A federal judge has dismissed a discrimination lawsuit filed by a pastor who claimed San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria violated his First Amendment rights by vetoing his reappointment to the police advisory board and from the city’s community, allegedly in retaliation for the pastor’s religious beliefs and anti-LGBTQ controversy. remarks he made as a member of the county Human Relations Commission.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Whelan ruled that Gloria had the right to choose advisory board members who share common perspectives and policy priorities, and therefore could veto the reappointment of Pastor Dennis Hodges to the Citizens’ Advisory Board of the city on police-community relations without discriminating or violating Hodges’ free speech rights.
“The (San Diego Municipal Code) and the City Charter establish that commonality of policy purposes is an appropriate requirement for members of the advisory board,” Whelan wrote in his order granting Gloria’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. “The Court finds that as a matter of law, Hodges cannot maintain his claims of First Amendment retaliation against Mayor Gloria.”
Whelan also ruled that Hodges could not amend his lawsuit, which judges often allow at this point in a civil case, meaning Hodges’ only recourse would be to appeal the decision to the 9th Court of Appeals the United States.
Neither Hodges nor his attorneys immediately responded Tuesday to requests for comment.
Hodges is the founding pastor of Yeshua Ha Mashiach Church in Lemon Grove and worked for nearly 30 years for the California Department of Corrections. When the city resurrected the Citizens Advisory Council on Police-Community Relations in 2017, he was one of the first members appointed.
The events at the heart of Hodges’ lawsuit, filed in November, revolve around comments he made as part of another advisory body, the San Diego County Leon L. Williams Human Relations Commission. The commission was relaunched in May 2020 with the mission to “promote positive human relations, respect and integrity for each individual, regardless of their gender, religion, culture, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, age or citizenship status.”
Hodges joined the commission in 2021 and was at the center of a controversy that erupted in November of that year when the commission discussed and voted to sign a letter condemning transphobia and recommitted to working to end discrimination against transgender people. Hodges abstained from voting and, when asked about it, made disparaging comments.
He later recounted saying during the discussion that “transgenderism…is an abomination in the sight of God,” saying that this wording came directly from the Bible.
Community members and some fellow commissioners pushed for Hodges to be removed from the commission, and the county Board of Supervisors amended its bylaws to allow for the removal of commissioners.
In June 2022, the commission held a vote on his potential removal that required approval from 13 commissioners. Of the 19 commissioners present that night, 10 voted to remove Hodges, six voted against his removal, and the remaining three abstained, so he retained his seat on the commission.
Hodges’ lawsuit alleged that after that vote, her fellow commissioners influenced Gloria to veto Hodges’ reappointment to the city’s advisory board. The suit alleged that Gloria cited Hodges’ previous comments when she vetoed his reappointment. The mayor “retaliated and discriminated against Mr. Hodges for adhering to his religious beliefs regarding gender identity and transgenderism,” the lawsuit alleges.
Gloria’s lawyers from the city attorney’s office filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in January, arguing that 9th Circuit precedent recognizes that political appointees such as Hodges can be fired — or in his case, not reappointed — for lack of political compatibility. “The First Amendment does not immunize Hodges from the political fallout of his speech which, in this case, was Mayor Gloria’s veto of his reappointment to the advisory board,” city attorneys argued. “Hodges’ reappointment to the Advisory Council was a political appointment that Mayor Gloria therefore had veto power over.”
The judge agreed with the argument and granted the motion to dismiss the case on Monday, citing precedent set by several previous decisions by the 9th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Whelan wrote that last year the 9th Circuit ruled on a similar case in Huntington Beach. In that case, Councilman Kim Carr appointed Shayna Lathus to a municipal advisory board, then removed Lathus from the board after Lathus was photographed at an immigrant rights rally, in close proximity to antifascist or antifa activists.
Lathus sued for her removal from the board, claiming she was subject to illegal retaliation. The district judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that Lathus was a public-facing political adviser to Carr, and that the council member “is entitled to an appointee who represents his political views and priorities.” The 9th Circuit affirmed the decision.
Whelan ruled that Gloria is also entitled to advisory board members who share a “common policy goal.” The judge ruled that the city’s municipal code and the strong mayor system implemented by the city charter “establish that the mayor appoints and can veto without cause the reappointment of members of the advisory council.”
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