Opinion ID: 168352
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Denial of compensatory damages

Text: 62 Plaintiffs argue that the district court erred in denying their request for compensatory damages. We conclude that the district court's decision awarding nominal damages of $1.00 is not clearly erroneous. 63 Because the amount of damages is a finding of fact, we review the district court's award of damages in a bench trial under the clearly erroneous standard. Deasy v. United States, 99 F.3d 354, 359 (10th Cir.1996); Dill v. City of Edmond, 155 F.3d 1193, 1208-09 (10th Cir.1998). 64 The deprivation of constitutional rights, standing alone, does not entitle a plaintiff to general damages. Taxpayers for the Animas-La Plata Referendum, 739 F.2d at 1480-81. Plaintiffs must demonstrate actual injury to recover damages under Section 1983 for violation of their constitutional rights. See Dill, 155 F.3d at 1209. In Dill, we reversed a district court's decision awarding $1.00 in nominal damages, reasoning that the evidence supported an award of compensatory damages where plaintiff demonstrated that he lost $2,000 in overtime and special duty pay from the unconstitutional transfer. Id. at 1209. 65 When denying plaintiffs' claim for compensatory damages in the present case, the district court found that plaintiffs' damages claims were based on assumptions only. Lippoldt, 311 F.Supp.2d at 1273. We agree. 66 Plaintiffs failed to present evidence of compensable injury caused by the denial of the parade permits. Although the City denied plaintiffs' parade permits, the district court ordered the City to allow the parades, and the district court's order was publicized in the media. Thus, plaintiffs were ultimately able to hold the parades as requested in their applications. Plaintiffs presented no evidence of damages caused by the initial denial of the parade permits. 67 Plaintiffs merely speculated about the amount of damages based upon an alleged potential decrease in offerings received from the July 2001 evening rallies. Benham claimed that the denial of the parade permits affected public perception of the Summer of Mercy Renewal events, causing people to not attend and thereby reducing donations. But the record indicates these offerings were voluntary and were only collected at the evening rallies and not at the parades. We agree with the district court that plaintiffs presented no evidence that the City's initial denial of the parade permits somehow decreased voluntary offerings collected at evening rallies. 68 Plaintiffs complained about the City's other conduct apart from the denial of the parade permits, but this conduct is not relevant to determining whether plaintiffs demonstrated compensable injury for the denial of parade permits. For example, Lippoldt testified that the mayor and police chief asked local churches to withdraw their participation in the Summer of Mercy Renewal, apparently because the mayor was concerned that some of OSA's volunteers may be extremists who could harm the pro-life message. Pastor Wright of the Central Christian Church previously had agreed to allow plaintiffs to use church facilities for the evening rallies, but later reneged after meeting with the mayor. Plaintiffs may only seek damages for conduct that violated the Constitution. Because plaintiffs did not demonstrate that the City's other conduct was a constitutional violation, they cannot seek damages for it. While the district court allowed plaintiffs to introduce this evidence to show the City's attitude toward OSA and the Summer of Mercy Renewal events, it is not probative of the amount of damages to which plaintiffs are entitled for the denial of the parade permits. 69 Although the district court found that plaintiffs failed to prove compensable injury, it awarded nominal damages in the amount of $1.00. The district court reasoned that the deprivation of First Amendment rights constitutes injury. We agree. [N]ominal damages, and not damages based on some undefinable value of infringed rights, are the appropriate means of vindicating rights whose deprivation has not caused actual, provable injury. Memphis Cmty. Sch. Dist. v. Stachura, 477 U.S. 299, 308 n. 11, 106 S.Ct. 2537, 91 L.Ed.2d 249 (1986) (internal quotation marks omitted); Makin v. Colo. Dep't of Corr., 183 F.3d 1205, 1214 (10th Cir.1999); O'Connor v. City & County of Denver, 894 F.2d 1210, 1215 (10th Cir.1990). Plaintiffs were unable to prove that the denial of the parade permits caused them to suffer compensable injury, but they nevertheless sustained injury from the deprivation of their First Amendment rights. The district court's finding that plaintiffs should receive $1.00 in nominal damages was not clearly erroneous. 70 Having concluded that plaintiffs cannot obtain compensatory damages, a permanent injunction, or prospective declaratory relief, we must also conclude that, even if we were to assume the dismissal of the City was erroneous, that error is harmless. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 61; 28 U.S.C. § 2111; Fleming Bldg. Co. v. Ne. Okla. Bldg. & Constr., 532 F.2d 162, 165-66 (10th Cir. 1976). Moreover, since the district court declared that Assistant City Attorney Harlenske and Deputy Chief of Police Cole acted unconstitutionally in denying plaintiffs' parade permits in July 2001, plaintiffs succeeded in putting the City on notice about its employees' conduct, even if the declaration did not directly apply to the City. Plaintiffs have not shown how the outcome of the case would differ if the City were a party.