Opinion ID: 668237
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendant Hale's Sec. 1983 Liability

Text: 23 The jury's verdict held Officer Hale liable for violating Sloman's First Amendment rights to free speech and association while acting under color of law. We review the verdict to determine whether it was based on sufficient evidence. Davis v. Mason County, 927 F.2d 1473, 1486-87 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 275, 116 L.Ed.2d 227 (1991). Sufficient evidence is admissible evidence that reasonable minds might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Id. 24 Sloman alleges that Officer Hale used his official powers, specifically his power to warn, cite, and arrest, to retaliate against Sloman's exercise of his free speech rights, and to deter Sloman's exercise of those rights in the future. Although officials may constitutionally impose time, place, and manner restrictions on political expression carried out on sidewalks and median strips, they may not discriminate in the regulation of expression on the basis of the content of that expression. Hudgens v. NLRB, 424 U.S. 507, 520, 96 S.Ct. 1029, 1036, 47 L.Ed.2d 196 (1976). State action designed to retaliate against and chill political expression strikes at the very heart of the First Amendment. Gibson v. United States, 781 F.2d 1334, 1338 (9th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1054, 107 S.Ct. 928, 93 L.Ed.2d 979 (1987). In this case, Hale violated Sloman's First Amendment rights if by his actions Hale deterred or chilled Sloman's political speech and such deterrence was a substantial or motivating factor in Hale's conduct in issuing citations and warnings to him. Mendocino, 14 F.3d at 464. 10 25 Cynthia Pandolfi, a member of Sloman's limits-to-growth group, testified at trial that Hale had pulled her over ostensibly for speeding, but instead of giving her a citation had taken the opportunity to criticize her bumper sticker (which indicated support for Ballot Measures D and E). From this the jury could reasonably have inferred that Officer Hale was opposed to Sloman's political beliefs, and that he let such opposition affect his performance of police duties. This witness and others testified that Officer Hale was almost always present when Sloman was picketing for Measures D and E, and that Officer Hale routinely singled Sloman out for warnings and other discussions. Witnesses also testified that Sloman was not waving his sign into oncoming traffic or repeatedly pushing a walk button in order to hold up traffic, as Officer Hale claimed. Finally, witnesses testified that Sloman's political activity was clearly inhibited by this pattern of police conduct: he stopped carrying a sign, his overall level of campaigning dropped, and other members of his group were intimidated. 26 If the jury found such testimony credible, it reasonably could have concluded that Sloman's political activity was a substantial or motivating factor in Hale's decisions to issue a citation and warnings to him, that the claimed reasons for the citation and warnings were groundless, and that such police conduct chilled the political expression of Sloman and his group. This is an adequate predicate to support liability against Hale under Sec. 1983.