Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/661/1177/298298/
Timestamp: 2019-09-18 07:41:13
Document Index: 305497246

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1983', '§ 43', '§ 1983', '§ 1985', '§ 1985', '§ 1985', '§ 1986', '§ 1985', '§ 1986']

Walter L. Kaylor, Freda Moore, and Juanita Rowe, Appellants, v. Ron Fields, Appellee, 661 F.2d 1177 (8th Cir. 1981) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Eighth Circuit › 1981 › Walter L. Kaylor, Freda Moore, and Juanita Rowe, Appellants, v. Ron Fields, Appellee
Walter L. Kaylor, Freda Moore, and Juanita Rowe, Appellants, v. Ron Fields, Appellee, 661 F.2d 1177 (8th Cir. 1981)
US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit - 661 F.2d 1177 (8th Cir. 1981)
Submitted Aug. 12, 1981. Decided Oct. 19, 1981
As we have said, the complaint is made up of very general allegations and few specific facts. Nevertheless, what is contained in the complaint is to be taken as true and viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs. Thomas W. Garland, Inc. v. City of St. Louis, 596 F.2d 784, 787 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 899, 100 S. Ct. 208, 62 L. Ed. 2d 135 (1979). A complaint is not properly "dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S. Ct. 99, 101-102, 2 L. Ed. 2d 80 (1957) (footnote omitted).
We begin with the claims that the defendant made continual, baseless accusations of criminal activity without filing any charges and made derogatory statements to the news media. The only injury involved in these allegations is the possible harm to plaintiffs' reputations. Such a defamation, without some resultant denial of a constitutional right, is not actionable under § 1983. Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693, 96 S. Ct. 1155, 47 L. Ed. 2d 405 (1975). Plaintiffs may, of course, have a state-law remedy.
Plaintiffs' next allegation is that the defendant disseminated accusations to the press in an attempt to deprive them of their right to an impartial jury panel in the event of a criminal prosecution. We recognize that this claim is arguably different from the ones discussed above, because it does charge a denial of a constitutional right-the right to an impartial jury in a criminal prosecution, guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments. The claim is problematic in other respects, however. To the extent that this allegation presents an issue of whether Judge Kaylor is being denied a right under the Sixth Amendment, that issue is not ripe for adjudication in this action. For an issue to be ripe for adjudication we must be assured that the plaintiff will "sustain an immediate injury ... and that such injury would be redressed by the relief requested ...." Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, 438 U.S. 59, 81, 98 S. Ct. 2620, 2634, 57 L. Ed. 2d 595 (1978). We have no such assurance here. The right to be tried by an impartial jury, by its very nature, can only be afforded or denied in the context of a criminal trial. Judge Kaylor, to our knowledge, has not been charged with any crime, and until he is subjected to a criminal trial, we can only speculate as to whether his Sixth Amendment right is being denied. If he is charged, of course, he has ample means, including voir dire and a motion for change of venue, by which to vindicate this right in the state courts.
Ms. Rowe stands in a somewhat different posture as to this allegation, because, as we noted earlier, she has been arrested, charged with a crime, and tried once. The threat of harm to her is more immediate. We think, however, that the doctrine of Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S. Ct. 746, 27 L. Ed. 2d 669 (1971), precludes the federal courts from affording any relief. The Younger doctrine prohibits the enjoining of a state criminal prosecution absent certain exceptional circumstances. Although the enjoining of the activity complained of here would not interfere directly with the state criminal proceeding, the exercise of our equitable powers is still inappropriate under Younger, where the plaintiff has an opportunity to assert her federal claim in the state proceeding. Moore v. Sims, 442 U.S. 415, 425, 99 S. Ct. 2371, 2378, 60 L. Ed. 2d 994 (1979). Here Ms. Rowe is involved in an ongoing criminal proceeding, and she will undoubtedly have an opportunity to raise this claim at her trial, if the state seeks to try her again. "No more is required to invoke Younger abstention." Juidice v. Vail, 430 U.S. 327, 337, 97 S. Ct. 1211, 1218, 51 L. Ed. 2d 376 (1977).
