Jones v. LOWNDES COUNTY, MISS., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 7805

Background

Jones and Nance, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleged 48+ hour detention without probable cause or initial appearance by Lowndes County and law enforcement.
Arrests occurred on Saturday, April 5, 2008, after a 911 tip about pseudoephedrine precursors; Bryan arrested them at 5:33 P.M.
No neutral magistrate probed probable cause over the weekend; Monday morning Bryan attempted to schedule a judge appearance.
On Tuesday/Wednesday a judge found probable cause but initial appearance was not on the same day; detainees remained detained until then.
A grand jury later indicted Jones and Nance for possession of meth precursor; district court granted summary judgment for defendants.
The court analyzes whether the delay violated Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, and whether defendants are liable under §1983 or protected by qualified immunity.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the 48+ hour delay violated the Fourth Amendment	Jones and Nance claim unreasonable delay.	Delay falls within practical weekend realities; no policy causing deprivation.	No genuine liability; delay not shown to be caused by defendants' policy or policy-maker actions.
Whether municipal or supervisory liability is shown	Policy or custom caused the delay.	No actionable policy; judges' unavailability not policy-driven.	No Monell-type policy or final policymaker action shown; no liability for county or sheriff.
Whether Deputy Bryan is liable or protected by qualified immunity	Bryan failed to pursue probable cause determination promptly.	No clearly established violation; weekend availability was not within his control; qualified immunity applies.	Bryan entitled to qualified immunity; not clearly liable under §1983.
Whether due process under the Fourteenth Amendment was violated	Delay and lack of access to counsel violated due process.	No policy, no constitutional violative conduct by the defendants, and no denial of rights entitling liability.	No due process violation attributable to defendants; qualified immunity applies; no §1983 liability.
Whether state statute rights create federally protected interests under §1983	Mississippi statutes create rights to timely appearance.	Statutory rights do not necessarily create constitutional rights or §1983 claims absent federal protection.	Even assuming statutory rights, no liability since actions were not shown to be policy-driven; Bryan entitled to qualified immunity.

Key Cases Cited

Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103 (1975) (warrantless arrest permissible with probable cause; must promptly have probable-cause determination)
County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, 500 U.S. 44 (1991) (determinations within 48 hours generally comply with promptness; exceptions require extraordinary circumstances)
LeMaire v. Louisiana Dept. of Transp. and Dev., 480 F.3d 383 (5th Cir. 2007) (McLaughlin benchmark; 48-hour timeline is a useful guide, not an absolute rule)
James v. Texas Collin Cnty., 535 F.3d 365 (5th Cir. 2008) (Monell and supervisor liability framework; causation required for §1983)
Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978) (local government liability requires official policy or custom)
Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati, 475 U.S. 469 (1986) (liability depends on final policymaker authority)
Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288 (1936) (prudential principles guiding constitutional avoidance and standing)
Swinney v. State, 829 So.2d 1225 (Miss. 2002) (interpretation of 'unnecessary delay' in state statute as 'unreasonable delay')