Kraemer v. Padgett

685 F. Supp. 1166, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4668, 1987 WL 46263
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedMay 8, 1987
DocketCiv. A. No. 86-2126-S
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 685 F. Supp. 1166 (Kraemer v. Padgett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kraemer v. Padgett, 685 F. Supp. 1166, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4668, 1987 WL 46263 (D. Kan. 1987).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SAFFELS, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on defendants’ motions for summary judgment. Plaintiffs Dennis and Constance Kraemer have brought this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming a deprivation of their first and fourteenth amendment rights and claiming that the defendants attempted to obstruct justice. Plaintiffs also claim a violation of the Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act [hereinafter RICO], 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et seq., and claim various other state law causes of action.

Plaintiffs have filed a motion for an order requiring defendants to file with the court clerk a complete copy of the entire discovery record. The court’s reading of Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) does not convince this court that the decision mandates that defendants file a complete copy of the entire discovery record. Rather, the burden is on the plaintiff to provide the court with pleadings, depositions, interrogatories, and other evidence which establishes the existence of elements essential to the plaintiffs' case. All that is required by Rule 56 of the Rules of Federal Procedure is that the moving party file a motion for summary judgment demonstrating absence of a genuine issue of material fact and raising an issue as the absence of one of the elements of the plaintiff’s case. The court therefore finds that plaintiffs’ motion for an order requiring defendants to file a complete copy of the entire discovery record is meritless and should be denied.

A moving party is entitled to summary judgment only when the evidence indicates that no genuine issue of material fact exists. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Maughan v. SW Servicing, Inc., 758 F.2d 1381, 1387 (10th Cir.1985). An issue of fact is “material” only when the dispute is over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2509-10, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The requirement of a “genuine” issue of fact means that the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party. Id. Thus, the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment. Id. The court must consider factual inferences tending to show triable issues in the light most favorable to the existence of those issues. United States v. O’Block, 788 F.2d 1433, 1435 (10th Cir.1986). The court must also consider the record in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Bee v. Greaves, 744 F.2d 1387, 1396 (10th Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1214, 105 S.Ct. 1187, 84 L.Ed.2d 334 (1985). The language of Rule 56(a) mandates the entry of summary judgment against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-54, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

Rather than reiterating each of the defendants’ sets of controverted facts, the court will address the defendants’ motions as a whole as they relate to a particular, claim. The court will then relate the relevant facts to that alleged cause of action to determine whether plaintiffs have stated a claim for relief.

Plaintiffs have alleged a violation of their first and fourteenth amendment [1168]*1168rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiffs also allege that the defendants sought to influence, obstruct or impede the due administration of justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1503. To state a claim under section 1983, a plaintiff must establish the following elements. First, it must be shown that a plaintiff has been deprived of a Constitutional right. Second, the defendants must have been acting under “color of state law.” See Flag Brothers, Inc. v. Brooks, 436 U.S. 149, 155-56, 98 S.Ct. 1729, 1733, 56 L.Ed.2d 185 (1978).

No public officials have been named as defendants in this action. Thus, the court must determine whether the defendants’ acts as private citizens, “may be fairly treated as that of the state itself.” Id. at 157, 98 S.Ct. at 1734 (quoting Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Company, 419 U.S. 345, 351, 95 S.Ct. 449, 453, 42 L.Ed.2d 477 (1974). The Supreme Court in Flag Brothers, Inc. noted that never has the Supreme Court held that a state’s mere acquiescence in a private individual’s conduct converts that act into that of the state. 436 U.S. at 164, 98 S.Ct. at 1737.

Plaintiffs cite the decision in Macko v. Byron, 576 F.Supp. 875 (N.D.Ohio 1983), as case law which supports their allegations that the defendants acted under color of state law. The court must disagree. In fact, the court in Macko limited its finding of state action under section 1983 to a very narrow set of facts. The court found that the allegations pled in Macko did not fit that narrowly-defined fact pattern needed to state a cause of action under section 1983. 576 F.Supp. at 880. Similarly, this court finds that there are no allegations which establish that the defendants took over and controlled the judicial process sufficient to state a cause of action under color of state law. The court finds there are no.allegations which suggest that the county attorney acted in collusion or conspired with the defendants to process the plaintiff. Rather, the warrant issued against the plaintiff, in this case Dennis Kraemer, was based solely on the complaint filed by Dennis Meyn alleging assault.

It is also interesting to note that the court in Macko held that the mere threat to a person’s Constitutional right is not sufficient to state a cause of action under section 1983. Id. at 880, In this case, the plaintiffs’ complaint alleges a violation of section 1983 based on defendants’ alleged endeavor to influence, obstruct, or impede the due administration of justice. Clearly, this allegation does not state a claim under section 1983. Mere discouragement of the exercise of a plaintiff's Constitutional right does not constitute a deprivation. The court therefore finds that defendants’ motion for summary judgment should be granted as to plaintiffs’ section 1983 claims.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
685 F. Supp. 1166, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4668, 1987 WL 46263, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kraemer-v-padgett-ksd-1987.