Source: http://openjurist.org/254/f3d/807/myron-gritchen-v-gordon-w-collier
Timestamp: 2015-11-26 00:59:03
Document Index: 331794122

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 47', '§ 47', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 47', '§ 47', '§ 47', '§ 2403', '§ 47', '§ 47']

254 F3d 807 Myron Gritchen v. Gordon W Collier | OpenJurist
254 F. 3d 807 - Myron Gritchen v. Gordon W Collier HomeFederal Reporter, Third Series254 F.3d
254 F3d 807 Myron Gritchen v. Gordon W Collier 254 F.3d 807 (9th Cir. 2001)
MYRON S. GRITCHEN, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,v.GORDON W. COLLIER, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
No. 99-56940
Argued and Submitted May 7, 2001--Pasadena, CaliforniaFiled June 13, 2001
Larry J. Roberts, Law Offices of James E. Trott, Fountain Valley, California, for the defendant-appellant.
Daniel P. Tokaji, Aclu Foundation of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, and Alan L. Schlosser, Aclu Foundation of Northern California, San Francisco, California, for the plaintiff-appellee.
Anthony M. Santana, Sacramento, California, for amicus curiae California Association of Highway Patrolmen, and Enrique Hernandez, Los Angeles, California, for amicus Los Angeles Police Protective League.
Daniel S. Murphy, Principal Deputy, Long Beach, California, for amicus curiae City of Long Beach.
Stephen M. Fiegel, Sacramento, California, for amicus curiae Kenneth Stanley.
Mary Frances Prevost, San Diego, California, for amici curiae California Anti-Slapp Project, et al.
Paul L. Hoffman, Schonbrun Desimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman Llp, Venice, California, and Douglas E. Mirell and Joseph Geisman, Los Angeles, California, for amici curiae Individual Civil Rights Attorneys.
Marci Fukuroda, California Women's Law Center, Los Angeles, California, for amicus curiae California Women's Law Center.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Gary L. Taylor, District Judge, Presiding D.C. No. CV-98-00864-GLT
Myron S. Gritchen filed a complaint with the Long Beach Police Department about the conduct of Gordon W. Collier, a Long Beach police officer who stopped Gritchen for speeding. Collier took umbrage and threatened to sue Gritchen for defamation. Most complaints about public officials are privileged in California, but state law allows peace officers to bring an action for defamation against someone who has filed a complaint that is false, was made with knowledge that it was false, and was made with spite, hatred or ill will. Gritchen filed suit in federal court, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief that California Civil Code §§ 47.5, which permits such an action, is unconstitutional under the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court held that it is, and restrained Collier from proceeding with any lawsuit under §§ 47.5.1 Collier's appeal questions whether Gritchen has stated a claim for deprivation of a constitutional right and whether Collier's threatened suit for defamation, being private, is under color of law or amounts to state action for purposes of relief under 42 U.S.C.§§ 1983.2 We conclude that it fails both tests, and therefore reverse.
After Collier, a police officer with the City of Long Beach Police Department, stopped Gritchen and gave him a traffic ticket for speeding on April 16, 1998, Gritchen filed a citizen complaint with the Department alleging that Collier had been discourteous and argumentative, and that his breath smelled of alcohol. The police department found no misconduct, and so advised Gritchen on June 5. Collier then sent Gritchen two letters. The first, sent by his attorney July 31, 1998, indicated that Collier intended to bring suit for defamation; the second, dated October 8, 1998, offered to settle for $4,500, otherwise Collier would seek damages exceeding $5,000 for slander and defamation in small claims court.
Meanwhile, on October 7 Gritchen filed a verified complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California invoking the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983. The complaint alleges that Collier threatened to sue under §§ 47.5 because of Gritchen's citizen complaint, and that §§ 47.5 creates an impermissible legislative classification which is facially unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. It seeks a declaration that§§ 47.5 is facially unconstitutional and that Collier's threatened lawsuit under 47.5 would violate Gritchen's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights; and it seeks an injunction restraining Collier from proceeding with his threatened lawsuit.
As required by 28 U.S.C. §§ 2403(b), the district court certified to the Attorney General of California that the constitutionality of §§ 47.5 had been called into question. The Attorney General elected to take no part in the proceedings.
Collier stipulated not to pursue his state action until this case was resolved. Gritchen then moved for summary judgment, which the district court granted. The court found no problem with standing, as Collier's threat of a defamation suit was more than imaginary or speculative. It held that Collier acted under color of law because all the relevant events arose out of the performance of his job as a police officer, and this case involves a provision of state law that was created for, and applies only to, police officers such that the events are all unavoidably tied to his position as a police officer. On the merits, the court ruled that §§ 47.5 is facially unconstitutional because it treats citizen complaints against police officers differently from complaints against all other government officials and thereby makes an impermissible content-based discrimination against a type of speech. Accordingly, it entered judgment granting the relief requested.
Collier timely appealed.