Louisville Asks Court to Dismiss Charter Lawsuit Against Make-Ready Policy
Louisville, Kentucky, urged a federal court to dismiss Charter’s complaint against the city’s one-touch, make-ready policy. Charter subsidiary Insight's claim that Kentucky pole attachments law pre-empts Louisville's “should be dismissed because the Louisville Metro ordinance challenged by Insight is an…
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exercise of right-of-way management that does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Kentucky Public Service Commission,” the city said in a Tuesday motion (in Pacer). The city said Charter waived other claims based on the First and 14th amendments when it agreed to a cable franchise agreement with Louisville. The city treats Charter differently from AT&T and Google because Charter is a cable operator and therefore subject to different rules, Louisville said. Also, the city rejected Charter's claim the ordinance violated the Fifth Amendment takings clause, which says private property shall not "be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The court should dismiss that claim because Charter "has not alleged the taking of a legally cognizable property right,” the city said. Last month, the FCC supported the Louisville one-touch ordinance in a separate lawsuit by AT&T (see 1610310053).