Flytenow's Petition for Writ of Certiorari
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No. _________ ================================================================ In The Supreme Court of the United States --------------------------------- --------------------------------- FLYTENOW, INC., Petitioner, v. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, Administrator, Respondent. --------------------------------- --------------------------------- On Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The District Of Columbia Circuit --------------------------------- --------------------------------- PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI --------------------------------- --------------------------------- JONATHAN RICHES* ADITYA DYNAR GOLDWATER INSTITUTE SCHARF-NORTON CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL LITIGATION 500 E. Coronado Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 462-5000 [email protected] *Counsel of Record Counsel for Petitioner ================================================================ COCKLE LEGAL BRIEFS (800) 225-6964 WWW.COCKLELEGALBRIEFS.COM i QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. In deciding what level of deference is due an agency’s interpretation when it predominately inter- prets common law terms, five circuit courts of appeals have held no deference is due such an interpretation. Three others have held such an interpretation is “not entitled to great deference.” The D.C. Circuit here af- forded deference under Auer v. Robbins, 519 U.S. 452 (1997) to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (“FAA”) legal interpretation predominately interpreting the common law term, “common carriage.” What, if any, def- erence is due an agency’s interpretation when it predom- inately interprets terms of common law in which courts, not administrative agencies, have special competence? 2. Did the circuit court err when it held, in con- travention of this Court’s long-standing definition of “common carrier,” that pilots who use the Internet to communicate are “common carriers” when those pilots do not earn a commercial profit or indiscriminately of- fer to share their travel plans with the general public, thus warranting remand? 3. Pilots have lawfully communicated a particu- lar message—namely, the time and location of travel plans—with prospective passengers since the begin- ning of general aviation using a variety of different means of communication. Did the circuit court err in holding that the FAA could, consistent with the First Amendment, lawfully discriminate against con- tent-based Internet communications because of the message conveyed and the means chosen by pilots to convey it? ii PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDING AND RULE 29.6 STATEMENT The parties to the proceeding are all listed on the cover. Petitioner, Flytenow, Inc., is a Delaware corpora- tion with its principal place of business in Massachu- setts. No parent corporation or publicly held corporation owns 10% or more of the stock of Flytenow, Inc. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Questions Presented ............................................... i Parties to the Proceeding and Rule 29.6 Statement .... ii Table of Contents .................................................... iii Table of Authorities ................................................ v Opinions Below ....................................................... 1 Statement of Jurisdiction ....................................... 1 Constitutional and Regulatory Provisions In- volved ................................................................... 1 Statement of the Case ............................................ 2 Reasons for Granting the Petition ......................... 7 I. The Court should grant certiorari to resolve the circuit split on the question of what, if any, deference is owed an agency’s interpre- tation when it predominately interprets terms of common law in which courts, not administrative agencies, have special com- petence.......................................................... 9 A. Five courts of appeals have held that no deference is due to an administrative interpretation of predominately com- mon law terms ....................................... 10 B. Three courts of appeals have held that an agency’s interpretation of predomi- nately common law terms is “not enti- tled to great deference” ......................... 13 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued Page C. When agencies interpret predominately common law terms, no deference should be provided to those interpretations ..... 16 D. The Court should also grant review be- cause the D.C. Circuit’s decision con- flicts with this Court’s decisions in Christopher, Mead, and Christensen .... 18 II. In the alternative, the Circuit Court’s drastic departure from the common law definition of “common carrier” warrants remand ........ 21 III. The Circuit Court’s opinion upholds a content- based restriction on Internet communica- tions in violation of the First Amendment .... 