Graves v. City of Bolivar
| Decision Date | 27 September 1957 |
| Docket Number | No. 1504.,1504. |
| Citation | 154 F. Supp. 625 |
| Parties | Jerrell L. GRAVES, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF BOLIVAR, MISSOURI, a municipal corporation, Bill Marshall and Elmer Hicks, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Missouri |
Max W. Lilley and Leland C. Bussell, Springfield, Mo., for plaintiff.
Elvin S. Douglas of Douglas & Douglas, Bolivar, Mo., Jean Paul Bradshaw and Walter S. Pettit, Jr., of Neale, Newman, Bradshaw, Freeman & Neale, Springfield, Mo., for defendants City of Bolivar, Mo., and Bill Marshall.
Charles V. Barker, Bolivar, Mo., Frank C. Mann of Mann, Walter, Powell & Burkart, Springfield, Mo., for defendant Elmer Hicks.
On July 11, 1957, plaintiff commenced this action for damages, alleging violation by defendants of the Civil Rights Act, Title 42, U.S.C.A. § 1983, as a result of plaintiff's arrest by the deputy city marshal of Bolivar, and his confinement in the Polk County jail. The substance of the allegations of the complaint is that the defendants, severally and acting in concert with each other, deprived plaintiff of his liberty by procuring and causing his arrest and incarceration unlawfully, maliciously and without due process of law, but under color of state law.
The defendant City of Bolivar separately moves to dismiss as to it for the reason that plaintiff's complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
The plaintiff's complaint predicated upon an alleged deprivation of civil rights sounds in tort. Under Missouri law, a municipal corporation, such as the City of Bolivar, is immune from tort liability, in the absence of a statute to the contrary, for acts of its public officers in the exercise of governmental or sovereign functions. Ulrich v. City of St. Louis, 112 Mo. 138, 20 S.W. 466; Healy v. Kansas City, 277 Mo. 619, 211 S.W. 59; Brown v. City of Craig, 350 Mo. 836, 168 S.W.2d 1080; Hinds v. City of Hannibal, Mo., 212 S.W.2d 401; Barree v. City of Cape Girardeau, 132 Mo.App. 182, 112 S. W. 724; Watrous v. City of St. Louis, Mo.App., 281 S.W.2d 594; and Hiltner v. Kansas City, Mo., 293 S.W.2d 422.
This immunity from tort liability must be applied inasmuch as there is no allegation that the City of Bolivar was not acting in its sovereign or governmental capacity. On the contrary, plaintiff alleges that defendant Marshall, deputy city marshal of Bolivar, in concert with the other defendants, caused the illegal arrest and incarceration of plaintiff. Certainly the maintenance and operation of a police force is a governmental function of the City of Bolivar, and the defendant Marshall's arrest of plaintiff was performed pursuant to his lawful governmental responsibilities. That fact that defendant Marshall may have arrested plaintiff in an unlawful manner does not subject the defendant municipality in whose employ defendant Marshall...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Taylor v. Nichols
...(6th Cir. 1949); Curry v. Ragan, 257 F.2d 449 (5th Cir. 1958); Bartlett v. Duty, 174 F.Supp. 94 (N.D.Ohio 1959); Graves v. City of Bolivar, 154 F.Supp. 625 (W.D.Mo.1957); Hahn v. Sargent, 388 F.Supp. 445 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the defendants' motions to dismiss, which we have consider......
-
Egan v. City of Aurora, 58 C 2113.
...700; Agnew v. City of Compton, 9 Cir., 239 F.2d 226; Cobb v. City of Malden, supra; Charlton v. City of Hialeah, supra; Graves v. City of Bolivar, D.C., 154 F. Supp. 625. The broad language of the Civil Rights Acts has been further restricted by a practical apprehension which has perhaps be......
-
Burke v. City of St. Louis
...it was acting in a governmental capacity should be available under a general denial. We find this statement in Graves v. City of Bolivar, D.C. W.D.Mo., 154 F.Supp. 625, 626: 'This immunity from tort liability must be applied inasmuch as there is no allegation that the City of Bolivar was no......
-
Beker Phosphate Corp. v. Muirhead
...754 (1976); Bradford v. Lefkowitz, 240 F.Supp. 969 (S.D.N.Y.1965); Bartlett v. Duty, 174 F.Supp. 94 (N.D.Ohio 1959); Graves v. City of Bolivar, 154 F.Supp. 625 (W.D.Mo.1957).10 Mr. Justice Brandeis once observed: "Stare decisis is usually the wise policy, because in most matters it is more ......