Faced with a summary judgment motion in its historic district lawsuit against Evanston, Northwestern is fighting to make sure it sees its day in court.
A judge could render a summary judgment if the filing party demonstrates that there is no factual dispute between parties and that one party is entitled to judgment “as a matter of law,” said Robert Burns, professor of law and litigation attorney at NU’s legal clinic. Summary judgment can occur after both sides have conducted depositions and submitted pre-trial information.
A judge may make such a ruling in a case because “no reasonable jury could conclude after trial” in favor of the plaintiff, Burns said.
Evanston filed the motion for summary judgment Oct. 26, the latest response to NU’s November 2000 lawsuit against the city’s Northeast Evanston Historic District, which includes 56 university buildings.
Despite the city’s motion, Alan Cubbage, vice president for university relations, said NU has proved it has a case and will file its response within a month.
“There has already been a motion to dismiss – the denial of that motion was the first hurdle,” Cubbage said Wednesday. “We believe strongly that the city acted in a discriminatory manner against the university and that it did not follow proper procedure. The court should rule on it.”
Law professors said although filing for summary judgment is a common step in legal proceedings, NU should not take the motion lightly.
“The argument is that there is no basis and no need for a trial,” NU Law School Prof. Martin Redish said.
NU’s lawsuit contends that Evanston violated the university’s 14th Amendment rights, something that is often difficult to prove, Redish said.
“Unless you are a racial or ethnic minority, you will have a hard time proving that type of a case,” he said.
Redish said the courts’ general receptiveness to summary judgments has increased since a series of Supreme Court opinions penned in 1986 said “the court can’t afford not to use summary judgment.”
Summary judgment differs from a motion to dismiss, which is heard before depositions and information gathering. A motion for dismissal assumes that even if all the facts in a party’s suit are true, the party still does not have a case.
The summary judgment motion places the “burden of production” on NU in that the university must produce enough information to show that a jury could reasonably find for NU. The city argues in its motion that NU has not.
In this particular lawsuit, NU claims Evanston violated its right to equal protection by singling it out because of hostility toward the university.
Evanston argues in its motion that NU’s constitutional claims under the 14th Amendment are unfounded. NU’s arguments are unsubstantiated, and NU has its own animosity toward the city, the city’s motion claims.
NU argues that its right to due process was breached because the city acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” and failed to hold public hearings to address changes that altered the boundaries to eliminate many properties but still include the university’s land.
Evanston’s motion argues that although NU may disagree with its decision about the historic district, the city is acting within its governmental role.
“These are precisely the types of local, discretionary decisions that the Evanston City Council is authorized by statute to make, and that the Evanston City Council and thousands of other local governmental bodies make every day, ” the city’s motion states.
The city also claims there were many public meetings held between March and May of 2000, some of which were attended by NU representatives.
Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) said “most of the lawsuit is made up,” and that NU has a weak case.
“(Summary judgment) is a motion that is only filed by a party who thinks it has a very strong case,” Newman said.
Burns said NU most likely will either respond with cross-motion for its own summary judgment on the case or disagree with the city’s statements concerning the important facts, saying there is an important factual dispute that needs to be heard in court.
But if the city’s motion for summary judgment is successful, the case will never get to the trial stage.
“Basically, the case would be decided on paper, not in trial,” Burns said.
