19-3769-cv Kearns v. Cuomo 1 In the 2 United States Court of Appeals 3 For the Second Circuit 4 5 6 August Term 2019 7 8 No. 19-3769-cv 9 10 MICHAEL P. KEARNS, IN HIS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS THE 11 CLERK OF THE COUNTY OF ERIE, NEW YORK, 12 Plaintiff-Appellant, 13 14 v. 15 16 ANDREW M. CUOMO, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF 17 NEW YORK, LETITIA JAMES, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS ATTORNEY GENERAL OF 18 THE STATE OF NEW YORK, MARK J.F. SCHROEDER, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS 19 COMMISSIONER OF THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES, 20 21 Defendants-Appellees, 22 23 NEW YORK STATE CONSERVATIVE PARTY, 24 25 Defendant. 26 27 28 29 Appeal from the United States District Court 30 for the Western District of New York 31 No. 19-cv-902, 32 Elizabeth A. Wolford, District Judge, Presiding. 33 (Argued: May 13, 2020; Decided: November 30, 2020) 34 35 1 19-3769-cv Kearns v. Cuomo 1 Before: PARKER, CHIN, and CARNEY, Circuit Judges. 2 3 Plaintiff-Appellant Michael P. Kearns, the Clerk of Erie County, New York, 4 sued Governor Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Letitia James, and 5 Department of Motor Vehicle Commissioner Mark J.F. Schroeder, alleging that 6 he could be prosecuted under federal immigration law for performing certain 7 duties under New York’s Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act. The United 8 States District Court for the Western District of New York (Wolford, J.) dismissed 9 the suit for lack of Article III standing, holding that Kearns had failed to plead 10 either a credible threat of prosecution for complying with the state law or an 11 injury to his office. Because compliance with the state law would not expose 12 Kearns to a credible threat of prosecution under federal law, the judgment of the 13 District Court is AFFIRMED. 14 15 KENNETH R. KIRBY, for Michael A. 16 Siragusa, Erie County Attorney, Buffalo, 17 NY, for Plaintiff-Appellant. 18 19 LINDA FANG, Assistant Solicitor General 20 (Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor 21 General, Jeffrey W. Lang, Deputy 22 Solicitor General, on the brief), for Letitia 23 James, Attorney General of the State of 24 New York, New York, NY, for 25 Defendants-Appellees. 26 27 28 BARRINGTON D. PARKER, Circuit Judge: 29 Plaintiff-Appellant Michael P. Kearns appeals from a judgment of the 30 United States District Court for the Western District of New York (Wolford, J.) 31 dismissing his complaint for lack of Article III standing. See generally Fed. R. Civ. 32 P. 12(b)(1). Kearns is the Clerk of Erie County, New York. He sued on federal 2 19-3769-cv Kearns v. Cuomo 1 preemption grounds to challenge certain of his duties under state law related to 2 processing applications for driver’s licenses. The District Court concluded that 3 Kearns suffered no concrete, particularized injury because he did not face a 4 credible threat of prosecution under federal law if he complied with the 5 provisions of the state statute ...
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