Opinion ID: 18026
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Bass's Federal Claims

Text: 24 Bass's complaint cannot support a cause of action under section 1983. To state a claim under section 1983, a plaintiff must allege facts tending to show (1) that he has been deprived of a right 'secured by the Constitution and the laws' of the United States, and (2) that the deprivation was caused by a person or persons acting under color of state law. Flagg Bros. v. Brooks, 436 U.S. 149, 98 S.Ct. 1729, 1733, 56 L.Ed.2d 185 (1978). Because the Fourteenth Amendment protects liberty and property interests only against invasion by the state, a section 1983 plaintiff alleging the deprivation of Due Process under the Fourteenth Amendment must also show that state action caused his injury. See Landry v. A-Able Bonding, Inc., 75 F.3d 200, 203 (5th Cir.1996). In such cases, the under color of law and state action inquiries merge into one. See Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922, 102 S.Ct. 2744, 2756, 73 L.Ed.2d 482 (1982) (where state action caused deprivation, actors were necessarily acting under color of law.). 25 Having been confined to a psychiatric ward against his will, Bass was unquestionably deprived of liberty. See Dahl v. Akin, 630 F.2d 277, 279 (5th Cir.1980); Humphrey v. Cady, 405 U.S. 504, 92 S.Ct. 1048, 1052, 31 L.Ed.2d 394 (1972). The issue, therefore, is whether the deprivation of Bass's liberty was caused by state action sufficient to come within section 1983 as to any of these defendants. 26 Neither the actions of Parkwood nor Sheets may be considered state action. Private action may be deemed state action, for purposes of section 1983, only where the challenged conduct may be fairly attributable to the State. Lugar, 102 S.Ct. at 2753. The fair attribution test has two parts: 27 First, the deprivation must be caused by the exercise of some right or privilege created by the State or by a rule of conduct imposed by the state or by a person for whom the State is responsible.... Second, the party charged with the deprivation must be a person who may fairly be said to be a state actor. This may be because he is a state official, because he has acted together with or has obtained significant aid from state officials, or because his conduct is otherwise chargeable to the state. Lugar, 102 S.Ct. at 2753-54. 28 The Supreme Court has applied several different formulas to determine whether seemingly private conduct may be charged to the state. See Lugar, 102 S.Ct. at 2754-55 (recognizing public function test, state compulsion test, nexus test, and joint action tests). Under the public function test, a private entity may be deemed a state actor when that entity performs a function which is traditionally the exclusive province of the state. See Wong v. Stripling, 881 F.2d 200, 202 (5th Cir.1989). However, [w]hile many functions have been traditionally performed by governments, very few have been 'exclusively reserved to the State.'  Flagg Bros, 98 S.Ct. at 1734 (finding that resolution of private disputes, was not a traditionally exclusive function of government). 29 The state compulsion (or coercion) test holds that a State normally can be held responsible for a private decision only when it has exercised coercive power or has provided such significant encouragement, either overt or covert, that the choice must in law be deemed to be that of the State. Blum v. Yaretsky, 457 U.S. 991, 102 S.Ct. 2777, 2786, 73 L.Ed.2d 534 (1982) (citations omitted). The state's mere acquiescence in private conduct, even where authorized by statute, will not transform that conduct into state action. See Flagg Bros., 98 S.Ct. at 1737-38 (holding warehouseman's sale of goods pursuant to statutory self-help measures was not state action). 30 Under the nexus or joint action test, state action may be found where the government has so far insinuated itself into a position of interdependence with the [private actor] that it was a joint participant in the enterprise. Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co., 419 U.S. 345, 95 S.Ct. 449, 457, 42 L.Ed.2d 477 (1974) (citation omitted). For example, in Lugar, the Court found state action based on a statute unconstitutionally authorizing the sheriff to attach a debtor's property on the basis of an ex-parte writ. See Lugar, 102 S.Ct. at 2744. [A] private party's joint participation with state officials in the seizure of disputed property is sufficient to characterize that party as a 'state actor' for purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment. Id. at 2756. Under any formula, however, the inquiry into whether private conduct is fairly attributable to the state must be determined based on the circumstances of each case. Id. at 2755. 