Jones v. Preuit & MauldinJones v. Preuit & Mauldin
Potts, Young, Blasingame & Putnam, T. Michael Putnam, Florence, Ala., Ronald C. Forehand, Asst. Atty. Gen. for State of Ala., Montgomery, Ala., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern Distriсt of Alabama.
Before HILL and JOHNSON, Circuit Judges, and ESCHBACH*, Senior Circuit Judge.
JOHNSON, Circuit Judge:
This case involves an appeal by the plaintiff from an order denying his motion for partial summary judgment and another order granting the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. We affirm the district court‘s denial of plaintiff‘s motion for partial summary judgment but reverse its order granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants.
I
BACKGROUND
Samuel Jones, the plaintiff, owned three International Harvester cotton pickers. In 1981, Jones employed Preuit & Mauldin (“P & M“) to repair these pickers. P & M was a partnership composed of Edward Mauldin individually and in his capacity as the exеcutor of the estate of Leonard Preuit. P & M agreed to let Jones pay his repair bill after the 1981 fall harvest. However, Jones also owed money to the Farmer‘s Home Administration (“FHA“), and the checks he received for the cotton he picked that fall were made out jointly to him and the FHA. Because the FHA refused to let Jones keep any of the proceeds, he was unable to pay the money he owed P & M.
P & M not having been paid, Leonard Preuit Mauldin, the son of Edward Mauldin and an employee of P & M, consulted with David Martin, an attorney. Upon Martin‘s advice, P & M filed three separate suits in state court—one for each picker—and obtained a writ of attachment for each picker. These writs were issued, and the pickers were seized, without any notice to Jones. The pickers were sold to P & M at a judicial sale in satisfaction of the judgments P & M eventually obtained against Jones in the state court actions.
On remand, and after the close of discovery, Jones filed a motion for partial summary judgment seeking a declaratory judgment that certain provisions of the Alabama attachment statute were unconstitutional. The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment as well, requesting the court to dismiss the case on a number of grounds. The court denied Jones‘s motion and granted the defendants’ motion. 634 F.Supp. 1520. This appeal followed.
II
DISCUSSION
A. CONSTITUTIONALITY OF ALABAMA ATTACHMENT STATUTE
Jones argues that the district court erred in refusing to grant him partial summary judgment on the issue whether
B. APPLICATION OF PARRATT V. TAYLOR
In awarding summary judgment in favor of the defendants, the district court found that Section 1983 relief was unavailable under the rule of Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981). In Parratt, the Supreme Court held that a negligent deprivation of property that did not occur pursuant to an established state procedure does not violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment if the state provides an adequate post-deprivation remedy. Ever since Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 530-36, 104 S.Ct. 3194, 3202-05, 82 L.Ed.2d 393 (1984), this rule applies to intentional deprivations of property as well. However, Hudson did not eliminate the requirement that the deprivation not occur pursuant to an established state procedure. Therefоre, if an intentional deprivation of property occurs pursuant to an established state policy, Parratt does not apply. Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co., 455 U.S. 422, 435-36, 102 S.Ct. 1148, 1157-58, 71 L.Ed.2d 265 (1982).
As previously indicated, P & M relied upon Alabama‘s mechanic‘s lien provisions.
The defendants point to
However, Rule 64(b) applies only to actions in detinue and to actions “whereby the owner of a security interest in personal property seeks to recover possession of said personal property prior to judgment....” P & M‘s actions did not fall into either categоry. Detinue is an action for the recovery of personal property wrongfully detained. Ivey v. Verbeck, 461 So.2d 813, 815-16 (Ala.Civ.App.1984);
C. QUALIFIED IMMUNITY
In granting the defendants summary judgment, the district court also relied on the fact that P & M had acted in good faith reliance on a statute that was not clearly unconstitutional. The propriety of that finding depends upon whether private defendants in a Section 1983 suit seeking damages on account of an unconstitutional attachment are entitled to qualified immunity. The Supreme Court has expressly reserved this question. Lugar, 457 U.S. at 942 n. 23, 102 S.Ct. at 2756 n. 23. However, two circuits have held that private defendants are entitled to such immunity if they neither knew nor reasonably should have known that the attachments violated clearly established constitutional rights. Buller v. Buechler, 706 F.2d 844, 850-53 (8th Cir.1983); Folsom Investment Co. v. Moore, 681 F.2d 1032, 1037-38 (5th Cir.Unit A 1982). But see Howerton v. Gabica, 708 F.2d 380, 385 n. 10 (9th Cir.1983) (private defendants not entitled to good faith immunity under Section 1983). We agree with the analyses of the Fifth and Eighth Circuits and hold that such immunity for private parties exists. However, because the defendants here failed to demonstrate clearly their good faith, the district court erred in awarding them summary judgment.
