The plaintiff brought this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action pro se against the State of Washington, two Washington State Troopers, Clark County, Washington and several county officials, the City of Portland, and three Portland police officers. Although he asserted a number of claims, his primary contention is that he was extradited from Oregon to Washington in violation of federal and state extradition statutes. He also challenges the legality of the towing of his automobile after his arrest. The district court dismissed some of his claims and granted summary judgment for the defendants on the remaining ones. We hold that the plaintiff properly рleaded section 1983 claims based on his extradition in violation of the federal and state extradition statutes and for the towing of his automobile pursuant to an unconstitutional municipal ordinance, and that the award of summary judgment on those claims was improper except with respect to the claims against the State of Washington.
I. FACTS
In July 1980, Robert A. Draper, accompanied by three passengers, was driving his automobile south on Interstate Highway 5 in the State of Washington toward the Oregon border. While still in Washington, Washington State Patrol Troopеr Coombs attempted to stop the automobile because Draper was driving erratically and in excess of the speed limit. He continued to drive in that manner, with Trooper Coombs in pursuit, across the state line into Oregon.
Trooper Coombs pursued Draper to Portland, Oregon where he subsequently forced Draper to stop. Coombs detained Draper and the passengers and awaited the arrival of police officers from the City of Portland whom he had called for assistance. When Portland Police Officers John Goff and John Garvey arrived at the scene, the officers from the two jurisdictions discussed the question whether Draper would be taken into custody by Coombs for return to Washington or would be arrested by the Portland police officers and initially detained in Oregon. In hopes of clarifying the apparent uncertainty as to the proper procedure to be followed, Coombs conferred with his superior, Sergeant Cook, while the Portland officers conferred with their superior, Sergeant Dick. Following these consultations, Coombs arrested Draper for “attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle” and transported him to Clark County Jail in Washington.
After Draper’s arrest, the Portland officers ordered Draper’s automobile towed away by Sam’s Towing, a private towing company. Later that same day, Draper’s daughter, one of the three passengers in his car at the time of the arrest, attempted to recover the automobile from the towing company. Sam’s required her to pay $53.95, in towing and other charges, before it would release the automobile. After the chargеs were paid, Sam’s released the automobile.
Draper was convicted in Washington state court under a Washington statute for *918 attempting to elude a Washington trooper. 1 He was sentenced to serve a five year term in the Washington State Penitentiary.
Draper filed this pro se action seeking damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982) from the State of Washington, Trooper Coombs and Sergeant Cook, Clark County, Washington and several county officials (“Clark County defendants”), the City of Portland, Portland Police Officers Goff and Garvey, and Sergeant Dick. The district court first dismissed the claims against the Clark County defendants and then those against the Stаte of Washington. The district court subsequently granted summary judgment on the claims against the remainder of the defendants.
II. THE IMMUNITY OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON AND THE WASHINGTON STATE TROOPERS UNDER THE ELEVENTH AMENDMENT
A. Section 1983 Claims Against the State of Washington
The district court dismissed Draper’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims against the State of Washington. Because the eleventh amendment
2
bars the federal courts from considering such claims, we affirm their dismissal.
3
We have emphasized that “[ujnder the Eleventh Amendment, states that have not consented to suit are immune from [42 U.S.C.] § 1983 suits in federal court.”
McConnell v. Critchlow,
B. Section 1983 Claims against the Washington State Troopers
Draper’s section 1983 claims allege that, by extraditing him to Washington from Or
*919
egon without a hearing, Washington State Trooper Coombs and Sergeant Cook, among others, violated his federal constitutional and statutory rights, as well as his rights under state law. “The Eleventh Amendment bars a suit against state officials when ‘the state is the real, substantial party in interest.’ ”
Pennhurst State School & Hospital v. Halderman,
If found to have violated an individual’s federal constitutional or statutory rights, a state official may be held
personally
liable for damages.
See Scheuer v. Rhodes,
III. DRAPER’S SECTION 1983 CLAIM BASED ON THE EXTRADITION FROM OREGON TO WASHINGTON
Draper pleaded 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims against the Washington State Troopers and the Portland police officers contending that they failed to follow the extradition procedures required by federal and state law. After holding that his claims were otherwise legally sufficient, the district court dismissed them on the ground that Draper’s subsequent criminal conviction demonstrated that he had suffered no actual damages. We agree with the district court that Draper properly stated section 1983 claims for the law enforсement officers’ failure to comply with the federal and state extradition statutes, statutes that implement a clause of the United States Constitution. We hold, however, that an absence of actual damages would not be fatal to those claims.
