Opinion ID: 749394
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: are the defendants entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law?

Text: 15 The test for § 1983 qualified immunity is by now familiar. We engage in a two-step inquiry. First, we must determine whether a public official's conduct deprived a § 1983 plaintiff of a clearly established constitutional or statutory right. See Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. at 818, 102 S.Ct. at 2738; Salas v. Carpenter, 980 F.2d 299, 304 (5th Cir.1992). The constitutional right must be sufficiently clear to put a reasonable officer on notice that certain conduct violates that right. See Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 639, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 3038-39, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987); Feagley v. Waddill, 868 F.2d 1437, 1439 (5th Cir.1989); Melear v. Spears, 862 F.2d 1177, 1187 (5th Cir.1989). The Supreme Court has warned against vague or general assertions of constitutional rights and has required a § 1983 plaintiff to state with specificity the constitutional right that has been allegedly violated--otherwise, liability could be imposed in every case. See Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. at 639, 107 S.Ct. at 3038-39. The federal courts of appeal have taken an especially strict approach to determining whether a constitutional right is cognizable, thus resolving any doubts in the law against § 1983 plaintiffs. 5 We have followed this trend, mindful that a constitutional violation does not occur every time someone feels that they have been wronged or treated unfairly. Shinn ex rel. Shinn v. College Station Indep. Sch. Dist., 96 F.3d 783, 786 (5th Cir.1996), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 1695, 137 L.Ed.2d 822 (1997). 6 16 Second, a public official may successfully assert the defense of qualified immunity even though the official violates a person's civil rights, provided the official's conduct was objectively reasonable. Mouille v. City of Live Oak, 918 F.2d 548, 551 (5th Cir.1990); Pfannstiel v. City of Marion, 918 F.2d 1178, 1183 (5th Cir.1990). Whether an official's conduct is objectively reasonable depends upon the circumstances confronting the official as well as clearly established law in effect at the time of the official's actions. Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. at 641, 107 S.Ct. at 3039-40. The subjective intent of the public official is irrelevant, and the official's knowledge of the relevant law need not rise to the level of a constitutional scholar. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. at 815-17, 102 S.Ct. at 2736-38; Babb v. Dorman, 33 F.3d at 478. 7 17 This two-part test sits atop a firm policy foundation. Foremost among these policy considerations is the deterrent effect that civil liability may have on the willingness of public officials to fully discharge their professional duties. See Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 555, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 1218, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967); Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. at 638, 107 S.Ct. at 3038; Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. at 814, 102 S.Ct. at 2736; Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 239-41, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1687-89, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). For example, the Supreme Court has expressed concern that expansive civil liability for actions taken while on duty may cause police officers to hesitate before acting--a situation that could produce unwelcome results. See Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. at 341, 106 S.Ct. at 1096; Briscoe v. LaHue, 460 U.S. 325, 343, 103 S.Ct. 1108, 1119-20, 75 L.Ed.2d 96 (1983). Balanced against these concerns is the right of injured persons to receive redress for a violation of their constitutional rights, with the threat of monetary damages operating to deter public officials from violating citizens' constitutional rights. See Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 504-07, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 2909-11, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978).
18 With these background principles in mind, we now turn to the merits of this appeal. Sanchez alleges that he was wrongfully detained and falsely imprisoned by the defendants when they knew that he was not the person wanted on the fugitive warrant. Notably, Sanchez does not attack the validity of the warrant, which he concedes had been issued for Oscar F. Sanchez with his date of birth and social security number. Sanchez argues instead that because the defendants were in possession of the actual suspect's photographs, fingerprints, and information that the suspect had a rose tattoo on his left shoulder within two hours after Sanchez's initial detention, the defendants had conclusive proof that he was not the person wanted on the outstanding arrest warrant. From this, Sanchez concludes that his constitutional rights were violated because no one compared his fingerprints to those of the suspect until almost twenty-four hours after his initial detention. 19 We disagree, go no further than step one of the qualified immunity analysis, and conclude that Sanchez has not shown that the defendants deprived him of a clearly established constitutional right. 20 In Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137, 99 S.Ct. 2689, 61 L.Ed.2d 433 (1979), the Supreme Court held that the detention of an individual for three days on the basis of a facially valid search warrant did not amount to a deprivation of liberty without due process of law--despite the individual's protestations of innocence. Id. at 143-45, 99 S.Ct. at 2694-95; see also Douthit v. Jones, 619 F.2d 527, 532 (5th Cir.1980). 8 The Court reasoned that officials charged with maintaining custody of the accused named in a warrant are not required by the Constitution to perform an error-free investigation of a claim of innocence. Id. at 145-46, 99 S.Ct. at 2694-96. The Constitution does not guarantee that only the guilty will be arrested, for [i]f it did, reasoned the Court, s 1983 would provide a cause of action for every defendant acquitted--indeed, for every suspect released. Id. at 145, 99 S.Ct. at 2695. 9 The Court concluded that the three-day detention did not amount to a violation of the plaintiff's constitutional right to due process. Id. 21 We find that the facts of this case come within the compass of Baker; in fact, we fail to see any meaningful distinction between Baker and this case. Federal law enforcement officials and officials from Houston and Cheatham County, Tennessee held Sanchez on the basis of a valid arrest warrant. Those same officials also declined to release Sanchez even though he consistently asserted his innocence. Under these facts, Baker compels the conclusion that the actions of the defendants in this case did not deprive Sanchez of any clearly established constitutional right. 22 That law enforcement officials were in possession of information that exculpated Sanchez does not change this result. Although we have held that illegal detention by way of false imprisonment is a recognized § 1983 tort, Simmons v. McElveen, 846 F.2d 337 (5th Cir.1988), we have required proof that the official's actions went beyond mere negligence before that tort takes on constitutional dimensions. Sanders v. English, 950 F.2d 1152, 1159 (5th Cir.1992) (cases cited therein). Sanchez has failed to show that failure to act on the exculpatory information went beyond mere negligence. We need not look any further than Sanchez's own testimony for support for this conclusion. In his deposition, Sanchez said that there was considerable debate amongst the officers involved as to whether he [Sanchez] matched the appearance of the suspect wanted in the warrant. Given this fact, we simply cannot say that the defendants' failure to release Sanchez sooner was anything more than negligent. See, e.g., Simmons v. McElveen, 846 F.2d at 339 (failure to compare suspect's fingerprints with those on a cigarette package amounted to no more than mere negligence). 10 A contrary conclusion would produce the anomalous result that the defendants were required to conduct a virtually error-free investigation. In light of clear language to the contrary in Baker, we decline to so hold.