31 A private citizen does not become a state actor by initiating civil commitment procedures against another person. Dahl v. Akin, 630 F.2d 277, 281 (5th Cir.1980). Mr. Dahl was an elderly widower who intended to remarry. Fearing the loss of her inheritance, Dahl's daughter and her husband convinced a state court to commit Dahl to a mental institution. After his release, Dahl sued his daughter and her husband for the deprivation of his civil rights under section 1983. This Court noted that Dahl's confinement, consummated under the order of a state court, seemed at first blush to result from state action. See id. at 277. However, upon closer inspection, we concluded that the defendants' alleged acts were more akin to the filing of a private lawsuit which, at least in that case, did not implicate state action. See id. at 281-82. A private citizen does not become a state actor merely by filing a private civil action, even where authorized by state statutes. See Dahl, 630 F.2d at 281. It is not enough, where the state in no way compelled appellees' actions [citation], that they acted 'with knowledge of and pursuant to' [state] statutes. Id., (quoting Flagg Bros., 98 S.Ct. at 1733) (internal citations omitted). We accordingly affirmed dismissal of Dahl's complaint for failure to state a section 1983 claim. Id. at 278 n. 1. 32 Similarly, a private hospital is not transformed into a state actor merely by statutory regulation. See, e.g., Blum, 102 S.Ct. at 2786; Wong, 881 F.2d at 202 (finding no state action in hospital's disciplinary action against doctor, even though statutes regulated hospital and provided limited judicial review of disciplinary action); Daigle v. Opelousas Health Care, Inc., 774 F.2d 1344, 1348-49 (5th Cir.1985) (finding no state involvement to support section 1983 action against private nursing home despite state regulation and public funding). 33 On facts similar to these, several circuit courts have held that a private citizen or hospital does not become a state actor by participating in the civil commitment of a mentally ill individual. See, e.g., Pino v. Higgs, 75 F.3d 1461 (10th Cir.1996); Ellison v. Garbarino, 48 F.3d 192 (6th Cir.1995); Rockwell v. Cape Cod Hospital, 26 F.3d 254 (1st Cir.1994); Harvey v. Harvey, 949 F.2d 1127 (11th Cir.1992); Spencer v. Lee, 864 F.2d 1376 (7th Cir.1989). See also Jarrell v. Chemical Dependency Unit of Acadiana, 791 F.2d 373, 374 (5th Cir.1986) (per curiam) (assuming arguendo involuntary commitment might be state action but holding treatment inside hospital was not connected to state). 34 In Spencer, the Seventh Circuit found no state action based on Illinois statutes regulating involuntary commitment procedures. See Spencer, 864 F.2d at 1378-79. The statutes in that case permitted the private initiation of commitment procedures. However, the statutes neither encouraged nor required the commitment of mentally ill individuals. See id. at 1379. Nor did the case fall under the public function theory of state action. See id. at 1379. After thorough review of civil commitment procedures, the court determined that private citizens had traditionally been permitted to initiate commitment proceedings. The private commitment of the mentally ill was common practice in eighteenth century England. See id. at 1381 (noting that Bedlam was originally a private institution). Thus, the commitment and treatment of the mentally ill could not be deemed a function traditionally within the exclusive province of the state. See id. Finally, the court compared civil commitment to a citizen's arrest, which has been held not subject to section 1983 challenges. Id. at 1380. See also White v. Scrivner Corp., 594 F.2d 140, 142-143 (5th Cir.1979) (finding no state action in store employees' detention of suspected shoplifters). As in the case of a citizen's arrest or a warehouseman's sale, the statutory authorization of private acts does not transform such conduct into state action: The statutes authorizing or constraining these private activities may or may not be constitutional [citation]; the activities themselves remain private [citations]. Spencer, 864 F.2d at 1381 (citations omitted). 35 Similarly, Mississippi's civil commitment statutes neither compel nor encourage the private initiation of commitment proceedings. Instead, they merely authorize and regulate the commission of such acts. The fact that the defendants in this case invoked the assistance of the courts and police officers is not sufficient to show a nexus or joint effort between the defendants and the state. See Spencer, 864 F.2d at 1381 ([P]olice assistance in the lawful exercise of self-help does not create a conspiracy with the private person exercising that self-help.) (citing Lugar, 102 S.Ct. at 2755 n. 21). 