Opinion ID: 1703304
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Actions Under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983

Text: Section 1983 provides in pertinent part: Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Supp.1998) (emphasis added). The purpose of § 1983 is to deter state actors from using the badge of their authority to deprive individuals of their federally guaranteed rights and to provide relief to victims if such deterrence fails. Wyatt v. Cole, 504 U.S. 158, 161, 112 S.Ct. 1827, 118 L.Ed.2d 504 (1992). Thus, a person alleging a deprivation of his or her Fourteenth Amendment [5] rights may bring a cause of action against the State or any local governmental entity under section 1983. [6] See 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Broadly speaking, claims against the State under section 1983 have been grouped into three general categories. See Zinermon v. Burch, 494 U.S. 113, 125, 110 S.Ct. 975, 108 L.Ed.2d 100 (1990). First, a person may bring an action under section 1983 for a state official's deprivation of that individual's fundamental rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, such as freedom of speech or freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. See id. Second, a person may bring a section 1983 action for a violation of substantive due process that amounts to arbitrary, wrongful government actions `regardless of the fairness of the procedures used to implement them.' Id. (quoting Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 331, 106 S.Ct. 662, 88 L.Ed.2d 662 (1986)). In this category, courts have consistently required that in order to constitute a violation of substantive due process, the right must be implicit in the concept of ordered liberty. McKinney v. Pate, 20 F.3d 1550, 1556 (11th Cir.1994). A violation of substantive due process can also arise where the governmental action shocks the conscience. Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165, 172, 72 S.Ct. 205, 96 L.Ed. 183 (1952). As a general matter, the [U.S. Supreme] Court has always been reluctant to expand the concept of substantive due process because guideposts for responsible decisionmaking in this unchartered area are scarce and open-ended. Collins v. City of Harker Heights, 503 U.S. 115, 125, 112 S.Ct. 1061, 117 L.Ed.2d 261 (1992). Lastly, and important for our analysis in this case, a person also may bring a section 1983 action for the deprivation of procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. See Zinermon, 494 U.S. at 125, 110 S.Ct. 975. To maintain a claim under this third type of section 1983 action, the individual bringing an action for deprivation of procedural due process must first establish the existence of a constitutionally protected property or liberty interest that has been interfered with by the State. See Kentucky Dep't. of Corr. v. Thompson, 490 U.S. 454, 460, 109 S.Ct. 1904, 104 L.Ed.2d 506 (1989). The United States Supreme Court has held that in order to have a property interest, a person clearly must have more than an abstract need or desire for it.... He must, instead, have a legitimate claim of entitlement to it. Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 577, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). In addition, several federal courts have referred to the interest of the next of kin in their loved one's remains as a state quasi-property right. See, e.g., Arnaud v. Odom, 870 F.2d 304, 308 (5th Cir.1989) (applying Louisiana law); Fuller v. Marx, 724 F.2d 717, 719 (8th Cir.1984) (applying Arkansas law). Accordingly, the threshold question presented in this case is whether the Crockers have a constitutionally protected property interest, quasi-property right, or legitimate claim of entitlement to possess their son's remains for burial so as to give rise to procedural due process protection. In order to determine whether a property right, quasi-property right or legitimate claim of entitlement protectable under the Constitution exists, we must look to applicable state law. See Cleveland Bd. of Educ. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 538, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985). This is because [p]roperty interests ... are not created by the Constitution. Rather they are created and their dimensions are defined by existing rules or understandings that stem from an independent source such as state lawrules or understandings that secure certain benefits and that support claims of entitlement to those benefits. Roth, 408 U.S. at 577, 92 S.Ct. 2701. [7] Although the underlying substantive interest is created by `an independent source such as state law,' federal constitutional law determines whether that interest rises to the level of a `legitimate claim of entitlement....' Memphis Light, Gas & Water Div. v. Craft, 436 U.S. 1, 9, 98 S.Ct. 1554, 56 L.Ed.2d 30 (1978). The Eighth Circuit has explained this dichotomy as follows: Section 1983 does not create substantive rights; rather, state law establishes the property interest while federal constitutional law determines whether the state law property interest rises to a constitutionally protected property interest. Riley v. St. Louis County, 153 F.3d 627, 630 (8th Cir.1998) (citations omitted), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1178, 119 S.Ct. 1113, 143 L.Ed.2d 109 (1999). Thus, whether labeled a property interest, a quasi-property interest or a legitimate claim of entitlement, the sufficiency of the claim of entitlement must be decided by reference to state law. Bishop v. Wood, 426 U.S. 341, 344, 96 S.Ct. 2074, 48 L.Ed.2d 684 (1976); see Morley's Auto Body, Inc. v. Hunter, 70 F.3d 1209, 1213-14 (11th Cir.1995) (looking at Florida case law to determine whether plaintiffs had a legitimate claim of entitlement to set forth a cognizable section 1983 claim).