Opinion ID: 612111
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Count I: Retaliation

Text: 18 Retaliation by a public official for the exercise of a constitutional right is actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, even if the act, when taken for different reasons, would have been proper. Mt. Healthy City School Dist. Bd. of Education v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 97 S.Ct. 568, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977). A plaintiff alleging that government officials retaliated against her in violation of her constitutional rights must demonstrate, inter alia, that she suffered some adversity in response to her exercise of protected rights. Huang v. Board of Governors of University of North Carolina, 902 F.2d 1134, 1140 (4th Cir.1990) (plaintiff asserting First Amendment whistle-blower claim under § 1983 must show that alleged retaliatory action deprived him of some valuable benefit.). Retaliation, though it is not expressly referred to in the Constitution, is nonetheless actionable because retaliatory actions may tend to chill individuals' exercise of constitutional rights. Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 597, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 2697, 33 L.Ed.2d 570 (1972). Where there is no impairment of the plaintiff's rights, there is no need for the protection provided by a cause of action for retaliation. Thus, a showing of adversity is essential to any retaliation claim. See, in a related context, Jones v. Franzen, 697 F.2d 801, 803 (7th Cir.1983) (to make out a § 1983 claim based on denial of photocopying privileges, inmate must show that denial impeded exercise of his right of access to the courts, for if it is unreasonable but not impeding he has not made out a prima facie case of violation of his constitutional rights). 19 In Count I, Appellees allege that WCDC violated their First Amendment right to petition the government through legal advocacy by heightening restrictions on Chester in retaliation for the ACLU's filing of the Baker lawsuit. Appellees urge that Chester's visits are essential to their efforts to provide legal assistance because understaffing prevents ACLU attorneys from conducting screening visits in the Wicomico County area. The restrictions on Chester, therefore, allegedly interfere with the constitutional rights of the institutional plaintiffs. 4 20 The district court denied summary judgment on grounds that this claim turned on WCDC's disputed motive for changing the restrictions on Chester; while the ACLU claimed it was done in retaliation for the Baker lawsuit, WCDC pointed to concern for institutional security. However, the issue of motivation is not material to the question of immunity because, at the threshold, Appellees have failed to demonstrate adverse impact sufficient to support a claim of retaliation for their pursuit of litigation. 21 The filing of a lawsuit carries significant constitutional protections, implicating the First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances, and the right of access to courts. Hoeber on Behalf of NLRB v. Local 30, 939 F.2d 118, 126 (3d Cir.1991). In order to state a retaliation claim, Appellees are required to show that WCDC's actions adversely impacted these First Amendment rights. Withdrawal of a special accommodation of an ACLU paralegal, whether or not it was done in response to filing of a lawsuit, is not sufficiently adverse to her or to the ACLU to constitute retaliation. 22 As of March, 1990, WCDC did not permit paralegals to conduct contact visits with inmates and the warden was vested with broad discretion to accommodate or restrict paralegal access under the applicable Maryland regulations. State of Maryland Division of Correction Regulation, Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, DCR 195-1: Authorized Visitors (September 15, 1988). There is no evidence in the record of WCDC's treatment of other paralegals at that time, 5 but all prospective paralegal and attorney visitors were subject to substantial regulation. The warden negotiated an initial accommodation of Chester and the ACLU but later replaced it with a more stringent set of restrictions. These restrictions were well within his discretionary authority over visitors to the facility, DCR 195-1: Authorized Visitors, and many of the conditions parallel the ones applicable to paralegals visiting federal prisons under 28 C.F.R. § 543.16 (letter of authorization and acceptance of responsibility by attorney, personal history statement, pledge to abide by institution rules, denial of visits or correspondence with an inmate if necessary for good order). 23 The December 1990 change in conditions placed Chester and the ACLU in the same position they were in before March, 1990: subject to the reasonable requirements imposed by the warden upon visits to inmates. We do not find this withdrawal of an accommodation sufficiently adverse to support a constitutional claim. 24 In South Carolina Educ. Ass'n v. Campbell, 883 F.2d 1251 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1077, 110 S.Ct. 1129, 107 L.Ed.2d 1035 (1990), this court held that a state's failure to authorize a system of payroll deductions for a labor organization did not support a First Amendment claim, explaining: 25 [T]he First Amendment does not impose an affirmative obligation on the state to assist the program of the association by providing payroll deduction services. Loss of payroll deductions, it is true, may tend to impair the effectiveness of the [plaintiff] in representing its members, but we hold that such impairment ... is not one that the First Amendment proscribes.... The state's failure to authorize payroll deductions for the [plaintiff] does not deny [plaintiff's] members the right to associate, to speak, to publish, to recruit members, or otherwise express and disseminate their views. Thus, we find no cognizable constitutional claim pursuant to the First Amendment. 26 883 F.2d at 1257 [internal citation omitted]. Similarly, WCDC's decision to withdraw from its special arrangement with Chester may have inconvenienced Appellees, but it did not chill, impair, or deny their exercise of First Amendment rights. Chester is free to visit with inmates in secure, non-contact meeting rooms at WCDC, non-contact access which is all that WCDC provides to any paralegal or other non-professional visitor. See n. 2, supra. Non-professional visitors can, of course, seek a special exception to this rule similar to the one previously provided to Chester. However, the warden need not provide it, nor, if he does provide it, is he bound to continue the practice. ACLU attorneys remain free to conduct contact visits at WCDC, as they were prior to the events in this case. See Wicomico County DCR 190-1. 27 Appellees have failed to establish the adverse impact necessary to a retaliation claim and thus have failed to assert a constitutional violation. 6 Accordingly, the defendants in their individual capacities are entitled to dismissal of Count I on qualified immunity grounds. Given that the individual Appellants' immunity arguments are substantially similar to the 12(b)(6) claims of all Appellants, we assume pendent jurisdiction over that related issue and hold that all Appellants are entitled to dismissal of Count I for Appellees' failure to state a claim.