Opinion ID: 202642
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Jury Instructions on First Amendment Damages

Text: 11 Acevedo-Luis requested a jury instruction stating that any violation of his First Amendment rights constituted irreparable injury. He believed this would have aided the jurors in their calculation of compensatory damages. To support his claim, Acevedo-Luis cited language in Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 96 S.Ct. 2673, 49 L.Ed.2d 547 (1976), stating that [t]he loss of First Amendment freedoms, for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury. Id. at 373, 96 S.Ct. 2673. 12 The district court rejected the instruction. It noted that while the language accurately described one of the requirements for a preliminary injunction in a First Amendment case, see id., it would not be helpful to a jury in determining the compensatory damages for a First Amendment violation. 13 In essence, Acevedo-Luis's argument is that he is entitled to an instruction that compensatory damages must be awarded whenever a jury finds a First Amendment violation. But the law is exactly the opposite. It is usually the case that no compensatory damages may be awarded in a § 1983 suit absent proof of actual injury. Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 112, 113 S.Ct. 566, 121 L.Ed.2d 494 (1992); see also Carey v. Piphus, 435 U.S. 247, 264, 98 S.Ct. 1042, 55 L.Ed.2d 252 (1978). The Supreme Court has held that in § 1983 actions, such as this, damages based on the abstract `value' or `importance' of constitutional rights are not a permissible element of compensatory damages. Memphis Cmty. Sch. Dist. v. Stachura, 477 U.S. 299, 310, 106 S.Ct. 2537, 91 L.Ed.2d 249 (1986). We have similarly rejected any argument that the importance of the interests at stake requires that there be an award of damages. See Azimi v. Jordan's Meats, Inc., 456 F.3d 228, 234 (1st Cir.2006). 14 To the extent plaintiff is making an argument that he is entitled to at least nominal damages, he did not request a nominal damages instruction from the district court and did not raise the issue until after the jury was discharged. Plaintiff thus forfeited, 3 and most likely waived, any claim for nominal damages. See id. at 240; see also Fed.R.Civ.P. 51(c). 15 The district court was also correct in concluding that the elements of compensatory damages, including emotional distress damages, were adequately covered by other instructions on the manner in which damages were to be considered and determined. As to pain and suffering, the court instructed the jury that no evidence of monetary value of such intangible things needed to be introduced into evidence. The plaintiff's proffered instruction about irreparable injury could have caused confusion or misled the jury, and the court properly declined to give it. See White v. N.H. Dep't of Corrs., 221 F.3d 254, 263 (1st Cir.2000). 16