Fields v. Soloff

• Decision Date: 11 December 1990
• Docket Number: No. 507,D,507
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit
• Parties: Ronald Paul FIELDS, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Brenda SOLOFF, Robert M. Morgenthau, Sterling Johnson, Jr., Lewis Halpern, Robert Siberling, J.D., 1 & 2 Wardens, Hon. Robert Abrams, and The New York State Office of Court Administration, Defendants-Appellees. ocket 90-7240.

Page 1114

920 F.2d 1114

Ronald Paul FIELDS, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Brenda SOLOFF, Robert M. Morgenthau, Sterling Johnson, Jr. Lewis Halpern, Robert Siberling, J.D., 1 & 2 Wardens, Hon Robert Abrams, and The New York State Office of Court Administration, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 507, Docket 90-7240.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued Nov. 9, 1990.

Decided Dec. 11, 1990.

Ronald Paul Fields, New York City, pro se.

Thomas P. Litsky, Asst. Dist. Atty., New York County, New York City (Robert M. Morgenthau, Dist. Atty., New York County, Marc Frazier Scholl, Asst. Dist. Atty., New York City, of counsel), for defendants-appellees Morgenthau, Johnson, Halpern and Siberling.

Frederic L. Lieberman, Asst. Atty. Gen. of State of N.Y., New York City (Robert Abrams, Atty. Gen. of State of N.Y., New York City, of counsel), for defendant-appellee Soloff.

Before KAUFMAN, KEARSE and McLAUGHLIN, Circuit Judges.

IRVING R. KAUFMAN, Circuit Judge:

The purpose and powers of grand juries have been subject to debate for many years. Over three hundred years ago, John Somers, later Lord Chancellor of England, explained the role of the grand jury:

[T]he truth of such inquisitions should be put in the hands of Persons of understanding, and integrity, indifferent and impartial, that might suffer no man to be falsely accused, or defamed, nor the lives of any to be put in jeopardy, by the malicious conspiracies of great or small ... For these necessary, honest ends was the institution of Grand Juries. Somers, The Security of English-Mens Lives, or The Trust, Power and Duty of Grand Jurys of England 13 (1681).

Grand juries have not always acted as safeguards against unjust prosecutions. Originally, their sole purpose was to initiate prosecutions by investigating crimes in their communities and by accusing purported wrongdoers. The modern American counterpart retains aspects of both functions.

Appellant pro se Ronald Fields seeks affirmation of the inviolability of the grand jury's traditional investigatory powers. He alleges that his constitutional rights were violated when the supervising state judge and prosecutors imposed restrictions on actions he undertook while serving on a New York State grand jury. Since, however, there is no federal constitutional right to indictment by a state grand jury, and because the doctrine of immunity bars his federal civil rights action against state officials for their court-related activities, the district court properly dismissed Fields' claims.

BACKGROUND

Appellant Fields was selected to serve on a New York County Special Narcotics Grand Jury between September 14 and October 9, 1987. He claims that in 1983, while serving on a different grand jury, he became aware of allegedly indictable felony offenses committed by New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. The 1983 grand jury had investigated the circumstances surrounding the death of Michael Stewart, a young black man who died while in the custody of transit police. According to newspaper accounts submitted by appellant in connection with the present action, Fields, while serving on the 1983 grand jury, became suspicious that the District Attorney's office had intentionally presented a weak case. He then independently investigated the matter and shared his assessments with the other grand jurors involved in the Stewart inquiry. The presiding state court judge eventually dismissed the charges because of Fields' interference. The transit officers were later indicted, tried and acquitted.

While serving on the 1987 grand jury, Fields attempted to initiate criminal proceedings against District Attorney Morgenthau. While he did not cite specific criminal violations, appellant alleged generally that Morgenthau promoted an illegal policy of preventing investigation of police brutality claims. Fields asked Assistant District Attorney ("ADA") Lewis Halpern, the "legal advisor" to the grand jury, for permission to present materials about his allegations. This request was denied. He then asked the supervising judge, Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Brenda Soloff, to instruct the grand jury that it had the authority to originate complaints independently of the prosecutor. Justice Soloff refused and issued an oral restraining order prohibiting Fields from communicating with his fellow jurors about matters other than those brought to their attention by the prosecutor.

