Voluntary Cessation and Mootness

Members of the Lipan-Apache Native American Church sued the City of San Antonio about its plans for a large city park that contains an area of particular religious significance to this church. One aspect of the case involved physical access to that area. After the City complied with the trial-court’s order on that issue, the Fifth Circuit held that part of the case was moot, and did not apply the “voluntary cessation” (i.e., “a defendant could … pick up where he left off”) exception to mootness:

[T]he City affirmed that it undertook several additional efforts “going beyond what the district court ordered.” The City conceded that removing the limb allowed it to reconfigure the construction fencing and it subsequently granted public access to the entire area. Likewise, the City granted Appellants access to conduct a religious ceremony at the Sacred Area from midnight to 4 a.m. on November 18, 2023, during hours when the Park is normally closed. Furthermore, on November 21, 2023, the City moved to dismiss its crossappeal in this action, deciding to no longer pursue the issue of access to the Sacred Area. Based on these subsequent developments, “[i]t is therefore clear that [the City officials] harbor no animosity toward [Appellants].” Appellants now have “no reasonable expectation that the wrong challenged by [them] would be repeated.” Thus, the voluntary cessation exception does not apply.

Perez v. City of San Antonio, No. 23-50746 (April 11, 2024) (citations omitted).