Camacho v. Autoridad de Telefonos de Puerto Rico, 88-1583
| Decision Date | 10 January 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-1583,88-1583 |
| Parties | Isaac CAMACHO, et al., Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. AUTORIDAD de TELEFONOS de PUERTO RICO, et al., Defendants, Appellees. . Heard |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit |
Charles S. Hey-Maestre with whom Roberto Roldan-Burgos, Instituto Puertorriqueno de Derechos Civiles, Sara E. Rios Frank E. Deale, Center for Constitutional Rights, Peter Berkowitz and Jose Antonio Lugo were on brief for plaintiffs, appellants.
Jose Juan Nazario de la Rosa, Juan Santiago Nieves, and Nazario, Santiago, De Leon on brief for Concilio General de Trabajadores and Comite en Defensa Derechos Ciudadanos, Inc., amici curiae.
Lino J. Saldana with whom Saldana, Rey, Moran & Alvarado, Jay A. Garcia-Gregory, Francisco de Jesus Schuck, Maria del Carmen Taboas, Fiddler Gonzalez & Rodriguez, Carmen Irizarry de Dominguez, Daniel Dominguez and Dominguez & Totti were on brief for appellees Autoridad de Telefonos de Puerto Rico, Enrique Jimenez, Miguel D. Lausell and Pedro Galarza.
John C. Harrison, Civil Div., Dept. of Justice, with whom John R. Bolton, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daniel F. Lopez-Romo, U.S. Atty., and John F. Cordes, Jr., were on brief for intervenor-appellee the U.S.
Before COFFIN, BOWNES and SELYA, Circuit Judges.
We are asked to revisit a crossroads where the laws of the United States and Puerto Rico intersect. Having made the journey and inspected the terrain anew, we remain confident that our earlier survey of the intersection is accurate. Because that reaffirmation is dispositive of the most heralded point on this appeal, and because none of appellants' other initiatives have merit, we affirm the district court's dismissal of the action.
On December 19, 1986, plaintiffs (appellants before us) filed their complaint in Puerto Rico Superior Court. They claimed, variously, to have made or received electronically-intercepted telephone calls in 1984-85. 1 Alleging that this wiretapping abridged their rights under local law, plaintiffs sought money damages and equitable relief. They named as defendants two quasi-public corporations, the Puerto Rico Telephone Authority (ATPR) and the Puerto Rico Telephone Company (PRTC), and certain officers and/or former officers of the companies. 2 The wiretapping, it was said, was accomplished by federal agents, with defendants' help.
Appellees removed the case to federal district court. Plaintiffs neither contested removal nor sought remand. The United States then moved to intervene as a defendant on the ground that the suit cast a cloud over the integrity of federal law enforcement efforts in the Commonwealth; the district court granted the motion. Eventually, the court entertained, and acted favorably upon, motions for dismissal, ruling that plaintiffs' complaint did not state any actionable claim. This appeal followed.
We offer a thumbnail sketch of certain statutory and constitutional enactments referred to by the parties, and then limn the issues presented on appeal.
By enacting the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, Pub.L. 90-351, Tit. III, 82 Stat. 212, 18 U.S.C. Secs. 2510-2520 (Title III), Congress acted affirmatively to regulate interception of telephonic communications. Title III provides that, under certain carefully controlled circumstances, law enforcement officers may seek federal court authorization for wiretaps, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2516, subject to a panoply of prophylactic conditions, see, e.g., 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2518. If granted, judicial authorization for a wiretap may--and frequently does--direct telephone companies and other persons (e.g., landlords) to cooperate in the interception. See 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2518(4). The carrot which balances this stick is the statutory assurance that such persons, broadly speaking, will be exempted from the civil and criminal liability that might otherwise be a consequence of wiretapping. When the United States sought and received appellees' assistance, the exculpatory statute provided that:
Notwithstanding any other law, communication common carriers, their officers, employees, and agents, landlords, custodians, or other persons, are authorized to provide information, facilities, or technical assistance to persons authorized by law to intercept wire or oral communications [when furnished with a court order commanding such assistance]. * * * No cause of action shall lie in any court against any communication common carrier, its officers, employees, or agents, landlord, custodian, or other specified person for providing information, facilities, or assistance in accordance with the terms of an order or certification under this subparagraph.
18 U.S.C. Sec. 2511(2)(a)(ii) (1982).
This court, and others, have written extensively about the roots of the relation between Puerto Rico and the United States, and about the interplay between the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act, 48 U.S.C. Sec. 731b et seq., and the Puerto Rico Constitution. We see no need for further fossorial exercises aimed at repastinating that soil, especially since we find ourselves in broad agreement with the pre-1953 historical synopsis contained in Cordova & Simonpietri Ins. Agency Inc. v. Chase Manhattan Bank N.A., 649 F.2d 36, 39-40 & nn. 7-19, 24 (1st Cir.1981), and with the following description of the shift in relations attendant upon the enactment of the federal enabling legislation:
In sum, Puerto Rico's status changed from that of a mere territory to the unique status of Commonwealth. And the federal government's relations with Puerto Rico changed from being bounded merely by the territorial clause, and the rights of the people of Puerto Rico as United States citizens, to being bounded by the United States and Puerto Rico Constitutions, Public Law 600, the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act and the rights of the people of Puerto Rico as United States citizens. As the Supreme Court has written, "the purpose of Congress in the 1950 and 1952 legislation was to accord to Puerto Rico the degree of autonomy and independence normally associated with a State of the Union...." Examining Board of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors v. Flores de Otero, 426 U.S. 572, 594 [96 S.Ct. 2264, 2277, 49 L.Ed.2d 65] (1976).
