Opinion ID: 532642
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Determination of Clearly Established Law

Text: 38 [O]ur cases establish that the right the official is alleged to have violated must have been 'clearly established' in a more particularized, and hence more relevant, sense: The contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 640, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 3039, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987). We must decide if the Ashburn Code was clearly established when defendants-appellants voted not to re-elect Hudgins as city clerk on January 2, 1986. The Ashburn Code provides that the city council at their first regular meeting of the year will elect the city clerk, other city officers and department heads, who shall hold their office for one year until their successors are elected. Ashburn, Ga., Code art. IV, Sec. 4.1. The initial consideration for statutory interpretation is the statutory language, which is conclusive absent a clearly expressed legislative intent to the contrary. Consumer Prod. Safety Comm'n v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 447 U.S. 102, 108, 100 S.Ct. 2051, 2056, 64 L.Ed.2d 766 (1980); United States v. Rawlings, 821 F.2d 1543, 1545 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 979, 108 S.Ct. 494, 98 L.Ed.2d 492 (1987). If the statute is clear on its face, we need not examine additional sources of guidance. Seaboard Sys. R.R. v. I.C.C., 827 F.2d 699, 701 (11th Cir.1987); see United States v. James, 478 U.S. 597, 606, 106 S.Ct. 3116, 3121-22, 92 L.Ed.2d 483 (1986); Board of Governors of the Fed. Reserve Sys. v. Dimension Financial Corp., 474 U.S. 361, 368, 106 S.Ct. 681, 685-86, 88 L.Ed.2d 691 (1986); United States v. Turkette, 452 U.S. 576, 580, 101 S.Ct. 2524, 2527, 69 L.Ed.2d 246 (1981); Rawlings, 821 F.2d at 1545; National Wildlife Fed'n v. Marsh, 721 F.2d 767, 773-74 (11th Cir.1983). 39 We conclude that the Ashburn Code Sec. 4.1 is explicit and unambiguous in directing the city council at its first regular meeting of the year to elect the city clerk for a term of one year and that the elected city clerk will hold office until a successor is elected for the following year. As adopted in 1983, the Ashburn Code states that it supersedes all ordinances not included or recognized by reference therein. Hudgins' contention that the 1982 Plan was not included in the Ashburn Code because she failed to send it to the printers with the 1983 Ashburn Code revisions is without merit. The Ashburn Code has not been amended subsequent to its adoption to incorporate the 1982 Plan. This court or the district court would be acting contrary to stated legislative intent, after sufficient time for amendment, to find the 1982 Plan incorporated in the Ashburn Code and, thereby, applicable to Hudgins. We hold that the Ashburn Code art. IV, Sec. 4.1 was clearly established when defendants-appellants voted not to re-elect Hudgins as city clerk for 1986 at the first regular meeting of the city council for that year. 18 40