Opinion ID: 458753
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: fourteenth amendment violation

Text: 11 Appellants assert that the Robinses' section 1983 claim for excessive use of force is predicated upon an alleged violation of the Robinses' procedural due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. See Patterson v. Coughlin, 761 F.2d 886, 892 (2d Cir.1985) (Constitution does not prohibit deprivations of liberty per se; it prohibits deprivations without due process). Appellants contend that the Robinses' claim is therefore barred by the availability of adequate postdeprivation remedies under state law, relying upon Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981) (negligent deprivation of prisoner's property not actionable under section 1983 because state law offers postdeprivation remedy adequate to satisfy guarantee of procedural due process contained in the Fourteenth Amendment) and Rutledge v. Arizona Board of Regents, 660 F.2d 1345 (9th Cir.1981) (Parratt analysis applicable to deprivation of liberty occasioned by random, unauthorized act), aff'd on other grounds sub nom Kush v. Rutledge, 460 U.S. 719, 103 S.Ct. 1483, 75 L.Ed.2d 413 (1983). 12 The Robinses argue that the right to be free from excessive use of force by the police is a substantive due process right protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, relying upon Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165, 72 S.Ct. 205, 96 L.Ed. 183 (1952) and Johnson v. Glick, 481 F.2d 1028 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1033, 94 S.Ct. 462, 38 L.Ed.2d 324 (1973). The Robinses contend that because the substantive due process component of the Fourteenth Amendment (like the guarantees of freedom contained in the Bill of Rights) imposes limits on what a state may do regardless of what process is provided, the presence or absence of a state remedy is irrelevant to whether a claim is stated under section 1983. In essence, the Robinses are actually contending that the Parratt analysis should not apply to an intentional deprivation of a liberty interest protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. 13 We need not decide whether the Fourteenth Amendment creates liberty interests which are exempt from the Parratt analysis. 1 The Robinses' complaint also alleged a violation of the Fourth Amendment. The district court apparently based its ruling permitting the section 1983 claim to go to the jury, at least in part, on the theory that such a claim may be grounded on a violation of the Fourth Amendment where a person is subjected to unreasonable conduct by law enforcement officials following arrest but prior to booking. 14 In denying appellants' second motion for summary judgment, the district court stated only that there is no question that plaintiffs' excessive-use-of-force (assault) allegation may be the basis of a section 1983 action in this circuit. In support of its rulings, however, the court cited McKenzie v. Lamb, 738 F.2d 1005 (9th Cir.1984). McKenzie holds that an excessive use of force claim is actionable under section 1983 as a Fourth Amendment violation of the right to be free from an unreasonable seizure. Id. at 1011. Furthermore, the court's pretrial order expressly reserved for trial the following issue: Of what, if any, constitutional rights have the Plaintiffs been deprived by the Defendants. Finally, contrary to counsels' assertions at oral argument, the district court presented the Robinses' section 1983 claim to the jury on both Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment grounds. The court instructed the jury as follows: Plaintiffs specifically complain that certain acts or omissions by defendants constituted a violation of section 1983 by proximately causing them to be deprived of rights protected under the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. 15 We may affirm the district court on any basis fairly supported by the record. City of Las Vegas v. Clark County, 755 F.2d 697, 701 (9th Cir.1985) (quoting Hoohuli v. Ariyoshi, 741 F.2d 1169, 1177 (9th Cir.1984)). The record reveals that the Robinses' Fourth Amendment claim was preserved for trial and presented to the jury. Because the Parratt analysis does not apply to a section 1983 claim based upon a violation of the Fourth Amendment, we affirm.