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

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• FI LED 

OHITBD S'l'ATES COURT OF APPEALS United States Court of Appeals 

Tench Ci!'ruir 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

FEB 2 2 1991 

.ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

ROBERT H. KETCHUM, 

Plaintiff-Appellant, 

v. 

IDAHO SPRINGS POLICE 

DEPARTMENT, 

Defendant-Appellee. 

) 

) 

) 

) No. 90-1285 

) (D.C. No. 90-F-1626) 

) (D. Colorado) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

ORDER DD JUDGNElff* 

Before LOGAN, IIOORE, and BALDOCK, Circuit Judges. 

IIOORE, Circuit Judge. 

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 

*This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall not 

be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, except 

for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of the case, 

res judicata, or collateral estoppal. 10th Cir. R. 36.3. 

Appellate Case: 90-1285 Document: 010110103844 Date Filed: 02/22/1991 Page: 1 
34(a): 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The cause is therefore ordered 

submitted without oral argument. 

This is an appeal from the dismissal of a complaint filed 

under 28 u.s.c. S 1983. Mr. Ketchum complains that he was 

harassed by officers of the Idaho Springs Police Department. The 

district court dismissed his claims for failure to state a claim 

upon which relief can be granted. We affirm. 

Keeping in mind that a prose complaint is held to a less 

stringent standard than a complaint drafted by a lawyer, 

Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 106 (1976), we have reviewed Mr. 

Ketchum's arguments to determine whether he could prove any set of 

facts that would entitle him to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 

U.S. 41, 45-46 (1957). 

Mr. Ketchum alleges that he has been the victim of "an 

endless conspiracy of police harassment from city to city," and 

was threatened by Idaho Springs police officers "while waiting for 

a ride to Denver one day." Even if we were to find that these 

actions if accepted as true could give rise to constitutional 

violations, an issue we do not reach, Mr. Ketchum fails to allege 

any facts that could be construed as establishing a custom or 

policy adopted by the Idaho Springs Police Department abridging 

his constitutional rights. While he does pay lip service to this 

requirement in his brief, he does not support this claim with any 

facts. He also appears to allege some kind of due process 

violation, but this claim is incomprehensible. 

It is well established that to state a claim under S 1983 the 

plaintiff must allege that the defendant has adopted an 

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Appellate Case: 90-1285 Document: 010110103844 Date Filed: 02/22/1991 Page: 2 
unconstitutional custom or policy, and cannot state a claim for 

relief under S 1983 by pointing to isolated incidents. Monell v. 

Department of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 694 (1978). 

Furthermore, the Idaho Springs Police Department cannot be held 

liable under S 1983 on a theory of respondeat superior. Id. 

Because Mr. Ketchum fails to allege an unconstitutional 

custom or practice, he also fails to establish the required causal 

nexus between this established custom or policy and the particular 

acts alleged. In Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362 (1976), the Supreme 

Court stated that a municipality cannot be held liable under 

S 1983 for civil rights violations caused by individual police 

officers unless the plaintiff can show an "affirmative link 

between the occurrence of the various incidents of police 

misconduct and the adoption of any plan or policy. showing 

their [the municipal policymaker's] authorization or approval of 

such misconduct." Id. at 371. As this court has stated 

previously, "it is the obligation of the plaintiff to prove that 

there exists a direct nexus between the constitutional 

torts ... and the [policymaker's] authorization or approval 

thereof . by the adoption of any plan or policy." D.T. by 

M.T. v. Independent School Dist. No. 16, 894 F.2d 1176, 1187 (10th 

Cir.), cert. denied, 111 S. Ct. 213 (1990). 

In the present case, Mr. Ketchum fails to allege any facts 

that could even suggest the Idaho Springs Police Department has 

adopted a custom or policy that deprived him of a constitutional 

right. Neither has he alleged a causal link between a policy 

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Appellate Case: 90-1285 Document: 010110103844 Date Filed: 02/22/1991 Page: 3 
• 

,, decision made by the Idaho Springs Police Department and the 

purported abusive behavior of the individual policemen. 

Therefore, on these grounds we AFFIRM the district court's 

dismissal of Mr. Ketchum's claims under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). 

The mandate sh.ill issue forthwith. 

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Entered for the Court 

John P. Moore 

Circuit Judge 

Appellate Case: 90-1285 Document: 010110103844 Date Filed: 02/22/1991 Page: 4