Court Opinion

ID: 9462848
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:51:36.278831+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:37:48.892814
License: Public Domain

TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge
(concurring specially).
I concur only in the result reached by the majority. I would affirm the District Court on the ground that the complaint fails to state a claim against appellee Lynch cognizable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaint- charges his co-defendants, all state employees, with employing state investigative agencies in a conspiracy to prosecute the plaintiff without probable cause. Lynch was not alleged to be a member of that conspiracy. His sole involvement was as a reporter. He wrote an article containing information given him by one of the co-defendants, Carson, who had allegedly obtained it from plaintiff’s tax returns during the course of the investigation. Even if the article was libelous, and I do not suggest that it was, Lynch was not subject to section 1983 liability. Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693, 96 S.Ct. 1155, 47 L.Ed.2d 405, 44 U.S.L.W. 4337 (1976).