A. Section 1983 Claim for Violation of Federal Statute
Draper bases one of his section 1983 claims on the Extradition Clause of the United States Constitution, 6 and its implementing statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3182 (1982). Section 3182 provides that
[wjhenever the executive authority of any State or Territory demands any person as a fugitive from justice, of the executive authority of any Stаte, District or Territory to which such person has fled, and produces a copy of an indictment found or an affidavit made before a magistrate of any State or Territory, *920 charging the person demanded with having committed treason, felony, or other crime, certified as authentic by the governor or chief magistrate of the State or Territory from whence the person so charged has fled, the executive authority of the State, District or Territory to which such person has fled shall cause him to be arrested and secured, and notify the executive authority making such demand, or the agent of such authority appointed to receive the fugitive, and shall cause the fugitive to be delivered to such agent when he shall appear. If no such agent appears within thirty days from the time of the arrest, the prisoner may be discharged.
The Washington and Portland law enforcement officers do not dispute the fact that they failed to comply with the minimal procedures set forth in section 3182. Rather, the defendants argue that, for a variety of reasons, a section 1983 action cannot be based on a violation of section 3182. We disagree.
Section 1983 provides a remedy for “the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and
laws”
by a person acting under color of state law. (emphasis added). The Supreme Court has held that “laws” in section 1983 includes federal statutes and that a violation of a federal statute may, at least in some instances, serve as the basis for a section 1983 action.
See Maine v. Thiboutot,
The extradition statute implements a provision of the United States Constitution. The Constitutional provision and the implementing statute were “intended to enable each state to bring offenders to trial as swiftly as possible in the state where the alleged offense was committed” and “to preclude any state from becoming a sanctuary for fugitives from justice of another state.”
Michigan v. Doran,
In light of the nature and purpose of the extradition statute, we hold that a claim alleging its violation by state or local police officers states a cause of action under section 1983. In reaching that conclu
*921
sion, we join with the four other circuits that have previously addressed that question.
Brown v. Nutsch,
The Portland police officers also contend that, because section 3182 literally applies only to fugitives who have been formally charged in the state sеeking their return, it does not apply to Draper, who had not been formally charged by Washington authorities with any offense at the time of his forcible return to that state. That argument is specious. The absence of a proper Washington charge before the transfer of Draper from custody in Oregon to custody in Washington is what underlies the violation of section 3182. It is this failure to comply with the statute that serves as a basis for the claim; it cannot serve as a shield against it. 8
B. Section 1983 Claim Based on Violation of State Law
Draper alleges, inter alia, that the law enforcement officers failed to comply with the requirements of the Oregon Uniform Act on Fresh Pursuit, Or.Rev.Stat. §§ 133.410-133.440. Under that Act, an officer of another state who, in pursuit of a suspected felon, enters Oregon and ultimately arrests a suspect, must “without unnecessary delay take the person arrested before a magistrate of the county in which the arrest was made, who shall conduct a hearing for the purpose of determining the lawfulness of the arrest.” Or.Rev.Stat. § 133.440. The Washington Troopers and the Portland police officers do not dispute the fact that they did not comply with the requirements of that statute. Thе district court concluded that Draper could properly base a section 1983 claim on the violation of state law. We agree.
Unlike other state laws, the Oregon Uniform Act on Fresh Pursuit is similar to the federal extradition statute in that it is designed to implement the extradition clause of the United States Constitution. We agree with the four circuits that have held that a violation of state extradition law can serve as the basis of a section 1983 action “[wjhere the violation of state law causes the deprivation of rights protected by the Constitution and statutes of the United States.”
Wirth v. Surles,
C. Damages
Although the district court held that Draper properly stated section 1983 claims based on his unlawful extradition, it dismissed those claims on the ground that he was ultimately convicted of the crime involved and, therefore, suffered no “actual” damage. The district court’s reasoning is simply incorrect. The Supreme Court has held that even when no actual damages are suffered аs a result of a violation of section 1983, a plaintiff still may be entitled to nominal damages.
See Carey v. Piphus,
IV. CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE PORTLAND TOWING ORDINANCE AND THE OREGON LIEN STATUTE
Draper also raises due process challenges to City of Portland Ordinance § 16.-04.020, which authorized the towing of his automobile after his arrest but which failed to provide for any hearing with respect to the towing or the charges. He alleges that, because of constitutional infirmities in the ordinance, the towing constituted a taking of property without due process in violаtion of the fourteenth amendment and seeks damages from the City of Portland and three of its police officers. 10 The district court granted summary judgment in favor of those defendants. We reverse.
