Opinion ID: 381865
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: United States Marshals Wayne and O'Brien

Text: 22 The district court ruled that 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and § 1985 applied only to individuals who acted under color of state law. Upon finding that the complaint did not allege facts which showed that the United States Marshals Wayne and O'Brien had acted under color of state law, the district court dismissed the § 1983 and § 1985 claims against Wayne and O'Brien. The court also dismissed all the other claims without discussion.
23 Appellant agrees that Wayne and O'Brien had not acted under color of state law and that, therefore, the dismissal of the § 1983 claims was proper. However, appellant contends that § 1985 does not require action under the color of state law and thus the district court erred in dismissing those claims. 24 Appellant's argument is well-founded. Although both § 1983 and § 1985 are civil rights statutes, they have different origins. Section 1983 is based upon the fourteenth amendment and thus concerns deprivations of rights that are accomplished under the color of state law. Tongol v. Usery, 601 F.2d 1091, 1097 (9th Cir.1979); Bowers v. Campbell, 505 F.2d 1155, 1158 (9th Cir.1974). Section 1985, on the other hand, is derived from the thirteenth amendment and covers all deprivations of equal protection of the laws and equal privileges and immunities under the laws, regardless of its source. See, Griffin v. Breckenridge, 403 U.S. 88, 91 S.Ct. 1790, 29 L.Ed.2d 338 (1971) (private acts cognizable under § 1985(3)); Williams v. Wright, 432 F.Supp. 732 (D.Or.1976) (acts of federal officers can violate § 1985). 25 To state a cause of action under § 1985(3), a complaint must allege (1) a conspiracy, (2) to deprive any person or a class of persons of the equal protection of the laws, or of equal privileges and immunities under the laws, (3) an act by one of the conspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy, and (4) a personal injury, property damage or a deprivation of any right or privilege of a citizen of the United States. Griffin v. Breckenridge, 403 U.S. at 102-103, 91 S.Ct. at 1798. 26 After reviewing appellant's complaint, we cannot say that it satisfactorily pleads a § 1985(3) claim. There is no allegation of a conspiracy or that there was a racially or class-based, invidiously discriminatory animus behind the actions which he alleges took place. However, his allegations that he was denied medical and health needs at ten different holding facilities, and that he was a black prisoner do indicate that the deficiencies in the pleadings could possibly be overcome by amendments to the complaint. Therefore, the dismissal of the § 1985(3) claims against Wayne and O'Brien is reversed and we remand to give appellant an opportunity to attempt to amend his complaint. Stanger v. City of Santa Cruz, --- F.2d ----.
27 The appellant also alleged that his first, fifth, and eighth amendment rights 2 were violated by the actions of Wayne and O'Brien, and he sought direct recovery under those constitutional provisions. The district court did not address these Bivens -type claims in its order of dismissal. We thus assume that the court believed that Bivens -type actions could not be maintained under those Amendments, or that if such claims could be made, the appellant had failed to state his causes of action. 28 The United States Supreme Court recently had an opportunity to consider a Bivens-type action in Carlson v. Green, 446 U.S. 14, 100 S.Ct. 1468, 64 L.Ed.2d 15 (1980). In Carlson, the Supreme Court established that a violation of the Eighth Amendment proscription against cruel and unusual punishment could be the basis for a Bivens-type action. More importantly, the Supreme Court also set forth a more specific framework in which to determine whether claims to damages against federal officials may be maintained directly under constitutional provisions. The Supreme Court stated that victims of a constitutional violation by a federal agent have a right to recover damages against the official in federal court despite the absence of any statute conferring such a right unless the defendant (1) demonstrates  'special factors counselling hesitation in the absence of affirmative action by Congress'  (citations omitted), or (2) shows that Congress has provided an alternative remedy which it explicitly declared to be a substitute for recovery directly under the Constitution and viewed as equally effective. (citations omitted) Id., 446 U.S. at 18, 100 S.Ct. at 1472, 64 L.Ed.2d at 23. 29 The Supreme Court's application of the guidelines to the circumstances in Carlson appears to be equally appropriate in the present case. First, as in Carlson, there do not appear to be any special factors counselling hesitation in the absence of affirmative action by Congress. United States Marshals do not enjoy such independent status in our constitutional scheme as to suggest that judicially created remedies against them might be appropriate. (citations omitted) Moreover, even if requiring them to defend (appellant's) suit might inhibit their efforts to perform their official duties, qualified immunity accorded them . . . provides adequate protection. (citations omitted) Id., 446 U.S. at 19, 100 S.Ct. at 1472, 64 L.Ed.2d at 24. Second, as in Carlson, there does not appear to be any Congressional declaration that would preempt a Bivens -type action or create an equally effective remedy for constitutional violations of the first, fifth or eighth amendments. 30 Appellant's complaint alleges that the defendants (1) deliberately denied him health and medical needs during the entire two and a half month period; (2) failed to provide him adequate protection from beatings and sexual attacks in the Jackson County City Jail in Kansas City, Missouri; (3) allowed him to be placed in an isolation cell in Lexington, Kentucky, in which temperatures reached near freezing during the night; and (4) denied him access to a phone during the entire two and a half month period, and thus denied him a means to obtain assistance from the courts or an attorney. We believe these allegations, if proven, could provide bases for relief on at least some of the alleged constitutional violations. 3 Therefore, we reverse and remand as to appellant's Bivens -type claims.