U.S. District Court Judge Rules Miami Man’s class action against City of Coral Gables can move forward

CORAL GABLES, FLA.-This week U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan denied the City of Coral Gables' motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed by John Kearns of Miami to recover damages arising from the city's selective enforcement and collection of fines pursuant to City Code Sections 8-11 and 8-12. These City Code Sections deal with personal-use, non-commercial pick up trucks being parked in residential areas between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

Mr. Kearns was cited for being in violation of these city ordinances when he parked his pick up truck in03/ Coral Gables while tending to his ill father. Mr. Kearns and consumer justice attorney, Spencer Kuvin, a partner of the law firm Ricci~Leopold in Palm Beach Gardens, consider the class action to be the best way to hold the city to task for its selective enforcement of these ordinances against owners and users of personal-use pick up trucks and the lengths it has gone to in collecting fines.

On August 22, 2007, the Third District Court of Appeals for the State of Florida ruled in the matter of Kuvin v City of Coral Gables that these City Code Sections as applied to personal-use pick up trucks are unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable.

"In August the Court ruled that the city has unconstitutionally crossed the line into an impermissible interference with the personal rights of its residents," said Mr. Kuvin. "There are hundreds of cases in which the city has collected fines for these codes against people parking their trucks in residential areas at night. One person might not bother to bring their case forward and be heard, but collectively we can obtain justice for people who were harmed as a result of the enforcement of these unconstitutional ordinances," he said. "The city has violated the rights of hundreds of people and full restitution should be made," he concluded.

Spencer Kuvin is an attorney in the law firm of Ricci~Leopold, P.A. The firm, founded in 1982, has six attorneys and is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with offices located at 2925 PGA Blvd. Mr. Kuvin can be contacted at (561) 684-6500 for information about this case. Additional information about Ricci~Leopold, P.A. may be obtained from the firm's website at http://www.riccilaw.com/

Kearns Order Denying MTD (PDF)