Opinion ID: 2997192
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Distinction between Christopher and Parratt

Text: v. Taylor This requirement, although superficially similar to the paradigm employed in the procedural due process context, see Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527 (1981); Easter House v. Felder, 910 F.2d 1387 (7th Cir. 1990) (en banc), is analytically quite distinct. Indeed, the Court in Christopher understandably makes no allusion to these due process cases. 34 No. 01-1688 Parratt and its progeny stand for the proposition that a random and unauthorized deprivation of property by a state employee does not constitute a violation of procedural due process so long as the state provides a meaningful postdeprivation remedy for the loss. The paradigm is based on the premise that a denial of due process does not take place unless and until there has been the denial of an adequate state remedy against the individual who has caused the deprivation. By contrast, the paradigm employed by the Supreme Court in the denial-of-access context of Christopher asks not whether there is an alternate remedy against the individual who has denied access to the court, but whether there remains, despite the denial of access, a viable alternative remedy against the alleged wrongdoer identified in the original suit. This distinction is quite compatible with the well-established case law before Christopher, a jurisprudence that the Supreme Court quite appropriately left undisturbed in Christopher. Specifically noting that it had surveyed the jurisprudence of the lower courts dealing with the right of access to the courts, see Christopher, 536 U.S. at 413, the Justices left undisturbed the significant body of circuit case law that had held that the paradigm of Parratt is not applicable to actions alleging a denial of the right of access to courts.2 2 Several circuits have held that Parratt “is irrelevant when the plaintiff has alleged a violation of some substantive constitutional proscription.” Augustine v. Doe, 740 F.2d 322, 329 (5th Cir. 1984) (refusing to extend Parratt’s exhaustion of state remedies requirement to a substantive due process claim premised on a violation of the Fourth Amendment); see also Kauth v. Hartford Ins. Co. of Illinois, 852 F.2d 951, 958 (7th Cir. 1988) (“[I]f substantive constitutional rights are violated, the constitutionally recognized deprivation is complete at the time of the action, irre- (continued...) No. 01-1688 35 2 (...continued) spective of the procedures available before or after the deprivation.” (internal quotations omitted)); Morello v. James, 810 F.2d 344, 348 (2d Cir. 1987) (“Intentional substantive violations of constitutional rights are not subject to the rule of Parratt.”); Pruitt v. City of Montgomery, 771 F.2d 1475, 1484 n.19 (11th Cir. 1985) (“[I]t is clear that the rationale of Hudson [v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517 (1984),] and Parratt does not apply to alleged violations of substantive constitutional rights, such as the Fourth Amendment rights implicated here.”). Parratt has been limited to the area of procedural due process. The case law of this court admits to but one exception to ths rule. In order to not eviscerate the holding of Parratt, we have held that “[w]hen a plaintiff brings a substantive due process claim predicated on the deprivation of a state-created property interest, she must show that the state violated some other substantive constitutional right or that state law remedies are inadequate.” Veterans Legal Def. Fund v. Schwartz, 330 F.3d 937, 941 (7th Cir. 2003); see also Gable v. City of Chicago, 296 F.3d 531, 541 (7th Cir. 2002); New Burnham Prairie Homes, Inc. v. Vill. of Burnham, 910 F.2d 1474, 1480 (7th Cir. 1990); Kauth, 852 F.2d at 958. In these cases, it is sound to impose the additional requirement because the substantive right “comes not from the Constitution, but from state law.” Schaper v. City of Huntsville, 813 F.2d 709, 718 (5th Cir. 1987). Indeed, many circuits squarely have held that Parratt does not apply to claims for denial of access to the courts. See Zilich v. Lucht, 981 F.2d 694, 696 (3d Cir. 1992) (“Where, as in the case at hand, a prisoner’s complaint alleges the taking of legal property that results in the denial of his access to the courts, the Parratt/ Hudson analysis cannot, and does not, apply.”); Harrison v. Springdale Water & Sewer Comm’n, 780 F.2d 1422, 1428 n.10 (8th Cir. 1986) (“Since the Harrisons have alleged a violation of a substantive constitutional right independent of the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause simpliciter, the existence of an adequate state remedy under the Parratt analysis is irrelevant.”); Simmons v. Dickhaut, 804 F.2d 182, 185 (1st Cir. 1986) (“That Simmons’ legal property was taken does not convert this case to a (continued...) 36 No. 01-1688 2 (...continued) procedural due process/deprivation of property claim. It is decisive that the harm complained of is not simply the taking of property, protected by the due process clause, but the taking of legal property resulting in denial of access to the courts, protected as a substantive, constitutional right. And the Parratt analysis does not apply where the alleged violation concerns a substantive, fundamental right.” (internal citation omitted)); Jackson v. Procunier, 789 F.2d 307, 310 (5th Cir. 1986) (holding that Parratt does not apply to a claim for intentional denial of access to the courts). The only opinion that is directly to the contrary is a concurring opinion from the Sixth Circuit. In Skewel v. City of River Rouge, 119 F.3d 1259 (6th Cir. 1997), the plaintiff alleged that the defendants denied her access to the courts by concealing certain evidence relating to her husband’s death. The court held that the plaintiff ’s failure to make some attempt to gain access to the courts prevented her recovery. See id. at 1264. The court reasoned that “[a] plaintiff cannot merely guess that a state court remedy will be ineffective because of a defendant’s actions. Rather, the plaintiff must present evidence that the defendant’s actions actually rendered any available state court remedy