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esqappellate · February 24, 2013, 02:45 PM

the court of appeals stated:

Peterson has repeatedly expressed, however, that he is not challenging the Denver ordinance. After Suthers advocated for the constitutionality of the Denver ordinance in his motion for summary judgment, Peterson clarified that he was not arguing that the ordinance is unconstitutional, but that it is Colorado’s “refusal to allow Plaintiff to obtain a CHL that is unconstitutional.” Claiming that Suthers was attempting a “back door attack of Denver’s ban on open carry of firearms,” Peterson stated that “this case is not the proper vehicle for his attack.”
In light of Peterson’s explicit statement that “this case is not the proper vehicle” for an attack on the validity of the Denver ordinance, Peterson has clearly waived any such challenge. See United States v. Zubia-Torres, 550 F.3d 1202, 1206 (10th Cir. 2008) (an issue is waived, rather than forfeited, when a party “deliberately considered the unraised issue and made an intentional decision to forego it”). Because the district court accepted Peterson’s formulation of the case in ruling on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment, Peterson cannot be heard to complain of any alleged error he himself invited. See United States v. DeBerry, 430 F.3d 1294, 1302 (10th Cir. 2005) (“[T]he invited-error doctrine precludes a party from arguing that the district court erred in adopting a proposition that the party had urged the district court to adopt.”). We see no reason that a plaintiff could not challenge both the statute and the ordinance in the same suit, but Peterson has made a conscious decision not to challenge the constitutionality of the Denver ordinance.

As a general proposition, all of this is sound law. Regardless of what you allege in the complaint, if you disclaim a claim in the pleadings or on summary judgment, the courts can and should hold you to it on grounds of waiver. If the district court rules on that basis, you will not be permitted to challenge on appeal that ruling on a ground that you waived.

Yes, the P&I ruling was on a challenge to the residency requirement of Colo. law.

February 24, 2013, 02:45 PM	#23
esqappellate Member Join Date: October 16, 2012 Posts: 69	the court of appeals stated: Peterson has repeatedly expressed, however, that he is not challenging the Denver ordinance. After Suthers advocated for the constitutionality of the Denver ordinance in his motion for summary judgment, Peterson clarified that he was not arguing that the ordinance is unconstitutional, but that it is Colorado’s “refusal to allow Plaintiff to obtain a CHL that is unconstitutional.” Claiming that Suthers was attempting a “back door attack of Denver’s ban on open carry of firearms,” Peterson stated that “this case is not the proper vehicle for his attack.” In light of Peterson’s explicit statement that “this case is not the proper vehicle” for an attack on the validity of the Denver ordinance, Peterson has clearly waived any such challenge. See United States v. Zubia-Torres, 550 F.3d 1202, 1206 (10th Cir. 2008) (an issue is waived, rather than forfeited, when a party “deliberately considered the unraised issue and made an intentional decision to forego it”). Because the district court accepted Peterson’s formulation of the case in ruling on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment, Peterson cannot be heard to complain of any alleged error he himself invited. See United States v. DeBerry, 430 F.3d 1294, 1302 (10th Cir. 2005) (“[T]he invited-error doctrine precludes a party from arguing that the district court erred in adopting a proposition that the party had urged the district court to adopt.”). We see no reason that a plaintiff could not challenge both the statute and the ordinance in the same suit, but Peterson has made a conscious decision not to challenge the constitutionality of the Denver ordinance. As a general proposition, all of this is sound law. Regardless of what you allege in the complaint, if you disclaim a claim in the pleadings or on summary judgment, the courts can and should hold you to it on grounds of waiver. If the district court rules on that basis, you will not be permitted to challenge on appeal that ruling on a ground that you waived. Yes, the P&I ruling was on a challenge to the residency requirement of Colo. law.