36 Finally, the civil commitment process traditionally has not been not a function exclusively reserved to the State of Mississippi. The Mississippi Constitution of 1890 charged the State with the duty to care for the mentally ill. See Chill, 429 So.2d at 579. However, in 1899 the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld a civil suit against two physicians who filed certificates attesting to a woman's insanity and leading to her commitment, even though those physicians were not the parties legally charged with making commitment decisions. See Bacon v. Bacon, 24 So. 968 (Miss.1899). This reflects that private citizens in Mississippi have been participating in the civil commitment process for over one hundred years. Mississippi civil commitment cannot be considered a traditionally exclusive public function for purposes of the state action analysis. 37 Neither Parkwood nor Sheets can be held liable under section 1983. 38 Bass's section 1983 claims against DeSoto County also fail. Bass first alleges that the officers illegally detained him before the writ was signed, thereby violating his Fourth Amendment rights as applied to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. The officers are indisputably state actors. However, they are not official policy makers for DeSoto County, and therefore their conduct, even if tortious, cannot bind the County under section 1983. See Monell v. Department of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 2036, 56 L.Ed.2d 611, (1978). Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a county cannot be held liable on a theory of respondeat superior merely because it employs a tortfeasor. Esteves v. Brock, 106 F.3d 674, 677 (1997). To hold a local government liable for the acts of its agents or officers, the plaintiff must prove that his injury was caused by an official policy or custom of the municipality. See id. Bass has alleged no facts indicating that he was illegally detained pursuant to any official policy or custom of the County. Therefore, the County cannot be held liable for the allegedly illegal detention. 39 Bass's second complaint against the county--that he was humiliated by being transported in shackles--simply does not present a constitutional violation. 40 Similarly, the County cannot be held liable based on the acts or omissions of the chancery court or the special master, because neither's actions represent any policy or custom of DeSoto County. We have repeatedly held ... that a municipal judge acting in his or her judicial capacity to enforce state law does not act as a municipal official or lawmaker. Johnson v. Moore, 958 F.2d 92, 94 (5th Cir.1992). This principle extends to Bass's claims against the special master, who performed duties functionally equivalent to those of a judge. See Boston v. Lafayette County, Mississippi, 743 F.Supp. 462, 471 (N.D.Miss.1990); cf. Hulsey v. Owens, 63 F.3d 354 (5th Cir.1995) (holding, under section 1983, that absolute immunity for judicial officers applies to other officers performing judicial functions). Because there is no allegation suggesting that the allegedly improper judicial acts represent the official policy or custom of DeSoto County, the acts cannot subject the County to liability under section 1983. See Johnson, 958 F.2d at 94. 9 See also Clark v. Tarrant County, 798 F.2d 736, 744 (5th Cir.1986) (Texas district judges are state officers). 41 Neither Parkwood nor Sheets was a state actor. Furthermore, no facts are alleged indicating that the acts of the peace officers or of the judicial officers represent any official policy or custom of DeSoto County. Therefore, we affirm the dismissal of Bass's claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against all defendants. 42 In addition to challenging the lawfulness of his confinement, Bass alleges that, while at Parkwood, he was discriminated against on the basis of his race and his religion. 42 U.S.C. § 2000a (1999) prohibits even private discrimination on the grounds of race, color, or religion in places of public accommodations. 10 Unlike many other civil rights statutes, however, 42 U.S.C. § 2000a allows only for prospective relief and does not authorize damage awards. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000a-3 (1999); Newman v. Piggie Park Ents., 390 U.S. 400, 88 S.Ct. 964, 966, 19 L.Ed.2d 1263 (1968). 43 Thus, even accepting as true Bass's allegations that he was discriminated against by Parkwood personnel on the basis of his race or religion, this statute does not provide a cause of action for damages against Parkwood. Bass did request injunctive relief under this statute by requesting that the district court order Parkwood to cease all discrimination. However, Bass does not have standing to assert a claim for injunctive relief against the hospital because there is no allegation suggesting that he is likely to again suffer from Parkwood's discriminatory actions. See Armstrong v. Turner Indus., 141 F.3d 554, 563 (5th Cir.1998). 44 We also note Bass's arguments on appeal that Parkwood failed to accommodate his disability. However, we can find no facts in Bass's complaint related to any claim on this basis.