27 Conclusion ............................................................... 32 APPENDIX Court of Appeals Opinion filed December 18, 2015 .................................................................. App. 1 Court of Appeals Judgment filed December 18, 2015 ................................................................ App. 28 MacPherson–Winton Interpretation .................. App. 30 Court of Appeals Denial of Rehearing filed Feb- ruary 24, 2016 ................................................ App. 41 v TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page CASES 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island, 517 U.S. 484 (1996) ................................................................ 30 American Ship Bldg. Co. v. NLRB, 380 U.S. 300 (1965) ....................................................................... 12 Apex Hosiery Co. v. Leader, 310 U.S. 469 (1940) ........ 23 Atrium of Princeton, LLC v. NLRB, 684 F.3d 1310 (D.C. Cir. 2012) ............................................... 15 Auer v. Robbins, 519 U.S. 452 (1997) .................. passim Board of Cnty. Comm’rs of Cnty. of Adams v. Isaac, 18 F.3d 1492 (10th Cir. 1994) ....................... 14 Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co., 325 U.S. 410 (1945) .................................................... 10, 11, 14 Brewster ex rel. Keller v. Sullivan, 972 F.2d 898 (8th Cir. 1992) .................................................... 14, 16 Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. United States, 129 S. Ct. 1870 (2009) ................................. 16 Cahaly v. Larosa, 796 F.3d 399 (4th Cir. 2015) .......... 28 Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984) .......................................... 19 Christensen v. Harris Cnty., 529 U.S. 576 (2000) ..... 18, 19 Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 132 S. Ct. 2156 (2012) .................................... 7, 18, 19, 20 Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm’n, 558 U.S. 310 (2010) ........................................................ 30 vi TABLE OF AUTHORITIES – Continued Page CSI Aviation Servs., Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of Transp., 637 F.3d 408 (D.C. Cir. 2011) .................................. 22 Decker v. Northwest Envtl. Def. Ctr., 133 S. Ct. 1326 (2013) .............................................................. 16 Dewey v. City of Des Moines, 173 U.S. 193 (1899) ....... 21 Edwards v. Califano, 619 F.2d 865 (10th Cir. 1980) ........................................................................ 14 FCC v. Midwest Video Corp., 440 U.S. 689 (1979) ....... 25 Flytenow, Inc. v. Federal Aviation Adminis- tration, 808 F.3d 882 (D.C. Cir. 2015) ....................... 1 Gale v. Independent Taxi Owners Ass’n, 84 F.2d 249 (D.C. Cir. 1936) ................................................. 24 Gonzales v. Oregon, 546 U.S. 243 (2006) ................ 7, 20 Grossman v. Bowen, 680 F. Supp. 570 (S.D.N.Y. 1988) ........................................................................ 14 Harris Trust & Sav. Bank v. Salomon Smith Barney, Inc., 530 U.S. 238 (2000) ............................ 21 Hi-Craft Clothing Co. v. NLRB, 660 F.2d 910 (3d Cir. 1981) ........................................................... 10, 12 Jicarilla Apache Tribe v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm’n, 578 F.2d 289 (10th Cir. 1978) ........................................................................ 14 Lebron v. National R.R. Passenger Corp., 513 U.S. 374 (1995) ........................................................ 21 Lowe v. SEC, 472 U.S. 181 (1985) ............................... 31 vii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES – Continued Page Maloley v. R.J. O’Brien & Assocs., Inc., 819 F.2d 1435 (8th Cir. 1987) ................................................. 12 Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803) ...................... 10 Mission Grp. of Kansas, Inc. v. Riley, 146 F.3d 775 (10th Cir. 1998) ................................................. 14 Mondou v. New York, New Haven & Hartford R.R. Co., 223 U.S. 1 (1912) ...................................... 22 Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Darden, 503 U.S. 318 (1992) ....................................................................... 16 NLRB v. Fullerton Transfer & Storage Ltd., 910 F.2d 331 (6th Cir. 1990) ..................................... 11, 12 NLRB v. Guy F. Atkinson Co., 195 F.2d 141 (9th Cir. 1952) ................................................................. 12 Norton v. City of Springfield, 806 F.3d 411 (7th Cir. 2015) ................................................................. 29 Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Int’l Union, Local 1–547 v. NLRB, 842 F.2d 1141 (9th Cir. 1988) ........................................................................ 12 Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Ass’n, 135 S. Ct. 1199 (2015) ................................................