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Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 

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NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION

To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1

United States Court of Appeals

For the Seventh Circuit

Chicago, Illinois 60604

Submitted March 24, 2010*

Decided April 27, 2010

Before

FRANK H. EASTERBROOK, Chief Judge

ANN CLAIRE WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge

JOHN DANIEL TINDER, Circuit Judge

No. 09-3126

STEVEN W. JAMES,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

LISA MADIGAN, et al.,

Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United 

States District Court for the 

Southern District of Illinois.

No. 09-40-GPM

G. Patrick Murphy, Judge.

Order

After Steven James was charged with criminal sexual abuse, he agreed to a civil 

commitment under the Illinois Sexually Dangerous Persons Act, 725 ILCS 205/0.01 to 

12. Criminal charges were dropped. James spent 15 years in custody before his release 

in 2003. Since then two potential employers have declined to hire James after being told 

by a state agency that he had a felony conviction. James asked the agencies to correct 

their records and got the runaround. Or so his complaint contends; we must accept its 

allegations for current purposes.

James filed this action under 42 U.S.C. §1983 and state law against the heads of the 

state agencies that falsely told prospective employers that he is a convicted felon. He 

wants damages plus an injunction to ensure that his civil commitment is accurately reported in the future. But the district court dismissed his complaint under Fed. R. Civ. P. 

12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted. The judge addressed 

only James’s constitutional theories. He thought that James had not pleaded any statelaw claim, because the complaint did not set out all elements of a state-law theory.

 

*

 After examining the briefs and the record, we have concluded that oral argument is unnecessary. See 

Fed. R. App. P. 34(a); Cir. R. 34(f).

Case: 09-3126 Document: 20 Filed: 04/27/2010 Pages: 2
No. 09-3126 Page 2

Although Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693 (1976), holds that the due process clause does 

not forbid defamation, matters become complex when defamation is combined with a 

loss of employment. Wisconsin v. Constantineau, 400 U.S. 433 (1971), says that defamation that causes a person to lose his job does deprive him of property. See also Codd v. 

Velger, 429 U.S. 624 (1977). But Siegert v. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226 (1991), says that defamation 

that costs a person an opportunity to get a specific job in the future does not affect liberty or property. We have concluded that defamatory statements come within the due 

process clause if as a practical matter they make it impossible for a person to pursue his 

chosen occupation or rule out most common occupations. See Perry v. FBI, 781 F.2d 

1294, 1302 (7th Cir. 1986) (en banc); Doyle v. Camelot Care Centers, Inc., 305 F.3d 603, 617 

(7th Cir. 2002).

James’s complaint mentions only two specific jobs. We need not decide whether a 

generous construction of the complaint would suggest that James has been unable to 

find any acceptable employment, because there is another obstacle to his constitutional 

claim. Illinois provides remedies for false statements by state agencies about a person’s 

criminal record. Because James alleges that the defendants’ agencies behaved in an unauthorized manner, the principle of Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527 (1981), applies. State 

courts supply the process due for random and unauthorized misconduct by state employees. See also Albright v. Oliver, 510 U.S. 266 (1994); Zinermon v. Burch, 494 U.S. 113 

(1990).

James wants to present a constitutional challenge to Wisconsin civil-commitment 

system, but because he has been unconditionally released there is no live case or controversy. Moreover, James consented to his civil commitment, and he cannot use a federal civil suit to wage a collateral attack on the disposition of that proceeding.

The district court thought that the complaint did not adequately plead a complaint 

under state law. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not require plaintiffs to plead 

law, however; it is enough to narrate grievances. See Bartholet v. Reishauer A.G. (Zürich), 

953 F.2d 1073 (7th Cir. 1992). Later documents, such as motions and briefs, explain the 

legal theories underlying complaints. In this court James relies on the Illinois Uniform 

Conviction Information Act, 20 ILCS 2635/1 to 24. This statute requires state agencies to 

give accurate information to potential employers (and other requesters) and authorizes 

both damages and equitable relief if after exhausting administrative remedies a person 

is dissatisfied with the results. See 20 ILCS 2635/14, 15.

James is in the wrong forum for relief under this statute, however. Sovereign immunity prevents a federal court from awarding damages against a state or one of its 

employees. Although Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908), permits prospective relief 

against a state official to ensure future compliance with federal law, this approach does 

not apply to claims under state law. See Pennhurst State School & Hospital v. Halderman, 

465 U.S. 89, 104–06 (1984). James must exhaust his administrative remedies (if he has not 

done so already) and then pursue his claim in state court. He should pay particular attention to the exhaustion requirements, §§ 2635/12, 14(B), and the identity of the appropriate defendant, §2635/14(C). We understand the district court’s decision to be 

without prejudice to James’s entitlement to pursue any of his state-law claims in state 

court, and on that understanding the judgment is

AFFIRMED.

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