278
OCTOBER TERM, 2000
Syllabus
certiorari to the court of appeals of wisconsin
No. 99-1680. Argued November 28, 2000—Decided January 17, 2001
The City of Waukesha, Wisconsin (City), requires sellers of sexually explicit materials to obtain and annually renew adult business licenses. When petitioner City News and Novelty, Inc. (City News), applied for a renewal of its adult business license, then due to expire in two months, Waukesha's Common Council denied the application, finding that City News had violated the City's ordinance in various ways. The denial was upheld in administrative proceedings and on judicial review in the state courts. Petitioning for certiorari, City News raised three questions, including whether the guarantee of a prompt judicial review that must accompany an adult business licensing scheme, see Freedman v. Maryland, 380 U. S. 51, 59; FW/PBS, Inc. v. Dallas, 493 U. S. 215, 229, means a prompt judicial determination on the merits of a permit denial, as some Federal Circuits have held, or simply prompt access to judicial review, as the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, below, and other courts have ruled. Because this Court granted the petition only on this question, City News cannot now contend that any of the substantive requirements governing adult business licenses in Waukesha conflict with the First Amendment. Nor does City News contend that the evidence failed to substantiate the charged violations.
Held: Because City News is not properly situated to raise the question on which this Court granted review, the petition is dismissed and the judgment of the Wisconsin court is left undisturbed. Pp. 282-286.
(a) This case has become moot. After petitioning for certiorari, City News withdrew its renewal application and ceased to operate as an adult business. City News no longer seeks to renew its license and currently expresses no intent to pursue a license. Accordingly, City News no longer has a legally cognizable interest in the outcome. E. g., County of Los Angeles v. Davis, 440 U. S. 625, 631. Neither of City News's arguments that the case remains fit for adjudication is persuasive. The Court rejects City News's contention that, because it never promised not to reapply for a license, a live controversy remains under Erie v. Pap's A. M., 529 U. S. 277. Erie differs critically from this case. In Erie, as in the instant case, the Court confronted an adult business' challenge to a city ordinance. There, the Court held that the controversy persisted, even after the adult business shut down, in part because the business could again decide to operate. Id., at 287. That
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