Opinion ID: 4016914
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Public defendants

Text: Plaintiffs’ § 1983 claims against the public defendants fail for similar reasons. Plaintiffs must show that the defendants were personally responsible for the deprivation of their rights. Gentry v. Duckworth, 65 F.3d 555, 561 (7th Cir. 1995). A defendant is personally responsible “if the conduct causing the constitutional deprivation occurs at his direction or with his knowledge and consent.” Id. (internal quotations and citation omitted); see also Jones v. City of Chi., 856 F.2d 985, 992 (7th Cir. 1988). This is a mental state requirement and requires plaintiffs to prove more than mere negligence. Pepper v. Vill. of Oak Park, 430 F.3d 805, 811 (7th Cir. 2005); see also Jones, 856 F.2d at 992–93 (requiring a showing of knowledge or deliberate, reckless indifference). As noted, the evidence doesn’t support an inference that the public defendants knew that the private defendants did not have a court order to remove the property. Rather, Johnson misrepresented this matter to Carithers, and some sort of miscommunication between Algren and Carithers during their phone call led to the mistaken belief that the stack of papers Johnson presented included a court order. While Carithers and Algren could have done 8 No. 15-1939 more to confirm the existence of a court order, their behavior appears to be no more than negligent. 2 Plaintiffs also argue that Algren violated substantive due process because under the state-created danger doctrine, he was obliged to protect Wilson from the private defendants’ seizure of his property. Due Process does not require a state to protect citizens from private acts unless the state itself creates the danger. King ex rel. King v. E. St. Louis Sch. Dist. 189, 496 F.3d 812, 817 (7th Cir. 2007) (citing DeShaney v. Winnebago Cty. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 489 U.S. 189 (1989)). Under the statecreated danger doctrine, a plaintiff must prove that (1) the state created or increased a danger to him, (2) the state’s failure to protect plaintiff was a proximate cause of his injuries, and (3) the state’s failure to protect the individual shocks the conscience. Id. at 817–18. Plaintiffs allege that Algren created the danger by advising Wilson’s friend that the removal of property required a court order. Plaintiffs contend that this statement amounted to an assurance that Algren would protect Wilson from the private defendants and made Wilson feel sufficiently protected that he left the gate to his property unlocked. Plaintiffs also assert that Algren then failed to protect 2 Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment and substantive and procedural due process claims against the public defendants also fail for other reasons. Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment claim fails because plaintiffs do not present sufficient evidence to support the inference that any of the public defendants actively participated in seizing Wilson’s property, see Pepper v. Vill. of Oak Park, 430 F.3d 809 (7th Cir. 2005), and plaintiffs’ due process claims fail because plaintiffs have adequate post-deprivation remedies at state law, Gable v. City of Chi., 296 F.3d 531, 540–41 (7th Cir. 2002) (requiring plaintiff to show inadequacy of state law remedies to succeed on due process claims). No. 15-1939 9 their property, citing Carithers’ phone call regarding the legality of the property removal. But this behavior falls short of shocking the conscience. Only “the most egregious official conduct” shocks the conscience, Jackson v. Indian Prairie Sch. Dist. 204, 653 F.3d 647, 654 (7th Cir. 2011) (internal quotations and citation omitted), and Algren’s act of informing Wilson of a general legal principle—that one needs a court order in order to legally take another’s property – does not fall into that category. Plaintiffs also bring Monell 3 claims against Algren and Edwards in their official capacities and against Warren County. But these claims fail because of the absence of an underlying constitutional violation. Sallenger v. City of Springfield, 630 F.3d 499, 504 (7th Cir. 2010).