In
Stypmann v. City & County of San Francisco,
First, the private interest that will be affected by the official action; second, the risk of an erroneous deprivation of such interest through the procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional or substitute procedural safeguards; and finally, the Government’s interest, including the function involved and the fiscal and administrative burdens that the additional or substitute procedural requirements would entail.
In applying the balancing test to thе San Francisco ordinance, we stated that “[t]he private interest in the uninterrupted use of an automobile is substantial. A person’s ability to make a living and his access to both the necessities and amenities of life may depend upon the availability of an automobile when needed.”
Stypmann,
The public interest in removing vehicles from streets and highways ... is also substantial, though differing in the various situations in which removal is authorized. Moreover, the government has a considerable interest in imposing the cost of removal upon the vehicle owner and retaining possession of the vehicle as security for payment.
Id. at 1343 (emphasis added).
Because in Stypmann we only considered whether a post-towing hearing was required, 11 the only governmental interest *923 at stake was the cost of providing for a reasonably prompt hearing to challenge the tow. Id. After weighing the interests, we held that a San Francisco ordinance that only provided a hearing for one unable to pay towage fees and then only “within five days of the time he notifies the Traffic Fines Bureau that he intends to challenge the [action]” failed to comply with the requirements of the Due Process Clause. Id. at 1341.
In
Goichman v. Rheuban Motors, Inc.,
Both
Stypmann
and
Goichman
stand for the proposition that a post-tow hearing is required by the due process clause. The issue in dispute in those cases was: how long after the tow can a post-tow hearing be held without violating the car owner’s right to due process? Here, unlike the ordinances in dispute in
Stypmann
or
Goichman,
the Portland ordinance does not provide for a hearing at all.
12
We hold that, because the Portland ordinance fails to provide for a hearing, it violates the due process clause.
13
Furthermore, we hold that even though Draper may have suffered no actual injury, he may still be entitled to nominal damages.
See Carey v. Piphus,
V. DRAPER’S EIGHTH AMENDMENT CLAIMS
Draper sets forth Eighth Amendment “cruel and unusual punishment” claims against Clark County, Washington, the Clark County Sheriff, the Clark County Commissioner, and other Clark Cоunty officials (“Clark County defendants”), based on the conditions in Clark County Jail where he was initially held. However, a federal district court must apply the personal jurisdiction law of the state in which it is sitting.
See Paccar International, Inc. v. Commercial Bank of Kuwait,
The cоnstitutional requirements for the exercise of personal jurisdiction are satisfied if defendants (1) have the “substantial” or “continuous or systematic” contacts with the forum state necessary for the exercise of “general jurisdiction” over them; or (2) have “avail[ed themselves] of the privilege of conducting activities in the forum, thereby invoking the benefits and protections of [the forum state’s] laws,” necessary for the exercise of “limited jurisdiction.”
Gates Learjet Corp. v. Jensen,
VI. THE DISTRICT COURT’S DENIAL OF DRAPER’S MOTIONS TO COMPEL DISCOVERY AND FOR A DEFAULT JUDGMENT
A. Denial of the Motion to Compel Discovery
The district court denied Draper’s motion to compel answers to interrogatories and for sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37. On appeal, Draper contends that “[t]his is an absolute denial of discovery.” We disagree.
Draper’s interrogatories to the City of Portland and Officers Garvey, Goff, and Dick were filed long after the deadline that the district court set for the end of discovery. Draper apparently never filed a motion for an extension of time. Furthermore, when finally served on the defendants, the interrogatories did not comply with the local rules. We recognize that the plaintiff represented himself and therefore, in evaluating his compliance with the technical rules of civil procedure, we treat him with great leniency.
Cf. Haines v. Kerner,
B. Denial of the Motion for a Default Judgment
The district court also denied Draper’s motions for a default judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55 against Washington Troopers Cook and Coombs, and Portland Police Officer Dick. The motions for default were based on an alleged failure to file an answer to Draper’s complaint. However, the State of Washington in its answer responded on behalf of Troopers Cook and Coombs. In addition, although it aрpears to have been late, Sergeant Dick submitted an answer on the same day as Draper filed the motion for a default judgment. Draper has not made any showing of prejudice as a result of Dick’s failure to comply strictly with the
*925
time requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. We therefore cannot conclude that the district court abused its discretion in denying the motions for a default judgment.
See Aldabe v. Aldabe,
VII. CONCLUSION
We hold that Draper properly stated claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for failure to comply with the extradition statutes and for the towing of his automobile pursuant to an unconstitutional municipal ordinance. We further hold that the absence of actual damages would not require dismissal of those claims. We affirm however, on Eleventh Amendment grounds, the district court’s dismissal of the extradition claims against the State of Washington. We also affirm its dismissal, for lack of personal jurisdiction, of Draper’s claims regarding his treatment in the Washington State Penitentiary and Clark County jail. Finally, we affirm the district court’s ruling regarding discovery and its refusal to enter a default judgment in favor of Draper.
