Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/663/713/146976/
Timestamp: 2018-11-14 03:07:08
Document Index: 377287041

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1981', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 114', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1985', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1985', '§ 242', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1985']

Carlisle W. Briscoe, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Sgt. Martin Lahue, Defendant-appellee.charles Talley, Jr., Plaintiff-appellant, v. James D. Crosson, et al., Defendants-appellees.chris P. Vickers, Sr. and James N. Ballard, Plaintiffs-appellants, v. Sgt. James W. Hunley, Individually and in His Capacity As Anagent or Employee of the Cedar Lake, Indianapolice Department, Defendant-appellee, 663 F.2d 713 (7th Cir. 1981) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Seventh Circuit › 1981 › Carlisle W. Briscoe, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Sgt. Martin Lahue, Defendant-appellee.charles Talley, J...
Carlisle W. Briscoe, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Sgt. Martin Lahue, Defendant-appellee.charles Talley, Jr., Plaintiff-appellant, v. James D. Crosson, et al., Defendants-appellees.chris P. Vickers, Sr. and James N. Ballard, Plaintiffs-appellants, v. Sgt. James W. Hunley, Individually and in His Capacity As Anagent or Employee of the Cedar Lake, Indianapolice Department, Defendant-appellee, 663 F.2d 713 (7th Cir. 1981)
US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit - 663 F.2d 713 (7th Cir. 1981)
Argued Jan. 20, 1981. Decided Oct. 27, 1981
In orders without opinions dated August 7, 1978, and August 14, 1978, the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, granted the motions to dismiss of Yonan, Reilley, Bell, Berger and Weinberg. On February 22, 1979, the district court granted the motions of the remaining defendants to dismiss the complaint. The court found the "allegations of conspiracy as conclusory as those (contained in plaintiff's complaint) to be of questionable sufficiency to state a cause of action under (42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, 1985 and 1986 (1976)), even within the rule of Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519 (92 S. Ct. 594, 30 L. Ed. 2d 652) (1972)." The court also dismissed Carey, Benson, Robbins, Cronin and Hettinger on the basis of absolute prosecutorial immunity. Crosson, Lief and Doe were similarly found to have absolute immunity for acts performed in what was characterized as their judicial roles.
Although the statutory language excepts no person from its reach, it is now settled that the draftsmen of the Act intended to incorporate into the statute certain common law immunities "well grounded in history and reason." Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 418, 96 S. Ct. 984, 989, 47 L. Ed. 2d 128 (1976). Thus, absolute immunity from damage actions under § 1983 has been extended to judges, Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 87 S. Ct. 1213, 18 L. Ed. 2d 288 (1976), prosecutors, Imbler v. Pachtman, supra, and legislators, Tenney v. Brandhove, 341 U.S. 367, 71 S. Ct. 783, 95 L. Ed. 1019 (1951). Qualified immunity from § 1983 liability has been afforded to police officers, Pierson v. Ray, supra, school board officials, Wood v. Strickland, 420 U.S. 308, 95 S. Ct. 992, 43 L. Ed. 2d 214 (1975), prison officials, Procunier v. Navarette, 434 U.S. 555, 98 S. Ct. 855, 55 L. Ed. 2d 24 (1978), and state executive officials, Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 94 S. Ct. 1683, 40 L. Ed. 2d 90 (1974).
By no means, however, does our determination that witnesses enjoy absolute immunity from civil liability at common law end our inquiry concerning the appropriate immunity to be afforded witnesses in § 1983 actions. As the Supreme Court noted in Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc., 101 S. Ct. 2748, 2755, 69 L. Ed. 2d ---- (1981):
At the same time, the Court's willingness to recognize certain traditional immunities as affirmative defenses has not led it to conclude that Congress incorporated all immunities existing at common law. See Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 243 (94 S. Ct. 1683, 40 L. Ed. 2d 90) (1974). Indeed, because the 1871 Act was designed to expose state and local officials to a new form of liability, it would defeat the promise of the statute to recognize any pre-existing immunity without determining both the policies that it serves and its compatibility with the purposes of § 1983. See Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. (409) at 424 (96 S. Ct. 984, 996, 47 L. Ed. 2d 128); id., at 434 (96 S. Ct. at 996) (concurring opinion); Owen v. City of Independence, 445 U.S. 622, 638 (100 S. Ct. 1398, 1409, 63 L. Ed. 2d 673) (1980). Only after careful inquiry into considerations of both history and policy has the Court construed § 1983 to incorporate a particular immunity defense.
