Green v. Cauthen
| Decision Date | 20 May 1974 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 72-1410. |
| Citation | 379 F. Supp. 361 |
| Parties | Paul GREEN, Individually and for all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. William CAUTHEN, Individually and in his official capacity as Chief of Police of the Columbia, South Carolina, Police Department, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of South Carolina |
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Thomas D. Broadwater, H. Christopher Coates, Columbia, S. C., for plaintiff.
John K. Grisso, U. S. Atty., Wistar Stuckey, Asst. U. S. Atty., Columbia, S. C., for defendant William J. Hannon.
Daniel R. McLeod, State Atty. Gen., Joseph C. Coleman, Deputy Atty. Gen., Columbia, S. C., for defendants Carl Reasonover and Lee Thomas.
Roy D. Bates, Thomas E. Lydon, Jr., Columbia, S. C., for defendants William Cauthen, H. R. Chambers, R. E. Connell, C. S. Branham, Jr., J. L. Keefe, Graydon V. Olive, D. E. Foster, E. E. Taylor, O. G. Donny, and Columbia City Police Department.
ON DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS TO DISMISS UNDER RULES 12(b) (6) and 12(b) (7); DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT UNDER RULE 56(b); AND PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR PRODUCTION OF EVIDENCE UNDER RULE 45(b).
Plaintiff, Paul Green, filed suit against the Chief and several officers of the Columbia, South Carolina, Police Department, the senior federal field representative for the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, the Executive Director of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Assistance Program, the City Manager of the City of Columbia, the members of the Columbia, South Carolina, Civil Service Commission, and the Columbia City Police Department, alleging that actions of the Columbia Police in connection with the arrest of plaintiff on July 24, 1972, caused monetary damage to plaintiff and entitled him, and the class which he seeks to represent, to injunctive relief requiring the Columbia, South Carolina, Civil Service Commission to conduct screening and psychological testing of present and prospective police officers for racially biased attitudes and predispositions toward brutality and to discharge or refuse to hire any person who is found to be incapable of enforcing the laws fairly and indiscriminately in regard to plaintiff and the class which he seeks to represent, to tory injunction ordering the Chief of Police of the City of Columbia to inform other law enforcement agencies when an individual is discharged or refused employment by the police department because of said screening procedure or illegal activities toward plaintiff or his class. Plaintiff further seeks to have federal funds under the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration withheld until the court can be shown that a good faith attempt is being made to insure that officers of the police department do not participate in racially discriminatory acts. Plaintiff seeks to invoke jurisdiction of this court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1343, this action being authorized by 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 1985, 1988, and 2000d. Plaintiff seeks monetary damages and other relief to redress the alleged deprivation, under color of the state law, custom or usage, of rights, privileges and immunities secured by the Constitution, particularly the privileges and immunities clause, Article IV, Section 2, the Fourth Amendment; the Sixth Amendment; the Eighth Amendment; and the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The pendent jurisdiction of this court is also invoked over plaintiff's claim against the defendants pursuant to the laws of South Carolina.
Plaintiff is a black male, over the age of twenty-one years and is a resident and citizen of Richland County, South Carolina.
Defendant, William Cauthen, is a white male, a resident and citizen of Richland County, South Carolina, and at all times material to this action was allegedly acting under color and pretense of state law, custom and usage in his official capacity as chief of police of the Columbia, South Carolina, Police Department.
Defendants Chambers, Connell, Branham, and Keefe are white males, residents and citizens of Richland County, South Carolina, and at all times material to this action were allegedly acting under color and pretense of state law, custom and usage in their capacity as officers of the Columbia, South Carolina, Police Department.
Defendant Hannon, is a white male, a resident and citizen of Fulton County, Georgia, and makes weekly visits to Richland County, South Carolina, as part of his duties as senior field representative over the State of South Carolina for the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. Allegedly, defendant Hannon, at all times material to this action, continues to act in concert with defendants Cauthen, Reasonover, and/or Thomas, in his official capacity, while having the duty to supervise the use of federal monies allotted to various South Carolina law enforcement agencies under the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA). One such agency is the Columbia, South Carolina, Police Department.
Defendant Reasonover is a white male, a resident and citizen of Kershaw County, South Carolina, and, allegedly, at all times material to this action acted in concert with defendants Hannon and Cauthen in his official capacity, as Executive Director of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP), having the duty to supervise the various South Carolina law enforcement agencies who are recipients of federal monies made available through the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. One such agency is the Columbia, South Carolina, Police Department.
Defendant Thomas is a white male, a resident and citizen of Richland County, South Carolina, and is the present Executive Director of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Assistance Program, having assumed the position in November, 1972. It is claimed that Thomas has the duty of supervising the various South Carolina law enforcement agencies who are recipients of federal monies made available through the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration.
Defendant Olive is a white male, a resident and citizen of Richland County, South Carolina, and serves as the city manager for the City of Columbia, South Carolina. In this official capacity defendant Olive in conjunction with defendants Foster, Taylor and Donny allegedly has the authority to suspend and dismiss employees of said police department.
Defendants Foster, Taylor and Donny are white males, residents and citizens of Richland County, South Carolina, and make up the membership of the Columbia, South Carolina, Civil Service Commission. It is claimed defendants have the authority in conjunction with defendant Olive, to suspend or dismiss employees of the Columbia Police Department as well as the authority to prescribe testing to be administered to prospective employees of said department.1
Defendant Columbia City Police Department is a law enforcement agency of the City of Columbia, South Carolina, a municipal corporation.
This is a class action brought by plaintiff on his own behalf and on behalf of others similarly situated, pursuant to Rule 23(a) and (b)(2), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The class represented by plaintiff consists of all residents of the City of Columbia, County of Richland, State of South Carolina who are members of the black race. It is alleged that this class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable; that there are questions of law and of fact common to the class; that the claims of the representative plaintiff will fairly and adequately represent the interests of the class; that defendants have acted or refused to act on grounds generally applicable to plaintiff's class; that this failure has resulted in a pattern of racially motivated, illegal acts by members of the Columbia City Police Department toward plaintiff and his class; that there exists a clear and imminent danger that great and irreparable injury will continue to plaintiff's class if injunctive relief is not granted; that no adequate remedy at law exists which would protect plaintiff and his class from this irreparable harm; and that injunctive relief is therefore appropriate with respect to the class as a whole.
From the pleadings it appears that on July 24, 1972, plaintiff was occupying the front seat of his automobile, legally parked along the 2100 block of Gervais Street in the City of Columbia, County of Richland, State of South Carolina. At approximately 10:15 p. m., defendant police officers Chambers, Connell, Branham, and Keefe approached the automobile, allegedly without any probable cause for arrest, and ordered plaintiff out of his car. Plaintiff claimed the officers proceeded to beat him about the face, head, chest, back, knees, and legs. Said defendants allegedly thereupon arrested plaintiff without probable cause, and had him incarcerated in the Columbia City jail. Thereafter, plaintiff claims in gross disregard for plaintiff's health, the police officers allowed plaintiff to remain in jail without medical attention for alleged injuries inflicted. Plaintiff remained in jail until July 26th when he stood trial in the Municipal Court of Columbia, South Carolina on charges of public drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. At the trial, defendants Chambers, Connell, Branham, and Keefe testified that plaintiff was asleep in his car and was not disturbing anyone when said defendants effected the arrest. Upon such testimony, the Honorable Roy Powell, City Judge, dismissed all three charges against plaintiff on the basis that there existed no legal justification for making the arrest in question. In due time plaintiff instituted this action against the several defendants on various alleged causes of actions, the enumeration or discussion of which are not necessary to the decision here.
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