Aucoin v. Haney

• Decision Date: 01 October 2002
• Docket Number: No. 02-30028 Summary Calendar.,02-30028 Summary Calendar.
• Citation: 306 F.3d 268
• Parties: Gregory P. AUCOIN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Phil HANEY, Individually and in his capacity as District Attorney for the 16th Judicial District Court, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

306 F.3d 268

Gregory P. AUCOIN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Phil HANEY, Individually and in his capacity as District Attorney for the 16th Judicial District Court, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 02-30028 Summary Calendar.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

October 1, 2002.

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Lawrence K. Burleigh, Sr., Lawrence Keith Burleigh, Jr., Lafayette, LA, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Gary J. Russo, Camille B. Poche', Joel Paul Babineaux, Perret Doise, Lafayette, LA, for Defendant-Appellant.

Ellis Pete Adams, Jr., Martin Kevin Maley, LA Dist. Attys. Ass'n, Baton Rouge, LA, for Louisiana Dist. Attorneys Ass'n, Amicus Curiae.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Before JOLLY, HIGGINBOTHAM and PARKER, Circuit Judges.

E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge:

Phil Haney, the District Attorney for the Sixteenth Judicial District Court of Louisiana, appeals the district court's denial of qualified immunity to him from this suit brought by an assistant district attorney. Gregory P. Aucoin sued Haney under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging a political discharge that violated his First Amendment rights. Specifically, Aucoin claimed that he was fired by Haney because he was supporting Haney's political opponent in the upcoming District Attorney election. We join all other circuits that have considered this question, and hold that Aucoin has failed to demonstrate that Haney violated his First Amendment right to free speech. We therefore REVERSE the district court's denial of summary judgment to Haney and REMAND for further proceedings that are not inconsistent with this opinion.

I

Haney served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Sixteenth Judicial District Court for twenty years. In the spring of 1999, Bernard Boudreaux, the District Attorney for the Sixteenth Judicial District Court, announced that he intended to resign his post effective January 19, 2000, and that he would be supporting Haney as his successor. In the fall of 1999, Boudreaux proved himself a real political friend of Haney. He elevated Haney to the position of First Assistant District Attorney, which positioned Haney for appointment as the Interim District Attorney upon Boudreaux's resignation. Haney announced that he planned to run in the upcoming election for District Attorney, which was scheduled for October 6, 2000.

In June or July of 1999, Aucoin made a political decision that was not in his best interests. He began to openly support Haney's declared opponent in the District Attorney race, Leon Roy. Aucoin asserts that he only worked on behalf of Roy during his personal time. In late 1999, Boudreaux, again flying Haney's colors, met with all the Assistant District Attorneys and informed them that he expected them to support Haney. Boudreaux went a step further and put a personal squeeze on Aucoin. On December 7, 1999, he told Aucoin that he should support Haney or resign. Aucoin declined to do either, but said that he would continue to fully comply with the duties of his position. Boudreaux wisely did not fire Aucoin.

Next, Haney, who had now been named First Assistant District Attorney, moved into the picture. Haney met with Aucoin on January 14, 2000, and told him that he would be fired if he did not support his candidacy. Aucoin told Haney that he would support him in his administration of the office of District Attorney, but, standing his ground, said that he would not support him politically. Haney, who was apparently prepared for this response, handed a letter to Aucoin, dated January 13, 2000, in which he conveyed his intention not to re-commission Aucoin as an Assistant District Attorney once Haney was sworn in as Interim District Attorney on January 19. In the letter to Aucoin, Haney stated in part:

It is my understanding that you did not wish to support my administration of the Office of District Attorney. As an Assistant District Attorney, you are in a position of authority, supervision, and responsibility and are responsible for implementation of policies in my administration. Since you are unwilling to conscientiously and wholeheartedly support my administration of this office, I have no alternative than to issue commissions to all current Assistant District Attorneys with the exception of yourself.

Haney "fired" Aucoin on January 14, effective January 19, 2000.

II

Aucoin filed this suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Haney in his individual and official capacities, alleging a violation of his First Amendment rights. Haney filed a Motion to Dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), which the district court denied. After the parties conducted some discovery, Haney filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that all of Aucoin's claims should be dismissed. Alternatively, Haney argued that he was entitled to qualified immunity from suit in his individual capacity. The district court denied Haney's motion in its entirety, finding that disputed issues of material fact existed. The only issue before us now in this interlocutory appeal is whether the district court erroneously denied Haney's motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds.