Thus, common law immunities are not to be imported wholesale into the 1871 Act. In Scheuer v. Rhodes, for example, the Court determined that the purposes of the Act would be frustrated if state executive officials were afforded the traditional absolute immunity from civil liability. Although the policies underlying common law executive immunity-e. g., encouraging the fearless exercise of discretion-would seem to apply with equal force in § 1983 actions, these policies were not found to be sufficient to override the national interest, expressed in § 1983, in holding state officials accountable for violation of rights secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States. The Court therefore extended state executive officials only a qualified immunity from § 1983 liability for those official acts committed reasonably and in good faith. 416 U.S. at 245-46, 94 S. Ct. at 1691.
Through a similar analysis, the court in Briggs v. Goodwin, 569 F.2d 10 (D.C. Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 437 U.S. 904, 98 S. Ct. 3089, 57 L. Ed. 2d 1133 (1978), rejected the application of absolute witness immunity in § 1983 actions:
Id. at 28 (emphasis in original). See also Hilliard v. Williams, 516 F.2d 1344 (8th Cir. 1975), vacated and remanded on other grounds, 424 U.S. 961, 96 S. Ct. 1453, 47 L. Ed. 2d 729 (1976).
There is much to be said for this conclusion. First, the policies underlying traditional witness immunity may not apply with equal force to the testimony of public officials. Absolute immunity is afforded by the common law to free witnesses "from intimidation by the possibility of civil liability for what they say." W. Prosser, The Law of Torts § 114, at 777-78 (4th ed. 1971). The fear of civil liability might dissuade witnesses from testifying, see Veeder, Absolute Immunity in Defamation: Judicial Proceedings, 9 Colum. L. Rev. 463, 476 (1909), and cause witnesses to censor their own testimony, see Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. at 439-40, 96 S. Ct. at 999 (White, J., concurring). But it may be that public officials, who in any event face the possibility of liability for most of their official acts, who may be obligated to testify as an aspect of their official duties, and who are normally represented by government counsel in § 1983 actions, would be less intimidated than a lay witness by the threat of a § 1983 action.
424 U.S. at 424-25, 96 S. Ct. at 992. Because witnesses do not exercise similar discretion, the need for absolute immunity seems correspondingly less compelling.
But despite these important considerations, the conclusion of the Briggs court has not generally prevailed. A substantial majority of the courts of appeals considering this issue have held that witnesses are entitled to absolute immunity. See, e. g., Myers v. Bull, 599 F.2d 863 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 901, 100 S. Ct. 213, 62 L. Ed. 2d 138 (1979); Blevins v. Ford, 572 F.2d 1336 (9th Cir. 1978); Burke v. Miller, 580 F.2d 108 (4th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 930, 99 S. Ct. 1268, 59 L. Ed. 2d 487 (1979); Brawer v. Horowitz, 535 F.2d 830 (3d Cir. 1976).
In addition to the established common law tradition of absolute immunity, we perceive two other reasons that justify this conclusion. First, although § 1983 is directed primarily at public officials, private parties who are alleged to have conspired with public officials to violate an individual's federal rights can also be liable under § 1983. Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 152, 90 S. Ct. 1598, 1605, 26 L. Ed. 2d 142 (1970). In addition, private parties may be named as defendants in 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) (1976) actions. See Part IV, infra. There seems some basis to surmise that, were witnesses deprived of immunity for their testimony, baseless complaints alleging that lay witnesses conspired with prosecutors to deprive criminal defendants of a fair trial would proliferate. The prospect of being required to defend against such retaliatory suits by angry former defendants might well dissuade potential complaining witnesses from pressing criminal charges or from testifying with total candor at criminal proceedings.
Although we thus find important considerations both favoring and weighing against absolute witness immunity, we are persuaded that recent comments addressed to the subject by the Supreme Court (although not controlling) seem deliberate and authoritative and, hence, should be regarded as dispositive. In Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 511-12, 98 S. Ct. 2894, 2913, 57 L. Ed. 2d 895 (1978), the Court stated:
The cluster of immunities protecting the various participants in judge supervised trials stems from the characteristics of the judicial process rather than its location. As the Bradley Court suggested, 13 Wall., at 348-49, controversies sufficiently intense to erupt in litigation are not easily capped by judicial decree. The loser in one forum will frequently seek another, charging the participants in the first with unconstitutional animus. See Pierson v. Ray, supra, 386 U.S. at 554 (87 S. Ct. at 1217). Absolute immunity is thus necessary to assure that judges, advocates, and witnesses can perform their respective functions without harassment or intimidation.
Defendants Benson, Robbins, Crosson and Hettinger, prosecuting attorneys in plaintiff Talley's criminal prosecution, and defendant Carey, then state's attorney for Cook County, were alleged to have knowingly used perjured testimony and withheld material evidence from appellate tribunals. Carey was also alleged to have insufficiently supervised his assistants' prosecution of Talley. But Imbler v. Pachtman, supra, holds that prosecutors enjoy absolute immunity from civil suits for damages based on acts performed within the scope of the prosecutor's function as advocate. Since the misconduct alleged here is "intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process," Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. at 430, 96 S. Ct. at 994, it cannot form the subject of a civil rights claim for damages against these prosecutors. The motion to dismiss filed by these defendants was therefore properly granted by the district court.
