Opinion ID: 703874
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Claims Against the Postal Inspectors

Text: 18 The district court dismissed Moore's claims against the postal inspectors because Moore's complaint did not allege direct evidence that they acted maliciously or in retaliation for constitutionally protected speech. Reviewing the dismissal de novo and taking the facts as alleged in Moore's complaint, Kowal, 16 F.3d at 1276, 1273, we affirm the dismissal of the malicious prosecution claim but hold that the district court erred in dismissing Moore's retaliatory prosecution claim. 9 19 The district court did not address whether Moore's Bivens claims alleged the violation of clearly established law. 10 The court, therefore, erred in deciding the heightened pleading issue before deciding the threshold 'essentially legal question whether the conduct of which the plaintiff complains violated clearly established law.'  Kartseva v. Department of State, 37 F.3d 1524, 1530 (D.C.Cir.1994) (quoting Siegert v. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226, 111 S.Ct. 1789, 114 L.Ed.2d 277 (1991) (emphasis original)). Furthermore, it has not been clearly established that malicious prosecution violates any constitutional or statutory right. 11 Accordingly, the postal inspectors' qualified immunity defeats Moore's malicious prosecution claim. Harlow, 457 U.S. at 818, 102 S.Ct. at 2738. Moore's retaliatory prosecution claim, however, does allege the violation of clearly established law. 12 20 In publicly criticizing the USPS Moore unquestionably exercised his first amendment rights. Record evidence manifests that the criticism produced hostility in USPS management. Joint Appendix (JA) 154-156, 283. Two of the postal inspectors, who reported to USPS management, heard and did not repudiate Valder's declaration that Moore's innocence was irrelevant to the prosecution he intended to pursue. JA 32. These facts taken together constitute evidence sufficient to meet any applicable heightened pleading standard 13 and, accordingly, we remand Moore's retaliatory prosecution claim against the postal inspectors.