Harry v. Lauderdale County

212 F. App'x 344
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 4, 2007
Docket06-60525
StatusUnpublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 212 F. App'x 344 (Harry v. Lauderdale County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harry v. Lauderdale County, 212 F. App'x 344 (5th Cir. 2007).

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

Elonzo and Marilyn Harry (the “Harrys”) appeal a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of their claims against Judge Sarah P. Stringer and a subsequent summary judgment ruling dismissing their claims against Sheriff Billie Solhe and Lauderdale County, Mississippi. For the following reasons, we affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On February 27, 2002, Mattie Bell Harry, Elonzo Harry’s former wife, filed suit in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, seeking enforcement of Elonzo’s child support obligations arising out of a divorce judgment entered in Lamar County, Mississippi, on February 4, 1993. Since the divorce, Mattie Bell and the child had moved from Lamar County to Lauderdale County. On May 3, 2002, Judge Stringer, a Lauderdale County Chancery Court Judge, conducted a hearing and found Elonzo in contempt for failing to pay child support and ordered him jailed. From jail, Elonzo filed a motion to set aside judgment, arguing that the Lauderdale County Chancery Court did not have jurisdiction to enforce the 1993 Lamar County Chancery Court divorce judgment. In response, Mattie Bell argued that because she and the child were residents of Lauderdale County, the Lauderdale County Chancery Court had jurisdiction over the matter pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 93-11-65, which provides in part,

[T]he chancery court of the proper county shall have jurisdiction to entertain suits for the custody, care, support, and maintenance of minor children and to hear and determine all such matters, and shall, if need be, require bond, sure *346 ties, or other guarantee to secure any order for periodic payments for the maintenance or support of a child .... All actions herein authorized may be brought in the county where the child is actually residing, or in the county of the residence of the party who has actual custody, or of the residence of the defendant.

Judge Springer denied Elonzo’s motion, stating that she had determined that the Lauderdale County Chancery Court had personal and subject matter jurisdiction after reviewing the relevant statutes and case law. Elonzo appealed to the Mississippi Court of Appeals, which reversed Judge Stringer’s decision. The Court of Appeals held that the Lamar County Chancery Court had exclusive and continuing jurisdiction over contempt matters pertaining to the non-payment of child support. Harry v. Harry, 856 So.2d 748 (Miss.Ct.App.2008).

The Harrys subsequently filed suit in federal district court against Judge Stringer, Sheriff Sollie, and Lauderdale County, seeking compensatory and punitive damages for Elonzo’s wrongful incarceration pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1988 and Mississippi law. The federal claims were based on the argument that Elonzo’s First, Fifth, Eighth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated. The state-law causes of action were for abuse of process and loss of consortium. Judge Springer filed a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, arguing that the claims against her were barred by the doctrine of absolute judicial immunity. The court granted the motion. Following the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal, Sheriff Sollie and Lauderdale, County filed a Rule 56 motion for summary judgment, arguing that if the claims against Judge Springer were barred by absolute judicial immunity, claims against them for wrongful imprisonment, arising out of the execution of Judge Springer’s order, were similarly barred by immunity. The court granted the motion. The Harrys timely appealed to this court.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Dismissal pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) is appropriate only when “ ‘it appears that no relief could be granted under any set of facts that could be proven consistent with the allegations.’ ” Meadowbriar Home for Children, Inc. v. Gunn, 81 F.3d 521, 529 (5th Cir.1996) (quoting Bulger v. United States Bureau of Prisons, 65 F.3d 48, 49 (5th Cir.1995)); see also Rochon v. City of Angola, 122 F.3d 319, 320 (5th Cir.1997). We review the district court’s action de novo, accepting as true all well-pleaded facts in the Harrys’ complaint. Meadowbriar Home for Children, 81 F.3d at 529.

This Court reviews grants of summary judgment de novo, applying the same standard as the district court. Tango Transp. v. Healthcare Fin. Services LLC, 322 F.3d 888, 890 (5th Cir.2003). Summary judgment is appropriate if no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The Court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant. Coleman v. Houston Indep. Sch. Dist., 113 F.3d 528, 533 (5th Cir.1997). The non-movant must go beyond the pleadings and come forward with specific facts indicating a genuine issue for trial to avoid summary judgment. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). A genuine issue of material fact exists when the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-movant. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Summary judgment is appropriate, however, if the non-movant “fails to *347 make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

III. DISCUSSION

A.

“Judicial officers are entitled to absolute immunity from claims for damages arising out of acts performed in the exercise of their judicial functions.” Boyd v. Biggers, 31 F.3d 279, 284 (5th Cir.1994). This immunity can be overcome only by demonstrating that the conduct complained of was non-judicial or by showing that the conduct was “in the complete absence of all jurisdiction.” Id. Here, Judge Springer acted in a judicial role.

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Bluebook (online)
212 F. App'x 344, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harry-v-lauderdale-county-ca5-2007.