MEMORANDUM
Manuel Gomez, Jr. (“Manuel”), Samuel Jose Gomez (“Samuel”), Dario Escontrias (“Dario”), Brenda Gomez (“Brenda”), George Gomez (“George”), Fabiola Gomez (“Fabiola”), and Alma Arteaga (“Alma”) (collectively, “plaintiffs” or “the Gomez Group”) appeal the summary judgment grant to the City of Whittier, California (“the City”) and eight Whittier police officers (“officers”) on plaintiffs’ various federal and state law claims arising out of the officers’ use of force against, аnd arrest of, members of the Gomez Group during the 2002 Whittier Uptown Family Fest. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm.
The City is entitled to summary judgment on all of plaintiffs’ § 1983 claims because it cannot be held vicariously liable for the officers’ actiоns and plaintiffs fail to raise a genuine issue of material fact that the officers’ conduct was pursuant to an unconstitutional policy or custom, or the result of the City’s deliberate indifference to an inadequate training program. See City of Canton v. Harris,
A) False Arrest
The district court did not err in granting summary judgment on plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment false arrest claims.
Plaintiffs were part of a large crowd that did nоt immediately comply with the officers’ commands to clear the sidewalk. While attempting to disperse the crowd, Officer Salazar (“Salazar”) perceived that George was staring at him, confronted George, and аsked the plaintiffs to leave. The Gomez Group did not comply and argued with the officers. Brenda put her hand in Salazar’s face and Salazar swatted it away, prompting George to immediately reach for Brenda and state: “Don’t touch my sister.” In the course of events, a soda can struck an officer.
In light of these facts, coupled with the officers’ legitimate interest in maintaining order and control at a crowded outdoor festival, plaintiffs’ arrests were supported by probable cause. See Forrester v. City of San Diego,
Even if plaintiffs were able to establish that their arrests violated the Fourth Amendment, the officers were entitled to summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity because it was not clearly established that the officers’ actions — arresting plaintiffs after they vociferously refused to comply with the offiсers’ instructions — violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights. Given the officers’ legitimate interest in maintaining order at a crowded festival, the officers could have reasonably believed plaintiffs’ arrests were lawful. See Saucier v. Katz,
Finally, because Brenda and Dario pled nolo contendere to “disturbing the peace,” § 1983 relief is unavailable on their false arrest claims because a finding that the officers lacked probable cause for their arrests “would necessarily imply the invalidity” of their convictions, which have not bеen otherwise invalidated. See Heck v. Humphrey,
B) Excessive Force
Nor did the district court err in granting summary judgment on plaintiffs’ excessive
Determining the “reasonableness” of a particular application of force requires “careful attention to the facts and circumstances of each particular case,” taking into account the “split-second judgments” often required in law enforcement. Id. at 396-97. The authority to arrest “necessarily carries with it the right to use some degree of physical coerciоn or threat thereof to effect it.” Id. at 396. However, whether the force used was reasonable requires examination of a variety of factors, including the degree of force used and whether the suspects pоsed a threat to the officers or others. See Smith v. City of Hemet,
Accepting plaintiffs’ version of events — including the type and degree of force used and the claimed injuries — the degree of force used was not objectively unreasonable given the officers’ probable cause for plaintiffs’ arrests, the volatile situation the officers faced, and the legitimate interest in maintaining order and safety.
In effectuating the lawful arrests, the officers allеgedly struck, tackled, and restrained plaintiffs during handcuffing — relatively minor intrusions given the circumstances. See, e.g., Jackson v. City of Bremerton,
The “most important single element” in the reasonableness analysis is the threat posed by the plaintiffs at the time of the incident. City of Hemet,
Even if plaintiffs were able to establish that the level of force used was “excessive,” the officers were entitled to summary judgment based on qualified immunity because it was not clearly established that the officers’ actions — tackling and restraining an unruly group among a large, unresponsive crowd — violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights. The contours of the right against excessive force in this context were not so clearly established аt the time that a reasonable officer would have known that his conduct was unlawful.
C) First Amendment
Summary judgment on plaintiffs’ First Amendment claims was appropriate because there is no evidence in the record that defendants intended to interfere with plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights. See Mendocino Envtl. Ctr. v. Mendocino County,
D) Fourteenth Amendment
Summary judgment was also proper on plaintiffs’ Fourteenth Amendment claims. As conceded by plaintiffs, because their false arrest and excessive force claims fall “squarely within the scope of the Fоurth Amendment,” they must be analyzed according to its principles, and not under the generalized notion of Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process. See County of Sacramento v. Lewis,
Plaintiffs’ equal protection claims also fail because they raise nо genuine issue of material fact that the officers’ actions were motivated by race, or any other impermissible ground. See United States v. Kidder,
II. State Law Claims
A) California Civil Code § 51.7 and § 52.1
The district court did not err in granting summary judgment on plaintiffs’ claims under California Civil Code § 51.7 and § 52.1.Section 51.7 relief is unаvailable because plaintiffs raise no genuine issue of material fact that the officers’ actions were motivated by the plaintiffs’ race. Plaintiffs do not allege the officers made any comment specifiсally regarding their race and the statements that were made are far too general to reasonably permit such an inference.
Section 52.1 provides for recovery of damages for the violation of an individual’s federal or state constitutional rights. With respect to federal constitutional violations, § 52.1 essentially duplicates § 1983. Accordingly, California courts have concluded that, under the principles of res judicata, an adverse § 1983 ruling bаrs relief for the same claims under § 52.1. See City of Simi Valley v. Superior Court,
B) Assault and Battery
There was no error in granting summary judgment on рlaintiffs’ assault and battery claims because, as discussed above, the officers had probable cause to arrest plaintiffs and the level of force used in effectuating these arrests was reasonable. See CabPenal Code § 835a (“Any peace officer who has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a public offense may use reasonable force to еffect the arrest .... ”).
C) Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (“IIED”), Negligence, and Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress (“NIED”)
Plaintiffs’ IIED claims fail because they do not raise a genuine issue of material fact that their emotional distress wаs “severe” or that the officers’ conduct was “extreme and outrageous.” Wilkins v. Nat’l Broad. Corp.,
D) False Arrest
Finally, there was no error in granting summary judgment on plaintiffs’ state law false arrest claims because the arrests were supported by probable cause.
AFFIRMED.
Notes
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and may not be cited to or by the courts of this circuit except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
. Because Alma and Fabiola were not arrested, only Manuel, George, Brenda, Samuel, and Dario raise Fourth Amendment false arrest claims.
. Cf., e.g., City of Hemet,
. Because their conduct was reasonable, the officers, and by extension the City, would also be entitled to immunity under state law. See Cal.Penal Code § 847 (no false imprisonment liability where there is reasonable cause to believe arrest was lawful); Cal. Gov’t Code § 820.4 (no liability where public employee acts with due care in execution or enforcement of any law); id. § 815.2(b) (city immunity)-