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS OPINION.
Notes
. In addition to his challenges to the fоrcible return to Washington and the tow of his vehicle, Draper seeks damages under § 1983 against the Washington Troopers and the State of Washington on the ground that Wash.Rev.Code § 46.61.024 is so vague and overbroad that his conviction under that statute violates the due process clause of the 14th amendment.
Wash.Rev.Code § 46.61.024 (1979) states that: any driver of a motor vehicle who wilfully fails or refuses to immediately bring his vehicle to a stop in a manner indicating a wanton and wilful disregard for the lives or property of others while attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, after being given a visual or audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop, shall be guilty of a class C felony. The signal given by the police officer may be by hand, voice, emergency light, or siren. The officer giving such a signal shall be in uniform and his vehicle shall be appropriately marked showing it to be an official police vehicle.
As we hold
infra,
the 11th amendment bars a suit against the State of Washington. Moreover, the state troopers enjoy immunity from a § 1983 action "insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established ... constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known."
Harlow v. Fitzgerald,
. The 11th amendment provides that "[t]he Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecutеd against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State."
. The State of Washington and the Washington Troopers contend that, because the 11th amendment, default, and discovery issues were not listed in Draper’s notice of appeal, those issues are not properly before us. A notice of appeal need not specify the precise issues raised on appeal; rather, the notice must only specify the party appealing, the judgment being appealed, аnd the court to which the appeal is taken. Fed.R.App.Proc. 3(c).
. State officials enjoy a qualified immunity for all conduct in their official capacity. To find Trooper Coombs and Sergeant Cook liable for damages, the district court would have to decide that their summary extradition of Draper without any legal proceedings failed to meet the objective standard announced in
Harlow v. Fitzgerald,
. The 11th amendment does not protect local governmental bodies or local officials.
See Lincoln County
v.
Luning,
. Art. IV, section 2, cl. 2 provides that:
a person charged in any State with Treason, Felony or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
. Before extraditing a prisoner, the extraditing state must determine
first, that the person demanded is substantially charged with a crime against the laws of the State from whose justice he is alleged to have fled, by an indictment or an affidavit, certified as authentic by the governor of the State making the demand; and, second, that the person demanded is a fugitive from the justice of the State the executive authority of which makes the demand.
Roberts v. Reilly,
. We do not consider the question whether any officers have a valid qualified immunity defense since that issue is not now before us.
. Draper also contends that he was entitled to a hearing under the due process clause of the 14th amendment prior to being returned forcibly to Washington. Because we hold that Draper was entitled to a hearing under the extradition clause and its implementing statute, we need not decide whether the due process clause also afforded him that right.
. Draper also challеnges Oregon Revised Statute § 87.152, which allowed the person towing the vehicle to establish a lien. See infra note 13.
. In Stypmann, the plaintiff did not argue that due process required a pre-towing hearing, but argued that the law did not provide a hearing soon enough after the towing.
. The Portland ordinance provides for the towing of a vehicle when "[tjhe vehicle was in the possession of a person taken into custody by a law enforcement agency." Portland Ordinance § 16.04.020(7). Because Draper was "taken into custody,” his automobile was towed in accordance with thе provisions of the Portland ordinance. To protect the property of an individual arrested, towing, pursuant to a valid ordinance, is proper in these circumstances.
See Calero-Toledo v. Pearson Yacht Leasing Co.,
Draper does not allege that, at the time of his arrest, any of the passengers in his automobile offered to take possession of it and could lawfully have done so. We need not consider whether, if a passenger could have taken possession of the automobile, the towing would have been justified.
Draper also claims that, because his car was parked on private property, there was no need to tow it. We see no justification for distinguishing between situations in which the automobile is on private or on public property. In fact, because of the burden on private property owners, there may be a stronger argument for the towing if the automobile has been parked on private property.
. As the ordinance authorizing the towing is unconstitutional, imposition of the lien was improper. We need not reach the constitutionality of the Oregon lien statute.
. The defеndants may of course assert any lawful defense they may possess to this claim.
. Or.R.Civ.P. 4 L provides for the exercise of personal jurisdiction "where prosecution of the action against a defendant is not inconsistent with the Constitution of this state or the Constitution of the United States."
. Draper also claims that while incarcerated in Washington he was denied meaningful access to the courts and was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. Draper named only the State of Washington as a defendant in these claims. As we have held, supra, the eleventh amendment bars Draper’s claims against the State.
