” (2022). 2022 Decisions. 758. https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2022/758
This September is brought to you for free and open access by the Opinions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in 2022 Decisions by an authorized administrator of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository.
Attorney General New Jersey, Appellant in No. 21-2433
On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (Civil No. 3-18-cv-15725)
District Judge: Honorable Brian R. Martinotti
Argued July 14, 2022
John D. Haggerty
Lawrence S. Lustberg
Gibbons
One Gateway Center
Newark, NJ 07102
Rachel Rodman [ARGUED]
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
700 Sixth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
Jonathan M. Watkins
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
650 South Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC 28202
Counsel for Appellant
Endel Kolde
Institute for Free Speech
1150 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 801
Washington, DC 20036
Jonathan S. Franklin
Independent Community Bankers of America
American Bankers Association
Norton Rose Fulbright
799 9th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
Counsel for Amicus Appellant
Matthew J. Platkin
Acting Attorney General of New Jersey
Jeremy M. Feigenbaum
State Solicitor
Melissa Dutton Schaffer
Assistant Attorney General
Melissa Fich
Timothy Sheehan [ARGUED]
Deputy Attorneys General
Office of Attorney General of New Jersey
Division of Law
25 Market Street
Hughes Justice Complex
Trenton, NJ 08625
Counsel for Appellee
Paul M. Smith
Campaign Legal Center
1101 14th Street, N.W.
Suite 400
Washington, DC 2005
Counsel for Amicus Appellee
OPINION OF THE COURT
GREENAWAY, JR., Circuit Judge.
In this appeal, New Jersey Bankers Association (NJBA) asks us to reverse the District Court‘s holding that the contribution ban in
I. Background
NJBA is a non-profit member-funded trade association representing 88 banks headquartered in or with branches in New Jersey. It seeks to make independent expenditures and contributions to political parties and campaigns for state and local office in New Jersey. However, it has not made these payments based on the concern that the Attorney General would enforce
To secure the ability to make independent expenditures and contributions without fear of enforcement under
On June 21, 2021, the District Court granted summary judgment in favor of NJBA on Count One, holding that
II. Jurisdiction and Standard of Review
The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to
Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
III. NJBA‘s Article III Standing and Remedy
NJBA has sought to bring a facial challenge to
A. Article III Standing Requirements
With regard to the injury in fact element, we do not require a plaintiff to expose himself to liability before bringing suit to challenge the basis for the threat. MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc., 549 U.S. 118, 128-29 (2007). Instead, courts have held that a credible threat of prosecution under an allegedly unconstitutional statute constitutes an injury in fact. See Babbitt v. United Farm Workers Nat‘l Union, 442 U.S. 289, 298 (1979). The threat may not be merely imaginary or wholly speculative. Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus, 573 U.S. 149, 160 (2014) (quoting Babbit, 442 U.S. at 302).
The Supreme Court has articulated three factors for establishing a credible threat of enforcement. Id. at 161 (citing Babbit, 442 U.S. at 298). First, there must be an intention to engage in a course of conduct arguably affected with a constitutional interest. Id. (quoting Babbit, 442 U.S. at 298). Second, the intended conduct must be arguably . . . proscribed by [the] statute that the plaintiff seeks to challenge. Id. at 162 (quoting Babbit, 442 U.S. at 298) (alteration in original). Arguably proscribed is not a stringent test. In Susan
Third, the plaintiff must face a substantial threat of future enforcement under the statute. Id. at 164. For this inquiry, we consider the history of past enforcement. Id.
B. NJBA Satisfies Article III Standing Requirements
NJBA has
Next, NJBA‘s intended conduct is arguably proscribed by
Lastly, NJBA faces a substantial threat of future enforcement under
Injury in fact aside, NJBA satisfies the remaining elements of
IV. Section 19:34-45 Does Not Cover Trade Associations of Banks
Because NJBA has standing to sue on its own behalf, we will reach the merits. The parties have asked us to determine whether: (1)
However, pursuant to well-established constitutional avoidance principles, the threshold question is a statutory one: whether
A. Statutory Interpretation
Our analysis begins and ends with the text[.] Octane Fitness, LLC v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc., 572 U.S. 545, 553 (2014). In determining whether the meaning of a statutory term is plain, we consider the the language itself, the specific context in which that language is used, and the broader context of the statute as a whole. Byrd v. Shannon, 715 F.3d 117, 123 (3d Cir. 2013) (quoting Robinson v. Shell Oil Co., 519 U.S. 337, 341 (1997)). [W]here [the legislature‘s] will has been expressed in language that has a reasonably plain meaning, that language must ordinarily be regarded as conclusive. Id. at 122 (citing Negonsott v. Samuels, 507 U.S. 99, 104 (1993)).
