Opinion ID: 766509
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Fourteenth Amendment - procedural due process

Text: 34 Jackson alleges that the October 10, 1996 reassignment letter, the gag order, and the banishment order were implemented without affording him procedural due process. The first step in determining whether procedural due process has been denied is to ask whether there exists a liberty interest or property interest which has been interfered with by the defendants. Kentucky Dep't of Corrections v. Thompson, 490 U.S. 454, 460 (1989). If the court determines that there has been such a deprivation, the remaining question is what process is due. See Cleveland Bd. of Educ. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 541 (1985). 35
36 The district court in the instant case correctly stated that First Amendment rights may constitute a liberty interest under the Due Process Clause. See Adkins v. Board of Educ. of Magoffin County, Ky., 982 F.2d 952, 955 (6th Cir. 1993) (Although [the plaintiff] had no property right to continued employment she had a liberty interest in not being denied employment for exercising her First Amendment right[s] ....). Because we find that Jackson has stated a claim for a violation of his First Amendment right of freedom of speech with respect to the gag order, we hold that he has sufficiently alleged the deprivation of a liberty interest. 37 Jackson also argues that he has pled a constitutionally protected property interest with respect to his alleged suspension. He argues that his membership in the classified civil service gives rise to a property interest in his continued employment. In support of this claim, he cites Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532 (1985), which held that public employees have a property interest in continued employment. The holding in Loudermill, however, only extended to the termination of public employees. Indeed, the Supreme Court stated in Loudermill that the suspension of a tenured public employee with pay would avoid due process problems entirely. See Loudermill, 470 U.S. at 544-55; see also Gilbert v. Homar, 520 U.S. 924, 929 (1997) (expressly acknowledging that the Court has not decided whether the Due Process Clause extends to discipline of tenured public employees short of termination). Boals v. Gray, 775 F.2d 686 (6th Cir. 1985), another case cited by Jackson, is also distinguishable because Boals's suspension was apparently without pay. Because Jackson was neither terminated nor lost any pay or benefits, we find that he was not deprived of a constitutionally protected property interest. 38
39 Having concluded that Jackson has sufficiently alleged a deprivation of his liberty interest in his right to free speech, we must consider what process is due. In most cases, the Constitution requiressome kind of a hearing before the State deprives a person of liberty or property. Zinermon v. Burch, 494 U.S. 113, 127 (1990). In the case of Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527 (1981), the Supreme Court held that a prisoner claiming the negligent deprivation of property without procedural due process must plead that the state's post-deprivation remedies for redressing the wrong are inadequate (This is now known as the Parratt rule.). See id. at 535-44, overruled on other grounds by Daniel v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327 (1986); see also Vicory v. Walton, 721 F.2d 1062, 1066 (6th Cir. 1983) (holding that in a § 1983 case claiming the deprivation of a property interest without procedural due process of law, the plaintiff must plead and prove that state remedies for redressing the wrong are inadequate). 40 The district court in the instant case applied the Parratt rule, concluding that Jackson had failed to plead that his available state remedies were inadequate to redress his alleged wrong. Specifically, it held that Jackson could have either (1) contested the actions taken against him before the Civil Service Commission or (2) filed an action in mandamus challenging the City's actions pursuant to Ohio Revised Code § 2506.01. The district court noted that Jackson had in fact filed a mandamus action to contest the validity of his alleged suspension. 41 On appeal, Jackson argues that because both Parratt and Vicory involved property-based procedural due process claims, the analysis set forth in these cases does not apply to liberty-based claims such as those alleged in the present case. This argument, however, has been expressly refuted by the Supreme Court's ruling that the fact that a deprivation of liberty is involved . . . does not automatically preclude application of the Parratt rule. Zinermon, 494 U.S. at 132. 42 Jackson further argues that he could not have unilaterally appealed his alleged suspension to the Civil Service Commission because (1) the Commission hearing could not have taken place unless and until Rice filed charges against Jackson, and (2) the Charter calls for Rice to initiate any hearings at the Commission. He relies on § 107 of the Columbus City Charter, which provides in pertinent part as follows: 43 If the [Chief of Police] be so suspended[,] the director of safety shall forthwith certify the fact, together with the cause of such suspension, to the civil service commission, who within five days from the date of the receipt of such notice shall proceed to hear such charges and render judgment thereon . . . . 44 This charter provision, however, is not the only legal source governing Jackson's right to appeal the City's actions to the Commission. Rather, Rule XIII(E) of the Civil Service Commission's own rules allows a classified employee to appeal a suspension: Except as otherwise provided . . . , an employee who is suspended, reduced in rank, position or compensation or discharged, may appeal such a decision, order or action to the Commission. Although only the Director of Public Safety can discipline the Chief of Police under Charter § 107, every classified employee, including the Chief of Police, is entitled under Rule XIII(E) to a hearing before the Civil Service Commission in the event of a suspension. We find no indication that these two provisions were intended to be mutually exclusive. Jackson's right to a hearing before the Civil Service Commission therefore serves as an adequate state remedy. 45 Finally, Jackson contests whether his ability to file a mandamus action was an adequate state remedy. He filed a mandamus petition in state court on November 1, 1997, requesting the court to order his reinstatement or, in the alternative, to order Rice to send the chargesagainst him to the Civil Service Commission. Once charges were filed against him with the Commission on November 29, 1996, Jackson voluntarily dismissed his petition. He now argues that an action in mandamus was not an adequate remedy because his petition became moot in light of the formal filing of charges. 46 We find this argument unpersuasive for two reasons. First, his mandamus petition requested that the court order Jackson's reinstatement as the Chief of Police. Even after the November 29, 1996 charges were filed against Jackson, the requested order, if granted, would have been an adequate remedy. Second, the court granted Jackson the opportunity to show cause why the case should not be dismissed after Rice filed formal charges against him. Jackson chose not to respond. 47 We therefore find that Jackson had adequate state remedies to redress his alleged wrong. For this reason, we affirm the district court's dismissal of his procedural due process claim. 48