Fields appeared before the Appellate Division seeking an expedited appeal, presumably from Justice Soloff's oral ruling. He asserts that when he argued this motion, Justice Theodore Kupferman informed him that oral orders were not binding authority. Relying on Justice Kupferman's comment, Fields distributed information packets containing articles about the general and historical aspects of grand jury service to the other grand jurors. Justice Soloff then directed ADAs Lewis Halpern and Robert Siberling, along with two unnamed court wardens, to confiscate the packets, which they proceeded to do, and to enjoin the jurors from discussing the content of the documents.

In response, Fields and ten other grand jurors filed a pro se Article 78 petition for a writ of mandamus to require Justice Soloff to return their property and allow them to discuss related matters freely. The Appellate Division dismissed their petition, as did the New York State Court of Appeals.

Fields then sought relief in federal court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, which subjects government officials to personal liability for damages when, acting under color of state law, they deprive an individual of "any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution." He claimed that Justice Soloff and the state prosecutors violated his federal constitutional rights under the First, Fourth, Tenth and Fourteenth Amendments and sought compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive and declaratory relief.

All of the served defendants moved to dismiss the action. Magistrate Nina Gershon

filed a report and recommendation, which was adopted by Judge David Edelstein. The district court dismissed appellant's claims with prejudice.

DISCUSSION

Fields' allegations relate to restrictions imposed upon him during his service as a New York State grand juror. Before addressing the merits of his appeal, we pause to consider the historical foundation of grand jury powers as they relate to his claims.

Beginning in the Twelfth Century, English grand juries functioned exclusively as the King's investigatory and accusatory arm. They were expected to reach out into the community, retrieve information of wrongdoing and report to the court. Indictments were based solely on the grand jurors' rendition of local gossip, under oath, before a judge. See R. Walker & M. Walker, The English Legal System 14-15 (1972). It is this historic practice of investigating and generating accusatory reports, called "presentments," ¹ which constitutes what has come to be known as the grand jury's "sword" power.

Slower to develop was the grand jury's role as a buffer against government prosecution--its "shield" function. In the Fourteenth Century, grand juries began considering charges brought by outside sources, hearing the evidence of others and listening to witnesses. See P. Devlin, Trial by Jury 10-12 (1956). Deliberations began to focus on whether, not merely which, persons under government suspicion should be indicted. By the end of the Seventeenth Century, the grand jury had matured into an independent and formidable power. Juries refused to indict people perceived as innocent, despite intense pressure from the King. No longer instruments of the crown, they began aggressively to defend against biased prosecutions.

Grand jury practice expanded to the American colonies, where they devoted most of their time to indictments and presentments. See generally Younger, The People's Panel: The Grand Jury in the United States, 1634-1941 (1963). Just prior to the American Revolution, they became vigilant in insulating from prosecution colonists who had violated unpopular British laws. It is interesting to see this development occurring in an historic and important case. In 1734, the New York "Weekly Journal" published attacks on New York's Royal Governor, William Cosby. Cosby sought prosecution of John Peter Zenger, the paper's printer, for seditious libel but failed to secure an indictment from successive grand juries. Though Zenger was later charged in an information and successfully defended by his lawyer, Andrew Hamilton, protection of his rights began with the grand jury. Kaufman, The Grand Jury--Sword and Shield, The Atlantic 56-57, April 1962.

It was this power--the ability to thwart government persecution of innocent citizens--that the framers sought to preserve in the Constitution. The Fifth Amendment states: "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury." Though courts have interpreted this provision to require grand jury indictments before institution of charges for federal felony offenses, they have not read it to confer plenary indictment power upon the grand jury. See United States v. Cox, 342 F.2d 167, 189 (5th Cir.) (en banc ), cert. denied, 381 U.S. 935, 85 S.Ct. 1767, 14 L.Ed.2d 700 (1965) (Wisdom, J. concurring). Because indictments wield the power to ruin lives and reputations, concert of action between the grand jury and the government attorney is a sound precondition.

The dangers threatened by unfettered grand jury power were addressed in United States v. Cox. In Cox, a Mississippi federal grand jury sought to abrogate the prosecutor's authority by indicting two black men on charges of perjury for statements made during a lawsuit against voting authorities. These individuals had testified at trial that local officials prevented them from...