Opinion ID: 496641
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Exposure to Civil Liability

Text: 10 The principal impetus for this lawsuit, termed the Amtrak policemen's greatest fear (Declaration of AFRP President Kenneth Anderson, dated December 31, 1986 (Anderson Declaration), p 35, submitted in support of AFRP's motion for a preliminary injunction), is the apprehension that the policemen may be exposed to liability for violating the civil rights of the persons ejected from the station. The district court properly dismissed this claim on grounds of prematurity. The complaint does not allege that any AFRP member has been sued or threatened with suit. In the circumstances, this claim is based on a series of speculations, including the hypothesis that an ejected person will bring suit; that all defenses, including that of qualified immunity, will fail; and that Amtrak would fail to honor its bylaw-undertaking to indemnify an officer for legal expenses and liability incurred as a result of his good faith compliance with Amtrak instructions. Reliance on such a series of speculative premises reveals a lack of the concreteness necessary to present a genuine case or controversy. See O'Shea v. Littleton, 414 U.S. 488, 497-98, 94 S.Ct. 669, 676-77, 38 L.Ed.2d 674 (1974); Steffel v. Thompson, 415 U.S. 452, 458-60, 94 S.Ct. 1209, 1215-16, 39 L.Ed.2d 505 (1974). 11