Opinion ID: 171480
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Supervisory liability for arrests

Text: We turn to Capt. Gonzales's final argument related to the arrests and seizures, which challenges the district court's conclusions regarding supervisory liability. As noted above, we cannot review the district court's sufficiency of the evidence determinations. Fogarty, 523 F.3d at 1154. The district court made the following findings: It is undisputed that Defendant Gonzales acted as the incident commander in charge of the police response to the March 20, 2003 demonstration. It has also already been established that Defendant Gonzales did not expect his officers to take independent action unless they received specific directives, and this was particularly true concerning the use of force. As the incident commander, Defendant Gonzales directly supervised his officers' conduct and issued directives as he followed the progress of the protest. In addition, Defendant Gonzales authorized the use of chemical munitions and pepper ball rounds, and personally deployed a tear gas canister. Also as discussed above, Defendant Gonzales directed his officers to arrest certain protestors who were playing percussion instruments, including Plaintiff Doyon, and ordered the use of force to sweep people from the sidewalk in front of the Frontier restaurant, where Plaintiff Michael Kisner was standing. Aplts' App. vol. VIII, at 2035 (citations omitted) (emphasis added). Accepting the district court's factual determinations, we agree that Capt. Gonzales's personal participation and exercise of control or direction made him the apparent commander in charge at the scene. We further agree that these determinations support the conclusion that Capt. Gonzales is liable as a supervisor for the unconstitutional arrests of the Arrested Plaintiffs. Thus, Capt. Gonzales may be personally liable for the seizures of the Arrested Plaintiffs under a supervisory liability theory. See Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 371, 96 S.Ct. 598, 46 L.Ed.2d 561 (1976) (finding that supervisory personnel could be held liable where the plaintiff demonstrates an affirmative link between the constitutional violation and the defendant's actions, typically through the adoption of any plan or policy ... showing authorization or approval); Fogarty, 523 F.3d at 1162 ([I]n situations where an affirmative link exists between the constitutional deprivation and either the supervisor's personal participation, his exercise of control or direction, or his failure to supervise, the supervisor may be personally liable. (internal quotation marks omitted)).