Maestas v. Board of Educ. of Mora Independent School Dist.
| Decision Date | 21 November 1984 |
| Docket Number | 83-2088,Nos. 83-1938,s. 83-1938 |
| Citation | 749 F.2d 591 |
| Parties | 21 Ed. Law Rep. 791 Matias MAESTAS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the MORA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Lazaro "Larry" Garcia, John Martinez, Samuel Olivas, and Jose B. Sanchez, individually and as members of the Board of Education of the Mora Independent School District, Horacio B. Martinez, individually and as Superintendent of the Mora Independent School District, Defendants-Appellees. Inez ABEYTA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the MORA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Lazaro "Larry" Garcia, John Martinez, Samuel Olivas, and Jose B. Sanchez, individually and as members of the Board of Education of the Mora Independent School District, Horacio B. Martinez, individually and as Superintendent of the Mora Independent School District, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Carl Bryant Rogers of Roth, Van Amberg, Gross, Amarant & Rogers, Santa Fe, N.M. (Ronald J. Van Amberg, Santa Fe, N.M., with him on brief), for plaintiffs-appellants.
Benjamin Phillips of White, Koch, Kelly & McCarthy, P.A., Santa Fe, N.M. (Celia Foy Castillo and W. Booker Kelly, Santa Fe, N.M., with him on briefs), for defendants-appellees.
Before HOLLOWAY, Chief Judge, and SETH and BARRETT, Circuit Judges.
These two cases were consolidated by this court for the purposes of appeal and will be considered together in this opinion.
The plaintiff Matias Maestas (in 83-1938) sought money damages against all the defendants who include the Board, the members of the Board individually and in their official capacities, and the District Superintendent in both capacities. He asked for injunctive and declaratory relief against the Board. His contract as Assistant Superintendent for the District had not been renewed. He alleged that it was not renewed because he did not make campaign contributions for the Board chairman's candidacy, because he supported a school bond issue opposed by some Board members and by reason of his support of a candidate for the Board running against an incumbent.
The plaintiff Inez Abeyta brought her action for money damages, for injunctive and declaratory relief for not renewing her employment as bookkeeper of the District. The defendants were the same as in the Maestas suit.
Before trial in both cases the trial court dismissed under the Eleventh Amendment the complaints against the Board and its officials and the Superintendent in their official capacities. Appeals were taken under Rule 54(b).
In addition to the autonomy and financing tests hereinafter considered, the plaintiffs argue that immunity under the Eleventh Amendment has been altered in Sec. 1983 actions by Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 and subsequent cases. Thus in substance it is argued that the strong policy present in Sec. 1983 cases somehow provides a waiver. However, in Pennhurst State School & Hospital v. Halderman, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 900, 79 L.Ed.2d 67, the Court stated there was no change and that Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 99 S.Ct. 1139, 59 L.Ed.2d 358, held directly that "Sec. 1983 does not override States' Eleventh...
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Garcia v. Board of Educ. of Socorro Consol. School Dist., s. 82-1174
...v. Board of Education of the Taos Municipal School District, 748 F.2d 1393 (10th Cir.1984); Maestas v. Board of Education of the Mora Independent School District, 749 F.2d 591 (10th Cir.1984). We are bound by these decisions. The eleventh amendment therefore bars this suit against the schoo......
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Medcalf v. State of Kan.
...& Hospital, supra; Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 343-45, 99 S.Ct. 1139, 1146-47, 59 L.Ed.2d 358 (1979); Maestas v. Bd. of Educ. of Mora Indep. Sch. Dist., 749 F.2d 591 (10th Cir. 1984); Barger v. State of Kansas, No. 620 F.Supp. 1432, 1436 (D.Kan.1985). As a result, § 1983 claims for viola......
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... ... prior action Garcia sued the members of the Board of Education of the Socorro Consolidated School ... Garcia v. Board of Educ. of Socorro Consol. School Dist., 777 F.2d 1403, ... New Mexico were "arms of the state," see Maestas v. Board of Educ. of the Mora Indep. School ... legal duty that would give rise to an independent cause of action, we recognize that, in general, ... ...
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...Pub. Schs., 39 F.3d 1191 (10th Cir.1994); Garcia v. Board of Educ., 777 F.2d 1403, 1407 (10th Cir.1985); Maestas v. Board of Educ., 749 F.2d 591, 592 (10th Cir.1984). With the district court's permission, Ms. Duke, relying on Daddow, thereafter amended her complaint to include the school di......