Dellenbach v. Letsinger

• Decision Date: 14 November 1989
• Docket Number: No. 87-2972,87-2972
• Citation: 889 F.2d 755
• Parties: Herbert DELLENBACH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. James LETSINGER, Paul Buchanan, Janet Roberts Blue, Marianna Novak and Debra Banach, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 755

889 F.2d 755

Herbert DELLENBACH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. James LETSINGER, Paul Buchanan, Janet Roberts Blue, Marianna Novak and Debra Banach, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 87-2972.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Jan. 12, 1989.

Decided Nov. 14, 1989.

Jerold Solovy, Sidney I. Schenkier, Stevem N. Berk, Jenner & Block, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-appellant.

Herbert Dellenbach, Westville Correctional Center, Westville, Ind., pro se.

Michael A. Schoening, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, Ind., for defendants-appellees.

Before FLAUM, EASTERBROOK, and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

This case is before us on appeal from the district court's judgment dismissing the complaint. The plaintiff-appellant, Herbert Dellenbach, brought suit for damages under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. He alleged that the five defendants--two state judges, a court commissioner, and two court reporters--had violated his right to due process by interfering with the appeal of his criminal conviction. The district court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss on the ground that Mr. Dellenbach's claims were barred by the doctrine of judicial immunity. For the following reasons, we affirm.

I. Background

On June 2, 1987, Mr. Dellenbach filed a pro se complaint under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 alleging that the defendants had violated his constitutionally protected due process rights by interfering with his right to appeal his criminal state-court conviction. The defendants named in this suit were Judge James Letsinger of the Superior Court of Lake County, Indiana; Judge Paul Buchanan, Chief Judge of the Indiana Court of Appeals; Ms. Janet Roberts Blue, a Commissioner on the Indiana Court of Appeals; and Ms. Marianna Novak and Ms. Debra Banach, both of whom are court reporters for the Superior Court of Lake County.

A. Facts

Mr. Dellenbach was charged in an Indiana state court with various offenses relating to an alleged scheme to defraud consumers in the purchase of heating systems. Mr. Dellenbach's trial was consolidated with the trial of his son, Randall Dellenbach (Randall), who was represented by separate counsel. Judge Letsinger of the Superior Court of Lake County presided over the trial. A jury found Mr. Dellenbach guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit theft, four counts of attempted theft, two counts of theft, and one count of corrupt business influence. ¹ The Dellenbachs took separate appeals.

Before Mr. Dellenbach filed his appeal, Randall's attorney had purchased a copy of the consolidated trial transcript for the purpose of preparing Randall's case. Mr. Dellenbach then filed his appeal and moved to consolidate Randall's case with his own pursuant to Rule 5(B) of the Indiana Rules of Appellate Procedure. ² This motion was granted by Chief Judge Buchanan.

Mr. Dellenbach alleges that the defendants "conspired together with each other to compel the Plaintiff to obtain and pay for unneeded and unnecessary 'transcripts' as a pre-condition for the consolidated appeal of Herbert Dellenbach and Randall Dellenbach to be heard by the Indiana Court of Appeals in Indianapolis[,] Indiana." R. 2 (Allegation 1) (emphasis removed). Mr. Dellenbach alleges that, while the consolidated appeal was pending, Judge Letsinger telephoned Judge Buchanan, Chief Judge of the Indiana Court of Appeals, and "ordered [him] to refuse to hear Herbert Dellenbach[']s appeal until Herbert Dellenbach paid $1200.00 for 'transcripts' of the [consolidated] trial." Id. (emphasis removed). In response to this call, Chief Judge Buchanan allegedly instructed Ms. Blue, a Court Commissioner, to contact Mr. Dellenbach's counsel and inform him that "his client's appeal could not proceed until a consolidated transcript was purchased." Appellant's Br. at 5. On Chief Judge Buchanan's instructions, Ms. Blue relayed the message to Mr. Dellenbach's counsel. The required $1200 subsequently was paid to the Lake County court reporters, Ms. Novak and Ms. Banach. Ms. Novak, in turn, informed Judge Letsinger of the payment. Judge Letsinger then allegedly informed Chief Judge Buchanan that the transcript fee had been paid and that Mr. Dellenbach's appeal could proceed. ³ Mr. Dellenbach contends that this transcript was unnecessary because Randall already had obtained a transcript and only one such record was necessary for their consolidated appeal.

