Arment v. Commonwealth Nat. Bank
Decision Date | 14 January 1981 |
Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 80-3178. |
Citation | 505 F. Supp. 911 |
Parties | Richard L. ARMENT v. COMMONWEALTH NATIONAL BANK and Robert A. Longo. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
William A. Atlee, Jr., Lancaster, Pa., for plaintiff.
Michael D. Carr, West Chester, Pa., for Commonwealth Nat. Bank.
Glenn C. Equi, Philadelphia, Pa., for Longo.
The Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, provides that:
every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.
To recover under this statute, plaintiff must show that defendant was a "person", Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), who acted "under color of law", Carey v. Piphus, 435 U.S. 247, 98 S.Ct. 1042, 55 L.Ed. 252 (1978), Robertson v. Wegmann, 436 U.S. 584, 98 S.Ct. 1991, 56 L.Ed.2d 554 (1978), to deprive plaintiff of rights, privileges or immunities guaranteed by the Constitution and laws. Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 96 S.Ct. 984, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976), Hagans v. Lavine, 415 U.S. 528, 94 S.Ct. 1372, 39 L.Ed.2d 577 (1974). See generally Flagg Brothers, Inc. v. Brooks, 436 U.S. 149, 98 S.Ct. 1729, 56 L.Ed.2d 185 (1978), Russell v. Bodner, 489 F.2d 280 (3d Cir. 1973), Basista v. Weir, 340 F.2d 74 (3d Cir. 1965). "Under color of law" may be equated with the requirement of the Fourteenth Amendment. Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970), United States v. Price, 383 U.S. 787, 86 S.Ct. 1152, 16 L.Ed.2d 267 (1966). Concert of action between a private person and one acting under color of law exposes the private person to liability even if the state official presents a valid defense or enjoys complete immunity. Dennis v. Sparks, ___ U.S. ___, 101 S.Ct. 183, 66 L.Ed.2d 185, 4001 (1980), Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., supra. See also Phillips v. Trello, 502 F.2d 1000 (3d Cir. 1974) and Jennings v. Shuman, 567 F.2d 1213 (3d Cir. 1977).
True, the complaint did not use the word "conspiracy", but plaintiff clearly accused defendants of formulating and executing a plan or scheme designed to effect his illegal incarceration. This joint venture did not lose the attributes of a conspiracy simply because plaintiff chose alternative ways to express this conduct. Young v. Collins, 574 F.2d 1147 (4th Cir. 1978). In the amended complaint plaintiff repeatedly referred to the agreement among defendants and the district justice and policeman.7 Agreement to commit an unlawful act lies at the heart of conspiracy. Ammlung v. City of Chester, 494 F.2d 811 (3d Cir. 1974), United Aircraft Corp. v. Boreen, 413 F.2d 694 (3d Cir. 1969). Courts, construing complaints liberally, McKnight v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, 583 F.2d 1229 (3d Cir. 1978), Franklin Life Insurance Co. v. Bieniek, 312 F.2d 365 (3d Cir. 1962), and in their entirety, Banco Continental v. Curtiss National Bank of Miami Springs, 406 F.2d 510 (5th Cir. 1969), indulge all reasonable inferences which may be drawn therefrom. Braden v. University of Pittsburgh, 552 F.2d 948 (3d Cir. 1977). Assuming for present purposes the truth of plaintiff's allegation that defendants acted in tandem with the district justice and policeman to deprive plaintiff of his liberty, Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975), Walker Process Equipment, Inc. v. Food Machinery & Chemical Corp., 382 U.S. 172, 86 S.Ct. 347, 15 L.Ed.2d 247 (1965), defendants cannot claim immunity from a § 1983 action.
Dennis v. Sparks, ___ U.S. at ___, 101 S.Ct. at 186 (emphasis added). According plaintiff's complaint a broad construction, Mountain Fuel Supply Co. v. Johnson, 586 F.2d 1375 (10th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 441 U.S. 952, 99 S.Ct. 2182, 60 L.Ed.2d 1058 (1979), Eberts v. Westinghouse Electric Corp., 581 F.2d 357 (3d Cir. 1978), and treating plaintiff's allegations as true, Jenkins v. McKeithin, 395 U.S. 411, 89 S.Ct. 1843, 23 L.Ed.2d 404 (1969) defendants must be considered as acting under color of law within the meaning of § 1983.8
1 The charge against plaintiff was theft by failure to make required disposition of funds, a crime in Pennsylvania:
A person who obtains property upon agreement, or subject to a known legal obligation, to make specified payments or other disposition, whether from such property of its proceeds or from his own property to be reserved in equivalent amount, is guilty of theft if he intentionally deals with the property obtained as his own and fails to make the required payment or disposition. The foregoing applies notwithstanding that it may be impossible to identify particular property as belonging to the victim at the time of the failure of the actor to make the required payment or disposition.
2 Amended Complaint, ¶ XXVIII.
3 The performance of a public function, significant involvement of the state in private activity, or state enforcement of agreements affecting private parties may confer "color of law" upon private parties. See Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co., 419 U.S. 345, 95 S.Ct. 449, 42 L.Ed.2d 477 (1974), Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority, 365 U.S. 715, 81 S.Ct. 856, 6 L.Ed.2d 45 (1961), Chalfant v. Wilmington Institute, 574 F.2d 739 (3d Cir. 1978).
4 Compare Shelley v. Kraemer, supra, in which the court held that ...
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