B. Statutory Analysis
Here, the statutory language—to carry[] on the business of a bank—has a reasonably plain meaning. Contemporaneous dictionary definitions reveal that, at bottom, a corporation carrying on the business of a bank is one that makes loans and receives deposits. Relevant dictionaries define bank as [a]n institution, of great value in the commercial world, empowered to receive deposits of money, to make loans, and to issue its promissory notes, (designed to circulate as money, and commonly called bank-notes or bank-bills,) or to perform any one or more of these functions, Bank, Black‘s Law Dictionary 117 (2d ed. 1910); and [a]n institution for receiving and lending money . . . . They receive, lend, and transmit money, and issue notes which are used as money, and buy, sell, and collect bills of
Treating the plain meaning as conclusive, we decline to hold that a corporation carrying on the business of a bank encompasses NJBA, a trade association of banks. Of note, NJBA does not ask us to adopt that interpretation. Appellant‘s 2d Supp. Br. 3 (Under the plain terms of
C. Attorney General of New Jersey‘s Interpretation
We recognize that our holding contravenes the Attorney General‘s interpretation. In his 2002 Opinion, he explained
Initially, we are not bound by the Attorney General‘s legal interpretations. See Virginia v. Am. Booksellers Ass‘n, 484 U.S. 383, 395 (1988) (declining to accept an Attorney General‘s legal interpretation as authority because the Attorney General does not bind the state courts or local law enforcement authorities); see also Quarto v. Adams, 929 A.2d 1111, 1117 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2007) (noting that it was not bound to adopt the Attorney General‘s Formal Opinion as a correct statement of law although it is nonetheless entitled to a degree of deference); Cole v. Woodcliff Lake Bd. of Educ., 382 A.2d 966, 970 (N.J. Super. Ct. Law Div. 1977) (stating that interpretations of statutes rendered by the Attorney General are not binding).
Further, this potential loophole does not allow us to depart from the ordinary meaning of the statute. Only absurd results and the most extraordinary showing of contrary intentions would justify such a departure. First Merchants Acceptance Corp. v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 198 F.3d 394, 403
An absurd result is an outcome so contrary to perceived social values that [the legislature] could not have intended’ it. United States v. Fontaine, 697 F.3d 221, 228 (3d Cir. 2012) (quoting John F. Manning, The Absurdity Doctrine, 116 Harv. L. Rev. 2387, 2390 (2003)). As long as the legislature could have any conceivable justification for a result—even if the result carries negative consequences—that result cannot be absurd. Ricco v. Sentry Credit, Inc., 954 F.3d 582, 588-89 (3d Cir. 2020) (citing Fontaine, 697 F.3d at 228).
Interpreting
Because we can resolve the case on statutory grounds—namely, by interpreting the statute as inapplicable to trade associations of banks—we decline to reach the
V. Facial Challenge
In addition to proceeding on the basis of
A. Prudential Standing Requirements
Ordinarily, one may not claim standing . . . to vindicate the constitutional rights of some third party. Singleton v. Wulff, 428 U.S. 106, 114 (1976) (quoting Barrows v. Jackson, 346 U.S. 249, 255 (1953)). This prudential rule is designed to avoid deciding questions of broad social import . . . and to limit access to the federal courts to those litigants best suited to assert a particular claim. Gladstone Realtors v. Village of Bellwood, 441 U.S. 91, 99-100 (1979).
However, we have recognized an exception to the prudential rule against third party standing. Under the
To qualify for this exception, the plaintiff must (1) have suffered an actual injury; (2) have a close enough relationship with the party whose rights he or she is asserting; and (3) there must be some hindrance to the third party‘s ability to protect his or her own interests. The Pitt News v. Fisher, 215 F.3d 354, 362 (3d Cir. 2000) (citing Powers v. Ohio, 499 U.S. 400, 411 (1991)).
B. NJBA Does Not Satisfy Prudential Standing
Prudential standing concerns prevent us from concluding that NJBA can assert a third-party claim on behalf of third-party banks. Applying the prudential standing factors from The Pitt News, NJBA sustained an actual injury—namely, the credible threat of enforcement under
However, NJBA has failed to allege that some impediment exists to the third-party banks’ ability to assert their own rights. See The Pitt News, 215 F.3d at 362. This is not necessarily fatal. We can relax this criterion if
VI. Conclusion
Because we hold that NJBA is not a corporation carrying on the business of a bank for purposes of
