Opinion ID: 559980
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Claims Under 42 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1983

Text: 21 Sofarelli alleges that all of the appellees acted in violation of his rights under the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, giving rise to a claim under 42 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1983 (West Supp.1990). We will first address Sofarelli's claims against Pinellas County and the Pinellas County Sheriff. Sofarelli argues that the Pinellas County Sheriff acted, on behalf of Pinellas County, to deny Sofarelli's civil rights by refusing to remove the vehicle obstructing his path and by refusing to help him complete the move of the house pursuant to proper permits. 22 Sofarelli's theory of liability against Pinellas County and the sheriff is based upon the sheriff's admitted failure to remove vehicles which were blocking Sofarelli's path. Because, as noted above, Sofarelli has conceded that the county and sheriff had no racial animus, Sofarelli's Sec. 1983 claim against the county and the sheriff is limited to a substantive due process claim, i.e., that their actions were arbitrary and capricious. Given the good faith dispute regarding ownership of the property on which the obstructing vehicle was located, and given the undisputed fact that the sheriff and the county would remove the obstructing vehicles if they were on the public right-of-way and will do so as soon as a court resolves the dispute as to who owns the property, we conclude that Sofarelli can prove no set of facts which would establish that the sheriff acted arbitrarily or capriciously in refusing to remove the obstructing vehicles. Therefore, we affirm the dismissal of the Sofarelli's Sec. 1983 claims against Pinellas County and the Pinellas County Sheriff in the original federal case. 23 Sofarelli also contends under Sec. 1983 that Hibbing, Swetay and their neighbors violated his civil rights. There can be no such claim, however, because their behavior as private individuals does not rise to the level of state action. In addition, because we find that the sheriff's refusal to remove vehicles from Sofarelli's path was not improper state action by Pinellas County, there can be no allegation that Hibbing, Swetay and their neighbors conspired with the county to violate Sofarelli's civil rights under Sec. 1983. Accordingly, we affirm the dismissal of Sofarelli's Sec. 1983 claims against Hibbing, Swetay, and the neighbors in both the removed case and the original federal case.