Liles v. Reagan

625 F. Supp. 1470, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30538
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nebraska
DecidedJanuary 13, 1986
DocketNo. CV. 85-0-797
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 625 F. Supp. 1470 (Liles v. Reagan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nebraska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Liles v. Reagan, 625 F. Supp. 1470, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30538 (D. Neb. 1986).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

STROM, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on defendant’s motion to dismiss (Filing No. 6). Plaintiffs filed this action alleging deprivation of constitutional rights in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Count 2) and oppression under color of office pursuant to Neb.Rev. Stat. § 28-926 (Counts 1 and 3). Oppression under color of office is asserted as an independent federal claim in Count 1 of plaintiffs’ complaint and as a pendent state claim in Count 3 of the complaint. Jurisdiction is premised upon 28 U.S.C. § 1343.

Plaintiffs’ allegations stem from actions of Nebraska District Court Judge Ronald Reagan. Judge Reagan allegedly jailed plaintiffs for contempt of court as a result of their failure to follow court orders and conditioned his recusal from a subsequent habeas corpus proceeding upon dismissal of a pending federal habeas corpus action.

Defendant asserts that plaintiffs’ complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted for the reason that he is absolutely immune from suit.

Plaintiffs contend that Judge Reagan is not immune from suit for the reason that he acted in absence of jurisdiction with regard to his actions involving the habeas corpus petition. Plaintiffs also contend that a state court judge is not immune from prosecution under Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-926, and that this Court has jurisdiction over suits arising under that statute.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court finds that plaintiffs have failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted with respect to the 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim (Count 2) and the court is without jurisdiction to hear claims based upon Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-926 (Counts 1 and 3). Accordingly, plaintiffs’ complaint will be dismissed.

In considering a motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), allegations in the complaint must be viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Fusco v. Xerox Corp., 676 F.2d 332, 334 (8th Cir.1982). “A complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts which would entitle him to relief.” Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957) (footnote omitted).

It is clear on the face of the complaint that plaintiffs can prove no set of facts which would entitle them to relief. It is admitted in Paragraph 2.1 of the complaint that defendant Ronald E. Reagan is a district court judge for the State of Nebraska. In Subsection IV of the complaint, plaintiffs allege, inter alia, that Judge Reagan first ordered plaintiffs to show cause why they were not in contempt of the court’s previous injunction. Subsequently, plaintiffs appeared before Judge Reagan but refused to answer questions from the judge, asserting their fifth amendment privilege. Judge Reagan then ordered [1472]*1472plaintiffs jailed for contempt. It is further alleged that Judge Reagan proceeded to hear further evidence in the contempt proceeding without counsel or the parties present and that Judge Reagan refused to appoint counsel for plaintiff Ralph Liles. Plaintiffs additionally allege Judge Reagan deprived them of rights by conditioning his recusal from a state habeas corpus proceeding upon plaintiffs’ dismissal of a pending federal habeas corpus action.

The factual circumstances outlined above show that Judge Reagan was acting in his capacity as a judge and plaintiffs were dealing with him in that capacity. All of the actions taken by Judge Reagan were functions normally performed by a judge. There are no allegations that Judge Reagan did not have jurisdiction to preside over either contempt or habeas corpus proceedings. Judge Reagan is absolutely immune from suit for judicial acts under the doctrine of judicial immunity.

The doctrine of absolute judicial immunity will protect a judge against liability for a given act if two conditions are satisfied. First, the act must not have been taken in the “clear absence of all jurisdiction.” Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 357, 98 S.Ct. 1099, 1105, 55 L.Ed.2d 331 (1978). Second, the act must be a “judicial act.” Id. at 356, 98 S.Ct. at 1104-05.

In Stump v. Sparkman, supra, the United States Supreme Court considered a suit against a judge who ordered sterilization of a petitioner’s “somewhat retarded” daughter in an ex parte proceeding, without notice to the daughter and without appointment of a guardian ad litem. Reversing a decision of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals which imposed liability upon the judge, the Supreme Court discussed the jurisdictional condition, stating that:

... As early as 1872, the Court recognized that it was “general principle of the highest importance to the proper administration of justice that a judicial officer, in exercising the authority vested in him, [should] be free to act upon his own convictions, without apprehension of personal consequences to himself. Bradley v. Fisher, [13 Wall. 335, 20 L.Ed. 646 (1872) ], supra, at 347. For that reason the Court held that “Judges of courts of superior or general jurisdiction are not liable to civil actions for their judicial acts, even when such acts are in excess of their jurisdiction, and are alleged to have been done maliciously or corruptly.” 13 Wall., at 351. Later, we held that this doctrine of judicial immunity was applicable in suits under Section 1 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, for the legislative record gave no indication that Congress intended to abolish this long-established principle. Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967).
The Court of Appeals correctly recognized that the necessary inquiry in determining whether a defendant judge is immune from suit is whether at the time he took the challenged action, he had jurisdiction over the subject matter before him. Because “some of the most difficult and embarrassing questions which a judicial officer is called upon to consider and determine relate to his jurisdiction....” Bradley, supra, at 352, the scope of the judge’s jurisdiction must be construed broadly where the issue is the immunity of the judge. A judge will not be deprived of immunity because the action he took was in error, was done maliciously or was in excess of his authority; rather he will be subject to liability only when he acted in the “clear absence of all jurisdiction.” 13 Wall., at 351.

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Bluebook (online)
625 F. Supp. 1470, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30538, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/liles-v-reagan-ned-1986.