At the time of Section 1983‘s enactment, the common law tort of malicious prosecution made actionable the wrongful institution of attachment proceedings. Some jurisdictions even had an independent tort of wrongful attachment. However, a person was not liable under either tort unless he commenced the attachment with malice and without probable cause. Buller, 706 F.2d at 851; Folsom Investment Co., 681 F.2d at 1038. See also W. Prosser, Handbook of the Law of Torts, Sec. 120 (4th ed. 1971). Although such defenses technically are not immunities, Section 1983 “should be read against the background of tort liability that makes a man responsible for the natural consequences of his actions.” Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 187, 81 S.Ct. 473, 484, 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961). Thus in Pierson, 386 U.S. at 555-57, 87 S.Ct. at 1218-19, the Supreme Court held that a police officer was entitled to immunity under Section 1983 if he arrested someone under a statute that he in good faith believed to be valid even though it was later held unconstitutional. Because a police officer was not liable under the common law for false arrest or false imprisonment if he acted in good faith and with probable cause, he was entitled to a good faith immunity under Section 1983. See also Wood v. Strickland, 420 U.S. 308, 318-19, 95 S.Ct. 992, 999, 43 L.Ed.2d 214 (1975) (that public school officials liable under state tort law for malicious acts only establishes good faith immunity under Sectiоn 1983). Likewise, the availability of similar defenses in actions for malicious prosecution and wrongful attachment establishes the historical precedent for recognizing good faith immunity here.
In addition, strong policy reasons justify the recognition of good faith immunity for private parties in these circumstances. The most compelling justification is that a person should not be penalized for resorting to the courts in order to enforce rights he in good faith believed he possessed. Buller, 706 F.2d at 851; Folsom Investment Co., 681 F.2d at 1038. Such immunity would not impair deterrence of unlawful conduct because persons who seek an attachment that they know or reasonably should know violates clearly established constitutional and statutory rights would remain liable. Buller, 706 F.2d at 851.
In Downs v. Sawtelle, 574 F.2d 1, 15-16 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 910, 99 S.Ct. 278, 58 L.Ed.2d 255 (1978), a case involving an involuntary sterilization, the court refused to accord good faith immunity to private parties acting in concert with state officials. The court observed that public officers receive such immunity because otherwise few people would be willing to serve in government. Because private citizens are not in an analogous position, the court reasoned that they are not entitled to a similar immunity. Because the Supreme Court has adopted a “functional” rather than a “derivative” approach to immunities, see Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 808-11, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2732-34, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982); Dennis v. Sparks, 449 U.S. 24, 28-32, 101 S.Ct. 183, 186-88, 66 L.Ed.2d 185 (1980), the court in Downs was correct in holding that a private defendant is not entitled to immunity simply because the state officials with whom he acts in concert receive immunity. However, a private defendant should not be denied immunity simply because he is not in the same position as those state officials. Instead, the court should determine under the particulars of each case whether the common law traditionally extended immunity to private parties and whether the recognition of that immunity is consistent with the goals of Section 1983. In this case the defendants are not seeking any derivative immunity but claim the good faith immunity allowed them in their own right under common law. Thus, Downs does not command a different result.
