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Mootness

July 26, 2021

Mootness

Case: Elijah “LIJ” Shaw Et Al. v. Metropolitan Government Of Nashville And Davidson County

Facts: Homeowners sued City challenging a City code provision that prevented Homeowners from serving customers at their home-based businesses. The trial court granted summary judgment to the City, concluding that the client prohibition had a rational basis. While the case was on appeal, the City repealed the challenged code provision and enacted a new provision allowing certain home-based businesses to serve up to six clients a day.

Intermediate decision: The intermediate court dismissed the appeal as moot due to the repeal of the challenged provision and enactment of a new one.

Review Granted: July 12, 2021.

Prediction: Ben thinks the Supreme Court will reverse under the facts of the case, most importantly that the new code provision has a “sunset” provision and the City has apparently continued to defend the legality of the old provision. Moreover, the new code provision still contains a similar limitation to the one initially challenged that could be litigated under the same arguments as the original suit.