Wells v. WalkerWells v. Walker
- Reporters:
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- Before:
- Fagg
Plaintiffs appeal the dismissal under
Larry Dean Robertson was released from Department custody under an Arkansas statute authorizing the Board to accelerate the release dates of state prisoners by up to ninety days when specified prison overcrowding conditions are reached. See
Plaintiffs’ complaint states two buses ran through Dumas each day, one at 11:54 a.m. and the other at 6:30 p.m. According to the complaint, after Robertson was released he was given a check for twenty-five dollars and dropped off at the Dumas bus station at approximately 6:50 p.m. on April 20, 1987. Robertson did not board a bus the following morning, and at’ approximately 1:30 p.m., Robertson murdered Sanderlin at her store.
Plaintiffs are family and representatives of Sanderlin’s estate who seek damages for Sanderlin’s death under
Relying on Harpole v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 820 F.2d 923, 926-27 (8th Cir.1987), the district court concluded no special relationship existed that made Robertson’s conduct while a free man attributable to the state, and consequently, that Sanderlin had no constitutional right to be protected “from [Robertson’s] actions once he was freed.” Wells, 671 F.Supp. at 627. For this reason, the court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss the
The propriety of granting a motion to dismiss under
Our task on this appeal is two-fold. First, we must determine if Sanderlin possessed a right arising under the fourteenth amendment to be protected by the state from harm inflicted by a third party — in this instance, a released criminal. Second, if she possessed this right, we must then decide whether defendants’ conduct deprived her of it within the meaning of the due process clause.
Initially, we must consider defendants’ argument that “there is no constitutionally mandated duty to protect one private citizen from another * * * beyond [the confines of] prison[s] or prison-like environments.” Harpole, 820 F.2d at 927. The district court assumed “Harpole effectively foreclose[d] any argument for [section] 1983 liability predicated upon” a vindicable right to affirmative protection by the state. Wells, 671 F.Supp. at 627. We believe, however, that Harpole‘s requirement of a prison-related environment is satisfied in this case by the transportation link between the prison and Sanderlin’s store. Thus, we must consider whether plaintiffs have otherwise adequately pleaded circumstances giving rise to a right of protection in favor of Sanderlin.
As they must, plaintiffs acknowledge the general rule that members of the public at large have no constitutional right to be protected by the state against harm inflicted by third parties. See Bowers v. DeVito, 686 F.2d 616, 618 (7th Cir.1982); see also, e.g., Martinez v. California, 444 U.S. 277, 285, 100 S.Ct. 553, 559, 62 L.Ed.2d 481 (1980); Commonwealth Bank & Trust Co., N.A. v. Russell, 825 F.2d 12, 15 (3d Cir.1987); Taylor v. Ledbetter, 818 F.2d 791, 797 (11th Cir.1987) (en banc), petition for cert. filed, 56 U.S.L.W. 3290 (U.S. Sept. 25, 1987) (No. 87-521); Nishiyama v. Dickson County, 814 F.2d 277, 280-81 (6th Cir.1987) (en banc); DeShaney v. Winnebago County Dep’t of Social Servs., 812 F.2d 298, 301 (7th Cir.1987), cert. granted, — U.S. -, 108 S.Ct. 1218, 99 L.Ed.2d 419 (1988); Ketchum v. County of Alameda, 811 F.2d 1243, 1247 (9th Cir.1987); Escamilla v. City of Santa Ana, 796 F.2d 266, 270 (9th Cir.1987); Estate of Gilmore v. Buckley, 787 F.2d 714, 720 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 882, 107 S.Ct. 270, 93 L.Ed.2d 247 (1986); Janan v. Trammell, 785 F.2d 557, 560 (6th Cir.1986); Ellsworth v. City of Racine, 774 F.2d 182, 185 (7th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1047, 106 S.Ct. 1265, 89 L.Ed.2d 574 (1986); Estate of Bailey v. County of York, 768 F.2d 503, 510 (3d Cir.1985); Jones v. Phyfer, 761 F.2d 642, 646 (11th Cir.1985); Jensen v. Conrad, 747 F.2d 185, 192-93 (4th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1052, 105 S.Ct. 1754, 84 L.Ed.2d 818 (1985); Wright v. City of Ozark, 715 F.2d 1513, 1516 (11th Cir.1983); Fox v. Custis, 712 F.2d 84, 88 (4th Cir.1983); Humann v. Wilson, 696 F.2d 783, 784 (10th Cir.1983) (per curiam).
Circuit court decisions examining whether a particular individual, as distinguished from the general public, is entitled to protection by the state from third-party harm generally recognize that the due process clause may be implicated in the following situations: First, when a “special custodial or other relationship[ ] created or assumed by the state” exists between a particular individual and the state, Fox, 712 F.2d at 88; or second, when the state affirmatively places a particular individual in a position of danger the individual would not otherwise have been in, see Bowers, 686 F.2d at 618. See also, e.g., Taylor, 818 F.2d at 797-98; Nishiyama, 814 F.2d at 280-81; DeShaney, 812 F.2d at 303; Ketchum, 811 F.2d at 1247; Escamilla, 796 F.2d at 269; Estate of Gilmore, 787 F.2d at 720-22; Janan, 785 F.2d at 560; Ellsworth, 774 F.2d at 185; Estate of Bailey, 768 F.2d at 509-11; Jones, 761 F.2d at 644-46; Jensen, 747 F.2d at 193-94; Wright, 715 F.2d at 1516; Humann, 696
With this background in mind, we must now determine if the factual allegations pleaded in plaintiffs’ complaint are sufficient to invoke a constitutional claim against defendants for their failure to protect Sanderlin from harm inflicted by Robertson. We believe plaintiffs’ complaint adequately pleads the basis of Sanderlin’s right of protection. Plaintiffs allege defendants took action under Arkansas law to provide postrelease transportation for Robertson and to utilize Sanderlin’s store as “the closest commercial transportation pick-up point.”
Having satisfied ourselves that plaintiffs’ complaint adequately alleges Sanderlin possessed a right of protection secured by the fourteenth amendment, we must now decide whether defendants’ conduct deprived her of that right. Based on the allegations of the complaint, we conclude defendants’ conduct did not work a deprivation of Sanderlin’s right within the meaning of the due process clause.
Plaintiffs rely on allegations that defendants did not discover Robertson’s potential for violence because they failed to conduct an adequate background investigation before releasing him. Plaintiffs claim defendants would have given Sanderlin the warning sought in their complaint if defendants had properly screened and processed Robertson for release.
From these factual allegations and all favorable inferences drawn from them, it is evident to us plaintiffs’
We are mindful the Supreme Court in Daniels left open the possibility that “something less than intentional conduct, such as recklessness or ‘gross negligence,’ is enough to trigger the protections of the [d]ue [p]rocess [c]lause” for purposes of a
By our decision we intend no opinion on the strength of plaintiffs’ remaining claims under state law, and we do not take lightly the circumstances surrounding Sanderlin’s tragic death. As the Supreme Court stated in Daniels: “That injuries inflicted by governmental negligence are not addressed by the United States Constitution is not to say that they may not raise significant legal concerns and lead to the creation of protec-tible legal interests. * * * [Injuries caused by such negligence should generally be redressed.” Daniels, 474 U.S. at 333, 106 S.Ct. at 666. In the context of a
The district court’s dismissal of plaintiffs’ complaint is affirmed.