The subpoenas in question here were issued pursuant to the prosecuting attorney's subpoena power contained in Ark.Stat.Ann. § 43-801 (1977 Repl.). A prosecutor who acts in this capacity in effect " 'takes the place of a grand jury' " under Arkansas law. Johnson v. State, 199 Ark. 196, 204, 133 S.W.2d 15, 18 (1939), quoting Richards v. State, 22 Neb. 145, 149, 34 N.W. 346, 347 (1887). The issuance of the subpoenas, under Arkansas law, is part of a state proceeding in which the plaintiffs to this action had an opportunity to present their claims. Challenges to such subpoenas can be made by a motion to quash in the state circuit courts, which have general criminal jurisdiction, and rulings on such motions are reviewable by the Arkansas Supreme Court. Gill v. State ex rel. Mobley, 242 Ark. 797, 798, 416 S.W.2d 269 (1967), and, of course, by the Supreme Court of the United States if federal questions are presented. See generally Hall, The Prosecutor's Subpoena Power, 33 Ark.L.Rev. 122 (1979). See also Notey v. Hynes, 418 F. Supp. 1320, 1326 (E.D.N.Y. 1976) (when a grand jury is sitting there is a criminal proceeding under New York law for Younger purposes). But cf. Brennick v. Hynes, 471 F. Supp. 863, 867 (N.D.N.Y.1979) (Younger abstention not appropriate if no immediate recourse in the state courts). Under these circumstances abstention is appropriate here.
Plaintiffs' next allegation is that defendant has threatened to prosecute them in an attempt to punish them for their political beliefs and for exercising their right to free speech. This allegation, if otherwise properly pleaded, would state a claim under § 1983 of harassment by a state official for the purpose of abridging First Amendment rights. Nor are we precluded from entertaining such a claim by the Younger doctrine. As we have said, Judge Kaylor has not been criminally charged. And although Ms. Rowe has been charged with a crime, we have no information that specifically links these allegations to the charge now pending against her. One of the justifications for Younger abstention is that the federal plaintiff has an adequate remedy in the state court. Here we have no assurance that Ms. Rowe could assert this free-speech claim as a defense to the crime (misappropriation of county property) with which she is charged. Younger, supra, 401 U.S. at 46, 91 S. Ct. at 751.
The allegation involved here is also different from the typical Younger case in another respect. In Younger the federal plaintiff challenged the constitutionality of the state statute that was the basis for the threatened prosecution and sought to enjoin all enforcement of the statute. Id. at 39, 91 S. Ct. at 747. Here, however, the plaintiffs allege harassment by the state official, but do not attack the constitutionality of any underlying state statute. This is important because the Court in Younger made the point that the enjoining of all enforcement of a state statute, though it might be unconstitutional, would strip the state of all enforcement power in that area. Id. at 50-53, 91 S. Ct. at 753-755. This danger of a far-ranging impairment of state law enforcement is not presented here, where the plaintiffs seek only to enjoin the alleged bad-faith conduct of a state prosecutor, and thus the interests of comity and federalism are not implicated to the degree that they were in Younger.
Younger abstention aside, however, we are still unable to say that the District Court erred when it held this allegation failed to state a claim. To be sure, pleadings in civil-rights cases, especially those brought pro se, are to be liberally construed. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 92 S. Ct. 594, 30 L. Ed. 2d 652 (1972). But a well-pleaded complaint must contain something more than mere conclusory statements that are unsupported by specific facts. Stanturf v. Sipes, 335 F.2d 224, 229 (8th Cir. 1964), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 977, 85 S. Ct. 676, 13 L. Ed. 2d 567 (1965). When the allegations are conclusory "the court has a duty to measure (the) allegations in light of the factual claims actually made." Wilson v. Lincoln Redevelopment Corp., 488 F.2d 339, 341 (8th Cir. 1973). See 2A Moore's Federal Practice P 12.08 (2d ed. 1981). Here the entire complaint is stated in the most general terms with few specific supportive facts. The portions of the complaint at issue here read:
Up to this point we have not discussed the plaintiffs' allegations that all the acts described in the complaint were the product of a conspiracy, thus giving rise to a cause of action under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1985(3) and 1986. In order to state a cause of action under § 1985(3), however, one must allege some class-based discriminatory motive on the part of the conspirators. Massey v. Smith, 555 F.2d 1355, 1356 (8th Cir. 1977). The acts described by the complaint do not contain any such element, and thus the District Court's dismissal of the § 1985 action was correct. A cause of action under § 1986 is dependent on a valid claim under § 1985, so the § 1986 claim was also properly dismissed. Sebastian v. United States, 531 F.2d 900, 904 n.11 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 856, 97 S. Ct. 153, 50 L. Ed. 2d 133 (1976).