Court Opinion

ID: 9460698
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 21:58:00.375705+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:36:44.504749
License: Public Domain

LEWIS R. MORGAN, Circuit Judge
(dissenting):
I respectfully dissent from the holdings of the majority. I feel that the majority opinion is in conflict with our holding in Ware v. Estes, N.D.Texas, 1971, 328 F.Supp. 657, aff’d 5 Cir. 1972, 458 F.2d 1360, cert. den., 409 U.S. 1027, 93 E.Ct. 463, 34 L.Ed.2d 321. The familiar section of the Civil Rights Act under which these actions are founded, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, provides that a person acting under color of state law who deprives another of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution shall be liable to the injured party in an action at law or suit in equity. It is, of course, essential to recovery in cases under Section 1983 that the plaintiff estab*271lish an invasion of federally protected constitutional rights; otherwise, there is no federal jurisdiction. Rosenberg v. Martin, 2 Cir. 1973, 478 F.2d 520. However, in a school system such as the Dade County System, with approximately 12,500 teachers and administrative personnel, a student population in excess of 242,000 pupils, and 237 schools, a disciplinary event in one school, Drew Junior High School, cannot give rise to a constitutional question and a right to have the federal courts intervene. For this reason, I would affirm the judgment of the district court which dismissed the actions.