Court Opinion

ID: 9476346
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:53:35.645797+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:15.804082
License: Public Domain

ALTIMARI, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in Part:
I respectfully dissent from Parts 111(B) and IV of the majority opinion, because I do not agree that Robison’s § 1983 excessive force claim against Harrison should proceed to trial. As the majority points out, the degree of force which is sufficient to support a state-law battery claim, does not necessarily rise to the level of a constitutional violation. See Johnson v. Glick, 481 F.2d 1028, 1033 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1033, 94 S.Ct. 462, 38 L.Ed.2d 324 (1973). In Johnson, Judge Friendly developed the following guidelines for analyzing claims of undue force:
In determining whether the constitutional line has been crossed, a court must look to such factors as the need for the application of force, the relationship between the need and the amount of force that was used, the extent of injury inflicted, and whether force was applied in a good faith effort to maintain or restore discipline or maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm.
Id. at 1033. Applying the Johnson analysis to the facts of this case leads me to conclude that the force used by Harrison was as a matter of law not unconstitutionally excessive.
At Robison’s pre-trial deposition, the following colloquy took place between Robison and Via’s attorney:
Robison: Kids got in the car, and then when I tried to get in the car, Harrison pushed me up against the door and yanked me out, and threw me up against the fender.
Q: Did he physically hurt you in any way?
R: Well, he didn’t break any bones if that’s what you mean. I had a few bruises, but other than that—
Q: You did have bruises the next day?
R: Yeah, on my wrist and here where, you know, my hip bones hit against the car.
Q: Did you go to have any medical treatment for those injuries?
R: No.
Q: Those bruises went away in a few days?
R: Couple weeks, maybe.
Q: You don’t have any lasting physical injuries as a result of this, do you?
R: I don’t suppose so.
Q: Then what happened?
R: Michael got out because Harrison like I say threw me up against the fender, twisted my arm behind my back. Michael got out of the car to try to help me, you know. I said Harrison leave me alone. Stop yanking me around.
Suppl.App. at 26-27.
If we were reviewing the denial of a 12(b)(6) motion, I would have no difficulty *929in finding that these allegations stated a claim upon which relief could be granted. Indeed, the proposition is well established that allegations such as Robison’s are sufficient to withstand dismissal under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). See, e.g., Massop v. Coughlin, 770 F.2d 299 (2d Cir.1985); Hodges v. Stanley, 712 F.2d 34 (2d Cir.1983); see also Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957) (“complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief”).
In the present case, by contrast, we review a denial of summary judgment. A claim of excessive force brought under § 1983 should not survive a motion for summary judgment unless there is a genuine dispute over whether the force rose to the level of a constitutional deprivation. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). “Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party, there is no ‘genuine issue for trial.’ ” Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (citing First National Bank of Arizona v. Cities Services Co., 391 U.S. 253, 289, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 1592, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968)). Even when viewing the record in this case in the light most favorable to Robison, see United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 994, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962), I do not believe a rational fact-finder could return a verdict for Robison on her excessive force claim. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
It will be recalled that Part II of the majority opinion, in which I concur, held that Harrison and Via did not violate any of Robison’s federal rights by taking her children into custody. Robison, by her own admission, tried forcibly to prevent the appellants’ detention of her children. During the ensuing struggle, Harrison restrained Robison for a short time, but there is no suggestion that he assaulted her maliciously or intended to harm her. Rather, he restrained her only so long as was necessary to enable appellants to proceed with their removal of the-children. At most, Robison suffered a few bruises when she attempted to prevent Harrison and Via from removing the children from what appellants had already decided was a dangerous family environment.
When Robison’s version of the events is analyzed according to the Johnson guidelines, only one reasonable conclusion emerges: there was a need for a minimal amount of force in order to prevent Robison from regaining custody of the children. Harrison and Via employed no more force than was necessary to accomplish that goal, and inflicted only very minor injury on Robison. Finally, Harrison’s application of force was not “malicious” or “sadistic.” There is simply no support in the record for the existence of a genuine dispute as to whether the force used by Harrison was excessive under the circumstances.
The majority relies heavily on Bellows v. Dainack, 555 F.2d 1105, 1106 & n. 1 (2d Cir.1977) to support its conclusion that the district court correctly denied summary judgment to Harrison on the excessive force claim. This reliance is misplaced. In Bellows, judgment had been entered for the plaintiff in a § 1983 excessive force claim against two police officers. This court reversed the judgment and remanded the case for a new trial because of the improper admission of certain evidence. At the outset of the opinion, however, the Bellows panel observed in a footnote:
Defendants argue here, as they did on two occasions before the district court, that the plaintiff has failed to state a claim for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district court properly rejected this contention____
Id. at 1106 n. 1.
This rather opaque statement by no means compels us to deny Harrison summary judgment on Robison’s excessive force claim. We do not know what motions were made in the district court in Bellows. If in fact the defendants had moved for summary judgment, we have no information about the record before the court at *930that stage. Moreover, the Bellows panel’s conclusion that plaintiff “stated a claim” under § 1983, uses the language of Fed.R. Civ.P. 12(b)(6), rather than the Rule 56 standard for summary judgment.
District courts in this and other jurisdictions have previously granted summary judgment to § 1983 defendants in the face of allegations similar to Robison’s. See, e.g., Estes-El v. State of New York, 552 F.Supp. 885, 890 (S.D.N.Y.1982) (Lasker, J.) (summary judgment granted to defendant where arrestee alleged he was handcuffed too tightly, shackled to a wall and forced to remove his headgear); Metcalf v. Long, 615 F.Supp. 1108, 1121 (D.Del.1985) (summary judgment granted where arrestee alleged that police smashed him to the ground and caused minor injuries by putting pressure on his neck and head); Moats v. Village of Schaumburg, 562 F.Supp. 624, 629 (N.D.Ill.1983) (summary judgment granted where arrestee alleged that although she offered no resistance, officer roughly twisted her arm and pulled it up behind her back).
Consequently, I would grant Harrison summary judgment on the excessive force claim, and would direct that that claim, as well as the pendent state battery claim against him, be dismissed. In all other respects, I agree with the majority opinion.