B. District Court Opinion

In his complaint, Mr. Dellenbach alleged that the defendants had deprived him of his constitutional rights under the fifth, sixth, eighth, and fourteenth amendments by conspiring to delay his criminal appeal in the state court. He further alleged that Judge Letsinger had refused to hear testimony at trial regarding "threats to the lives of Herbert Dellenbach and his son, Randall Dellenbach." ⁴ R. 2 (Allegation 1). Because of these actions, Mr. Dellenbach submitted that he and his son were unable to get a full and fair hearing.

The district court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss on the ground that Mr. Dellenbach's claims were barred by the doctrine of judicial immunity. In analyzing the claims against Judge Letsinger and Chief Judge Buchanan, the court relied upon our decision in Eades v. Sterlinske, 810 F.2d 723, 725-26 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 847, 108 S.Ct. 143, 98 L.Ed.2d 99 (1987), and invoked the "well-established doctrine of immunity" that recognizes that "judges are not subject to personal liability for judicial acts performed within their jurisdiction." Dellenbach v. Letsinger, No. H 87-339, order at 2 (N.D.Ind. Nov. 2, 1987) [hereinafter Order] (citing Wilkes v. Dinsman, 48 U.S. (7 How.) 89, 12 L.Ed. 618 (1849)). "Immunity totally insulates judges from liability for actions taken within their judicial capacity, even if the judge acts maliciously or corruptly." Order at 2-3 (citing Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 98 S.Ct. 1099, 55 L.Ed.2d 331 (1978)). The district court noted that, "[i]n adjudicating controversies between parties, judges must be free to render decisions without fear of personal liability for those decisions." Id. at 3 (citing Stump, 435 U.S. at 364, 98 S.Ct. at 1108). In its discussion of the commissioner and the two court reporters' entitlement to immunity, the district court emphasized that "the decision of whether and when to hear an appeal is a discretionary and judicial act for purposes of immunity; in addition, the defendant clerks were acting, according to plaintiff's complaint, at the direction of the two judges." Order at 4 (citation omitted). The district court concluded that the duties of these court personnel " 'had an integral relationship with the judicial process and are cloaked by the traditional doctrine of judicial immunity.' " Id. (quoting Eades, 810 F.2d at 726). ⁵

II. Analysis

A. The Basic Principles

Mr. Dellenbach alleges that the state trial court violated his civil rights when it burdened his access to the courts and intentionally delayed his appeal by conspiring to make him pay for an unnecessary transcript. Although Mr. Dellenbach has a right to sue under section 1983 for damages that arise from violations of his civil rights, these defendants have an equal right to be free from suit for civil damages if their actions qualify for absolute judicial or quasi-judicial immunity. Absolute immunity, like qualified immunity, has the important attribute of "its possessor's entitlement not to have to answer for his conduct in a civil damages action." Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 525, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2814, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). This "entitlement is an immunity from suit rather than a mere defense to liability." Id. at 526, 105 S.Ct. at 2815 (emphasis in original); see also Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 554, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 1218, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967) (Judicial immunity is applicable in suits under section 1983 because the "legislative record [gave] no clear indication that Congress meant to abolish wholesale all common-law immunities."); Lowe v. Letsinger, 772 F.2d 308, 311 (7th Cir.1985).

As Chief Judge Bauer noted in Eades, 810 F.2d at 725, the Supreme Court's recognition of the judicial immunity doctrine dates back to its decision in Bradley v. Fisher, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) 335, 20 L.Ed. 646 (1872). In Bradley, the Court held that judges are not liable in civil actions for their judicial acts unless they have acted in the "clear absence of all jurisdiction." 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) at 351; see also Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 356-57, 98 S.Ct. 1099, 1104-05, 55 L.Ed.2d 331 (1978) ("[T]he 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 has acted in the 'clear absence of all jurisdiction.' "); Pierson, 386 U.S. at 553-54, 87 S.Ct. at 1217 ("Few doctrines were more solidly established at common law than the immunity of judges from liability for damages for acts committed within their judicial jurisdiction...."). In Eades, our circuit also reiterated five considerations the Supreme Court previously had identified in support of judicial immunity:

First, a judge must be free to make decisions without fear of personal consequences. Second, because litigation necessarily involves controversy and competing interests, losing parties may be quick to ascribe malevolent motives to a judge. Third, a qualified "good faith" immunity would be virtually worthless because of the ease of alleging bad faith. Fourth, the prospect of defending civil damage actions would force judges to employ otherwise unnecessary meticulous recordkeeping and would render judges less inclined to rule forthrightly. Finally, other safeguards, such as appeal and impeachment reduce the need for private rights of action for damages against judges.

810 F.2d at 725 (citing Bradley, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) at...