Opinion ID: 684357
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mrs. Barna's False Imprisonment Claim

Text: 43 Count V of the Barnas' complaint alleges that Perth Amboy officers Otterbine, Sanabria, and Ruiz unconstitutionally detained Mrs. Barna when they removed her from her residence and transported her to the Raritan Bay Medical Center. Like an arrest, forcible detention by the police may violate an individual's Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable seizure. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 16, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1877, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968) (It must be recognized that whenever a police officer accosts an individual and restrains his freedom to walk away, he has 'seized' that person.). To find in favor of Mrs. Barna on her Sec. 1983 forcible detention claim, a jury would have to find that her removal and detention were unreasonable. Id. at 19, 88 S.Ct. at 1878-79; Thompson v. Spikes, 663 F.Supp. 627, 648 (S.D.Ga.1987). An unreasonable detention is one conducted without lawful authority. Chrisco v. Shafran, 507 F.Supp. 1312, 1321-22 (D.Del.1981). Therefore, if the officers' conduct was authorized under New Jersey law and that law was not itself constitutionally infirm as authorizing unjustifiable seizures, her detention would be lawful and no Sec. 1983 claim would lie. Cf. Veiga v. McGee, 26 F.3d 1206, 1214 (1st Cir.1994) (holding that a detention by police officers pursuant to Massachusetts's protective custody statute would amount to an unlawful seizure if the statute did not reasonably authorize a detention for the reasons given). N.J.Stat. 26:2B-16 (West 1987) states: 44 Any person who is intoxicated in a public place may be assisted to his residence or to an intoxication treatment center or other facility by a police officer or other authorized person.... 45