Charlton v. City of Hialeah, 13260.
| Citation | 188 F.2d 421 |
| Decision Date | 20 April 1951 |
| Docket Number | No. 13260.,13260. |
| Parties | CHARLTON v. CITY OF HIALEAH et al. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit) |
Carl A. Hiaasen, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for appellant.
John H. Wahl, Jr., Robert C. Lane, Miami, Fla., for appellee.
Before HOLMES, BORAH and STRUM, Circuit Judges.
This appeal is from a judgment dismissing a civil-rights action. The facts as stated in the pleadings are as follows:
On the evening of January 5, 1949, while the plaintiff Charlton, a citizen of Florida, was proceeding in a northeasterly direction on the Glenn H. Curtiss Parkway, in the municipality of Miami Springs, his car was struck by a car driven by defendant Faircloth, also a citizen of Florida. After the accident, which resulted in very little damage to either car, Faircloth persuaded Charlton to accompany him to the City of Hialeah, where the matter was reported to the police officers. On Faircloth's directions, the police officers arrested Charlton without a warrant, and thus prevented him from being able to proceed to his home with his wife and child. Charlton was not informed of the accusations against him, and was denied the right to inspect the municipal records, which were supposed to reflect any charges or accusations brought against him. He was informed by the police officers that Faircloth was a person whose word was honored and never doubted by them. He was compelled to disclose and disgorge the contents of his pockets and wallet. After finding out that the plaintiff had only $40 in cash on his person, the police officers fixed his bail bond at $75, and because of his inability to post bond, he was incarcerated. On numerous instances the plaintiff tried to get the police officers to inspect the cars to see what damage had been done. When he tried to relate the true facts of the accident, the officers refused to hear him. He was forced to remain in jail until one of his co-employees of the National Airlines came and supplied the additional money necessary to make his bail. When bail was made, the plaintiff was released and ordered to reappear for trial on January 7, 1949. At the trial, the plaintiff succeeded in procuring a dismissal of whatever charges had been made against him.
The plaintiff brought this suit asking for $100,000 in damages for the deprivation of his constitutional rights by the defendants acting under color of an ordinance enacted by the City of Hialeah, for a declaratory judgment declaring his rights and the rights of other citizens similarly situated, and for an injunction to prevent further conspiracies on the part of the defendants to deprive the plaintiff, and others similarly situated, of their civil rights secured by the Constitution of the United States. In his complaint, the plaintiff alleged that at the time of this accident there was in existence an unholy alliance and conspiracy between the defendant Faircloth and the police officers of Hialeah to extract money from innocent motorists by subjecting them to unlawful arrests, and that the governing authorities of Hialeah knew of said conspiracy, and had the power to prevent or aid in preventing it, but refused to do so. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that it did not have a sufficient showing of federal jurisdiction, and that, even if it did, it should be dismissed for failure to state a cause of action. On May 2, 1950, the lower court entered a final judgment dismissing the action without specifically stating whether the dismissal was based on a lack of jurisdiction or failure to state a cause of action.
We find no error in the lower court's final judgment dismissing the complaint. The allegations...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Monroe v. Pape
...Tort Liability in Operation, 54 Harv.L.Rev. 437, 459. 50. This has been the view of the lower federal courts. Charlton v. City of Hialeah, 5 Cir., 188 F.2d 421, 423; Hewitt v. City of Jacksonville, 5 Cir., 188 F.2d 423, 424; Cobb v. City of Malden, 1 Cir., 202 F.2d 701, 703; Agnew v. City o......
-
Harkless v. Sweeny Independent Sch. Dist. of Sweeny, Tex., Civ. A. No. 66-G-34.
...v. State Tax Comm'n, 327 U.S. 573, 579, 66 S.Ct. 745, 90 L.Ed. 862 (1946), cited at 377 U.S. 233, 84 S.Ct. 1234. 34 Charlton v. City of Hialeah, 188 F.2d 421 (5th Cir. 1951); Hewitt v. City of Jacksonville, 188 F.2d 423 (5th Cir. 1951); Blume v. City of DeLand, 358 F.2d 698 (5th Cir. 1966) ......
-
Smith v. Jennings, Civ. A. No. 2799.
...96 F. 12, 22; Moffett v. Commerce Trust Co., D.C., 75 F.Supp. 303, 305-306, and D.C., 87 F.Supp. 438, 441." In Charlton v. City of Hialeah, 5 Cir., 188 F.2d 421, at page 422, the court "The Civil Rights statute, 8 U. S.C.A. § 43, has been held to extend only to cases where a `person' acting......
-
United States v. City of Jackson, Mississippi
...be had against the City itself. Appellees cite Monroe v. Pape, 1961, 365 U.S. 167, 81 S.Ct. 473, 5 L.Ed.2d 492, and Charlton v. City of Hialeah, 5 Cir., 1951, 188 F.2d 421, in support of their suggestion. These cases stand merely for the proposition that Congress, in enacting 42 U.S.C. § 19......