Admittеdly, the defendants are entitled to immunity if their conduct did not contravene a clearly established constitutional right; however, the defendants bear the burden of proving that any right they violated was not clearly established. Harlow, 457 U.S. at 808, 102 S.Ct. at 2732. In support of their claim of immunity, the defendants point to the fact that, at the time of the seizure, no published opinion had held the attachment statute they relied on unconstitutional, and that Mitchell v. W.T. Grant Co., 416 U.S. 600, 94 S.Ct. 1895, 40 L.Ed.2d 406 (1974), in which the Supreme Court upheld a garnishment statute, had muddled the standards for a constitutional attachment. Nonetheless, numerous cases prior to the attachments here indicated the constitutional invalidity of an attachment without notice absent a risk of immediate harm. North Georgia Finishing, Inc. v. Di-Chem, Inc., 419 U.S. 601, 605-08, 95 S.Ct. 719, 721-23, 42 L.Ed.2d 751 (1975); Fuentes v. Shevin, 407 U.S. 67, 80-93, 92 S.Ct. 1983, 1994-2000, 32 L.Ed.2d 556 (1972); Sniadach v. Family Finance Corporation of Bay View, 395 U.S. 337, 338-42, 89 S.Ct. 1820, 1821-23, 23 L.Ed.2d 349 (1969). In fact, in Mitchell, 416 U.S. at 608-09, 94 S.Ct. at 1900, although the attachment had occurred without any notice or hearing, the creditor had shown a risk of concealment. Also, in an unpublished opinion issued six months prior to the attachments by P & M, the Alabama attachment statute at issue here had been declared unconstitutional, the court stating that the statute‘s unconstitutionality was obvious. Wiggins v. Roberts, No. 75-M-1760, slip op. (N.D.Ala.1978). Even assuming arguendo that private defendants cannot reasonably be held accountable for unpublished opinions, Wiggins nonetheless indicates that the defendants should have known on the basis of Di-Chem, Fuentes, and Sniadach that an attachment without notice was unconstitutional. Furthermore, the defendants obtained the assistance of a lawyer who should have explained to them the import of thesе holdings.3
The defendants also argue that at the time of the seizures here the Supreme Court had never held that private defendants were liable for damages under Section 1983 on account of an unconstitutional attachment. However, Di-Chem, Mitchell, Fuentes, and Sniadach all implicitly held that a creditor‘s reliance on an attachment statute was state action; otherwise, the Court never would have reached the due process question. In fact, in Fuentes the judgment ran against both the creditor and the state officials. Although Fuentes involved only declaratory and injunctive relief, nothing in Fuentes suggested that the outcome would have been different if the debtor had asked for damages. See also Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 150-52, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1604-05, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970) (private party‘s joint participation with state official in a conspiracy constituted state action allowing damages under Section 1983). Although the defendants’ argument raises a close question, any doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact must be resolved against the moving party. Hayden v. First National Bank of Mt. Pleasant, Texas, 595 F.2d 994, 996-97 (5th Cir.1979). Consequently we cannot say that the defendants have satisfied their burden and shown that their conduct did not violate a clearly established constitutional right.
The district court also found that Jones had waived his right to claim a violation of due process because he had failed to utilize available pre-taking and post-taking remedies. A week before the seizure, two deputies inspected the pickers at Jones‘s farm. Furthermore, a week passed between the time the sheriff seized the first picker and the time he seized the remaining two. During this interlude Jоnes consulted with a lawyer; however, Jones did not challenge the writs of attachment until nearly eighteen months after the seizures. Thus, the court concluded, Jones had an opportunity to interpose a pre-seizure objection, and his failure to do so, combined with his failure to make a prompt post-taking objection, constituted a knowing and voluntary waiver of his due process rights.
A party‘s failure to request an available pre-taking hearing constitutes a waiver and precludes relief under seсtion 1983 for the deprivation of property. Grandison v. Smith, 779 F.2d 637, 641-42 (11th Cir.1986). However, no waiver occurred here because there were no pre-taking procedures available to Jones. Neither Section 35-11-111 nor Rule 64(a) establishes any pre-taking procedures for challenging the issuance of writs of attachment. Therefore, Jones had no pre-deprivation rights he could have waived.
Nor can the fact that Jones waited eighteen months before making any formal post-taking challenge constitute a waiver of his pre-taking rights to due process. Furthermore, in Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co., 455 U.S. 422, 102 S.Ct. 1148, 71 L.Ed.2d 265 (1982), the Supreme Court held that, if a deprivation without prior notice or hearing occurred as the result of an established state policy, the availability of post-deprivation state remedies did not bar the availability of a Section 1983 action. As previously indicated, the seizure of Jones‘s cotton pickers without notice or hearing occurred pursuant to an established state policy. Therefore, the district court‘s holding that Jones‘s failure to invoke promptly the state‘s post-taking remedies constitutes a waiver contravenes the holding in Logan. Consequently, we find that Jones did not waive his rights to due process.
E. RES JUDICATA
The district court found also that this suit was barred because Jones could have raised his Section 1983 claim in his motion under
Nor is this action precluded because Jones failed to raise his claim for damages under Section 1983 as a counterclaim in the state court proceedings. The failure to raise a claim as a counterclaim prеcludes a subsequent suit on that claim only if the claim is considered to be a compulsory counterclaim. Eatman v. Goodson, 36 Ala.App. 360, 58 So.2d 129, 132-33 (1951), cert. denied, 257 Ala. 239, 58 So.2d 133 (1952); Weaver v. Brown, 87 Ala. 533, 6 So. 354 (1888).
Accordingly, the district court‘s order denying Jones‘s motion for partial summary judgment is AFFIRMED. The order granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants is REVERSED.