Id. at 41. See also Calero-Toledo v. Pearson Yacht Leasing Co., 416 U.S. 663, 671-672, 94 S.Ct. 2080, 2085-2086, 40 L.Ed.2d 452 (1974).
What is most relevant for our purposes is that the Federal Relations Act has a provision setting forth the effect of federal statutes in Puerto Rico. It states: "The statutory laws of the United States not locally inapplicable, except as hereinbefore or hereinafter otherwise provided, shall have the same force and effect in Puerto Rico as in the United States...." 48 U.S.C. Sec. 734 (emphasis supplied). 3 The rub, as we shall see, lies in the underscored phrase.
The Puerto Rico Constitution flatly prohibits wiretapping. P.R. Const. Art II, Sec. 10. That prohibition is embedded, as well, in the fabric of the Commonwealth's laws and regulations. See, e.g., P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 33, Sec. 4187. By the same token, appellees operate under a legislative mandate that their customers "shall be able to enjoy the service offered [them] without fear of interception...." P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 27, Sec. 403(c)(1). In general, with allowances for a rhetorical flourish or two, we can agree with appellants that the "prohibition of wiretapping is an integral and indispensable part of the definition of Puerto Ricans as a people and a cornerstone of [Puerto Rico's] cultural values." Appellants' Brief at 6 ().
The district court dismissed plaintiffs' complaint because, in its view, the imperatives of Title III overrode the strictures of Puerto Rico law. Camacho v. ATPR, No. 87-0108 (PG), slip op. at 2-6 (D.P.R. Apr. 12, 1988). And, it held the defendants harmless from the suit by reason of the immunity conferred by 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2511(2)(a)(ii). Id. at 6-10.
Appellants assign error in four respects. They urge (1) that their action was improperly removed from the superior court to the federal district court; (2) that Title III is "locally inapplicable" in Puerto Rico within the meaning of 48 U.S.C. Sec. 734, at least in the circumstances at bar; (3) that, whether or not Title III has pertinence, appellees are not eligible for the statutory shield; and (4) that the district judge should have recused himself. We consider these issues seriatim.
Appellants' action was removed from the Puerto Rico Superior Court on divers grounds. One basis was 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1442(a)(1), which provides in pertinent part as follows:
(a) A civil action or criminal prosecution commenced in a State court against any of the following persons may be removed by them to the district court of the United States for the district and division embracing the place wherein it is pending:
(1) Any officer of the United States or any agency thereof, or person acting under him, for any act under color of such office or on account of any right, title or authority claimed under any Act of Congress for the apprehension or punishment of criminals....
28 U.S.C. Sec. 1442(a)(1) (emphasis supplied). 4
Given the language of this statute, it seems surpassingly difficult to fault the removal. After all, the gravamen of the action was that defendants "wiretapped and/or offered technical assistance to federal agents to wiretap, and/or facilitated ... the wiretapping by federal agents of plaintiffs' calls." Plaintiffs' Complaint at p 10. The removal petition averred that "at all times referred to in said complaint, co-defendants ... were acting under express orders, control and directions of federal officers who were acting under color of their office as federal agents and in the performance of...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Krangel v. Crown, Civ. No. 91-0210-R(P).
...the issue of whether a corporation qualifies as a "person" under the provision. Defendants also cite Camacho v. Autoridad de Telefonos de Puerto Rico, 868 F.2d 482 (1st Cir.1989), and Gulati v. Zuckerman, 723 F.Supp. 353 (E.D.Pa.1989). Both cases permitted removal by private corporations. A......
-
In re National Sec. Agency Telecomm. Records
...telephones in violation of Puerto Rican law was properly removed to federal district court under the federal officer removal statute. 868 F.2d at 489. The reach of § 1442(a)(1) extended to private persons because the carriers acted at the behest of federal officers conducting the wiretap pu......
-
Alsup v. 3-Day Blinds, Inc.
...[in conduct giving rise to state-court liability] was `strictly and solely at federal behest.'" Ryan, 781 F.Supp. at 947 (quoting Camacho, 868 F.2d at 486). See also Akin v. Big Three Indus., Inc., 851 F.Supp. 819, 823-24 (E.D.Tex.1994) (finding federal officer jurisdiction proper "when a g......
-
Ryan v. Dow Chemical Co.
...the case of a criminal prosecution, that a state might attempt to discourage the implementation of Title III. Cf. Camacho v. Autoridad de Telefonos, 868 F.2d 482 (1st Cir.1989); Manufacturers Int'l, Ltda. v. Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co., 1992 WL 42921 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 27, 2 When Is a Perso......
-
Death isn't welcome here: evaluating the federal death penalty in the context of a state constitutional objection to capital punishment.
...interception of telephonic communication by law enforcement officials). (103) See, e.g., Camacho v. Autoridad de Telefonos de Puerto Rico, 868 F.2d 482, 487-88 (1st Cir. 1989); United States v. Quinones, 758 F.2d 40, 41-43 (1st Cir. 1985); United States v. Gerena, 649 F. Supp. 1183, 1187 (D......