But we believe that the district court properly dismissed Judge Crosson from the case under the doctrine of judicial immunity, which extends to all acts performed by judges in their judicial capacity. As Judge Leventhal stated in Apton v. Wilson, 506 F.2d 83, 90 (D.C. Cir. 1974):
The judge is not liable for any injuries resulting from acts within his jurisdiction, and jurisdiction is construed broadly so that a judge will not be held liable unless he acts without color of authority. See Bradley v. Fisher, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) 335, 20 L. Ed. 646 (1872). The common law immunity of judges is fully applicable in suits under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging deprivations of constitutional rights. Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 553-555, 87 S. Ct. 1213, 18 L. Ed. 2d 288 (1967).
See also Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 98 S. Ct. 1099, 55 L. Ed. 2d 331 (1977). There is no question that Judge Crosson was acting under color of his judicial authority in presiding over Talley's trial and in entering judgment and sentence against him. The allegation that Crosson reinstated the charges against Talley after their dismissal is insufficient to suggest that Crosson's acts were done in "the clear absence of all jurisdiction." Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 357, 98 S. Ct. 1099, 1105, 55 L. Ed. 2d 331 (1978) (quoting Bradley v. Fisher, 80 U.S. 335, 351 (1871)).5 See Gregory v. Thompson, 500 F.2d 59 (9th Cir. 1974).
Talley maintains that he stated a claim against defendants Reilley, Bell, Weinberg, Berger and Yonan and therefore that the district court's order granting their motions to dismiss should be reversed. Yonan, as Talley's trial counsel, and Reilley, Bell, Weinberg and Berger, as Talley's post-conviction counsel, were not acting under color of state law in representing Talley. However, private parties may be liable under § 1983 if they conspired with public officials to deprive a plaintiff of his constitutional rights. Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., supra, 398 U.S. at 152, 90 S. Ct. at 1605. Moreover, a cause of action can be stated under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) (1976), even in the absence of state action,7 if it is alleged that the defendants conspired for the purpose of violating plaintiff's right to equal protection of the laws. Griffin v. Breckenridge, 403 U.S. 88, 103-04, 91 S. Ct. 1790, 1798-1799, 29 L. Ed. 2d 338 (1971).8
Of course, Talley's pro se complaint is to be liberally construed, and should be dismissed for failure to state a claim only if it appears "beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21, 92 S. Ct. 594, 595-596, 30 L. Ed. 2d 652 (1972) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S. Ct. 99, 101-102, 2 L. Ed. 2d 80 (1957)). But even under the generous standard of Haines, conclusory allegations unsupported by any factual assertions will not withstand a motion to dismiss. Here, Talley's sole allegation of conspiracy against the 15 named defendants is contained in the following omnibus paragraph:
424 U.S. at 429, 96 S. Ct. at 994 (citations and footnotes omitted). We believe that witnesses may be similarly liable to prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 242 (1976), assuming the requisite element of state action can be satisfied. See note 4, infra.
Absolute witness immunity in § 1983 suits was also discussed approvingly in Justice White's concurring opinion in Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. at 439-40, 96 S. Ct. at 999:
Jordan, Briscoe and Hunley (all police officers) also argue that their motions to dismiss were properly granted because, in testifying, they were not acting "under color of" state law, as required by § 1983. It is true that private parties are not acting under color of law when they testify at a criminal proceeding. See Grow v. Fisher, 523 F.2d 875, 879 (7th Cir. 1975). It is also true that acts committed by a police officer even while on duty and in uniform are not under color of state law unless they are in some way "related to the performance of police duties." Johnson v. Hackett, 284 F. Supp. 933, 937 (E.D. Pa. 1968) (police officer not acting under color of state law when, while on duty, he called plaintiff derogatory names and challenged him to a fight)
Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. at 357 n. 7, 98 S. Ct. at 1105.
However, in this circuit an allegation of state involvement is necessary to state a claim under § 1985(3) if "the federal right relied upon is one requiring an element of state action." Cohen v. Illinois Institute of Technology, 581 F.2d 658, 663-64 (7th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1135, 99 S. Ct. 1058, 59 L. Ed. 2d 97 (1979)
Section 1985(3) has been construed to require a showing of "some racial, or otherwise class-based, invidiously discriminatory animus behind the conspirator's actions." Griffin v. Breckenridge, 403 U.S. at 102, 91 S. Ct. at 1798; Askew v. Bloemker, 548 F.2d 673, 678 (7th Cir. 1976)