III

We review de novo the denial of a public official's motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. Nerren v. Livingston Police Dept., 86 F.3d 469, 472 (5th Cir.1996) (citing Johnston v. City of Houston, 14 F.3d 1056, 1059 (5th Cir.1994)). Summary judgment is inappropriate if there is a genuine issue of material fact or if the moving party is not entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). For the purposes of a summary judgment determination, all fact questions are viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Stults v. Conoco, Inc., 76 F.3d 651, 654 (5th Cir.1996). Here, the district court denied summary judgment because it found that there were genuine issues of material facts.

Aucoin argues that the district court's denial of summary judgment on the qualified immunity issue, based on its finding of disputed material facts, is not an appealable final order. See Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, 319, 115 S.Ct. 2151, 132 L.Ed.2d 238 (1995) ("[W]e hold that a defendant, entitled to invoke a qualified immunity defense, may not appeal a district court's summary judgment order insofar as that order determines whether or not the pretrial record sets forth a `genuine' issue of fact for trial.") However, "[m]ore recently, in Behrens v. Pelletier, [516 U.S. 299 (1996),] the Supreme Court clarified that Johnson `permits [the defendant] to claim on appeal that all of the conduct which the District Court deemed sufficiently supported for purposes of summary judgment met the Harlow standard of "objective legal reasonableness."' Thus, in Behrens, the district court's determination that `material issues of fact remain' did not preclude appellate review." Nerren v. Livingston Police Dept., 86 F.3d 469, 472 (5th Cir.1996). We further stated:

In the wake of Behrens, the Johnson modification (if any) on appellate review applies only when "what is at issue in the sufficiency determination is nothing more than whether the evidence could support a finding that particular conduct occurred." Thus, we cannot review the "evidence sufficiency issue" (i.e., whether the nonmovant presented sufficient summary judgment evidence to create a dispute of fact). But we retain interlocutory jurisdiction to "take, as given, the facts that the district court assumed when it denied summary judgment" and determine whether these facts state a claim under clearly established law.

Id. (citations omitted).

Haney argues on appeal that even if all of Aucoin's factual allegations are taken as true, he is still entitled to qualified immunity. Because we will only take into account undisputed facts in considering the constitutional issues presented in this appeal, we have appellate jurisdiction, under Nerren, to review whether the district court erred in denying Haney qualified immunity.

IV

Taking the facts asserted by Aucoin as true, the issue thus is narrowed to whether the law was clearly established that Haney was constitutionally prohibited from firing Aucoin because Aucoin refused to support Haney politically in his campaign for District Attorney; if the law was not clearly established, then the district court erred, and Haney is entitled to qualified immunity and the dismissal of the complaint against him in his individual capacity.

In addressing qualified immunity, we proceed in three steps. First, we ask whether the plaintiff has alleged a violation of a constitutional right. Id. (citing Siegert v. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226, 232, 111 S.Ct. 1789, 114 L.Ed.2d 277 (1991)). Second, we ask whether the constitutional right was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation. Id. at 474. If we answer yes to both questions, we then ask whether the official's conduct was objectively reasonable in the light of that established constitutional right.

Aucoin's constitutional allegation is that Haney deprived him of his First Amendment right to free speech.¹ In Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 357, 96 S.Ct. 2673, 49 L.Ed.2d 547 (1976), the Supreme Court held that because "political belief and association constitute the core of those activities protected by the First Amendment," id. at 356, 96 S.Ct. 2673, the practice of patronage dismissals "clearly infringes First Amendment interests." Id. at 360, 96 S.Ct. 2673. Yet, because of the political position he held as an Assistant District Attorney, we must further consider whether, in the context of the undisputed facts of this case, Aucoin has alleged a violation of his constitutional rights.

A plurality of the Court stated that patronage dismissals of those in policymaking positions would be permissible in some cases in order to ensure that "representative government not be undercut by tactics obstructing the implementation of policies of the new administration...." Id. at 367, 96 S.Ct. 2673. In ...