Opinion ID: 436135
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dismisssal of Trela's Civil Rights Counterclaim

Text: 20 Trela's first counterclaim charges that Winterland, through its agents and attorneys, conspired with representatives of the U.S. Marshals Office and Chicago police officers to deprive Trela of his rights under the First, 2 Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments, in violation of 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 and the Constitution of the United States, see Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971). Trela alleges that Winterland's participation in the conspiracy consisted of filing and dismissing lawsuits, and obtaining ex parte seizure and restraining orders in a manner calculated to deprive Trela of his right to due process. Trela also claims that Winterland improperly used seizure orders to conduct, with the help of the U.S. Marshals Office and the Chicago police, illegal searches of Trela's home and business, and to harass Trela in unspecified ways. 3 21 We assume for a moment that the pleading requirements are identical for claims under Sec. 1983 and Bivens-style actions, see Paton v. La Prade, 524 F.2d 862, 871 (3d Cir.1975), and that to state a claim under either, Trela must allege both that he has been deprived of a right secured by the Constitution, and that the deprivation occurred under color of law. It is on the color of law requirement that Trela's claim fails. 22 While the counterclaim alleges a conspiracy between state and federal officers and Winterland, it does so in conclusory terms. It does not present any facts demonstrating a colorable claim that Trela was deprived of constitutional rights by reason of actions attributable to either Chicago police officers or U.S. Marshals. Conclusory pleadings of a conspiracy must be dismissed, Kadlec v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co., 407 F.2d 624, 627 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 846, 90 S.Ct. 90, 24 L.Ed.2d 95 (1969), and we are compelled to ignore Trela's unsupported allegations of conspiracy. 23 It is true that joint action between a private plaintiff and a governmental actor in the seizure of disputed property will support a claim under Sec. 1983. Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922, 102 S.Ct. 2744, 2756, 73 L.Ed.2d 482 (1982). However a private misuse of a statute or procedure, as alleged here, does not describe conduct which is actionable under Sec. 1983 or Bivens, despite the participation of state officers in effecting statutory processes. Id. Trela alleges no facts which show that the various state and federal officers were doing more than simply discharging the duties of their offices. See Powell v. Workmen's Compensation Board, 327 F.2d 131, 137 (2d Cir.1964). Nor does Trela attack the constitutionality of the actual procedures by which Winterland obtained court orders, as opposed to the manner in which it implemented them. Cf. Lugar, 102 S.Ct. at 2756-57. 24 All that remains, then, is Trela's allegation that Winterland used the courts in a manner that deprived him of due process. Mere use of the courts by a private party, without more, does not constitute governmental action for purposes of Sec. 1983 or Bivens. See, e.g., Bloomers Shippers Assoc. v. Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Co., 655 F.2d 772, 776 (7th Cir.1981). 25 We hold that the district court properly dismissed Trela's civil rights counterclaim. 26