Holland v. Sebunya

• Decision Date: 17 August 2000
• Citation: 2000 ME 160,759 A.2d 205
• Parties: Rory HOLLAND v. Moses SEBUNYA et al.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

759 A.2d 205

2000 ME 160

Rory HOLLAND v. Moses SEBUNYA et al.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Submitted on Briefs December 17, 1999.

Decided August 17, 2000.

Rory C. Holland, Portland, pro se.

John C. Rohde, Portland, James Michael Stovall, Scarborough, Thomas B. Wheatley, Portland, for defendants.

Panel: WATHEN, C.J., and CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, ALEXANDER, and CALKINS, JJ.

CLIFFORD, J.

[¶ 1] Rory Holland appeals from the entry of a summary judgment in the Superior or Court (Cumberland County, Crowley, J.) in favor of Moses Sebunya and several other named defendants. Holland contends that the court erred when it determined that Sebunya had the authority to request the police to remove Holland from an Executive Committee meeting of the Portland Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (the Portland Branch), and that because Sebunya exceeded his authority, the court improperly entered summary judgment against him. Concluding that Holland has presented insufficient evidence as to each of his claims, we affirm the judgment.

[¶ 2] The facts in this case, viewed most favorably to Holland, against whom the summary judgment was entered, are essentially as follows: On February 13, 1995, the Executive Committee of the Portland Branch held a meeting in a room rented solely for that purpose at the Green Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church in Portland. The Executive Committee is the governing body of the Portland Branch. At the time of the February meeting, Sebunya was beginning his two-year term as President of the Portland Branch. The Executive Committee holds a monthly meeting separate from the regular monthly meetings held for the general membership at Woodford's Congregational Church. The meetings are open to the public,¹ but only the general membership meeting is advertised in the local media. As president, Sebunya presided over both meetings. The Portland Branch has adopted Robert's Rules of Order to govern its meetings.

[¶ 3] Attendance at the February 1995 meeting was sparse. Only eight people were present at the meeting, and only one, Holland, was not a member of the Executive Committee.² Holland contends that he was not at the meeting solely as a member of the public, but that he had been deputized by the Portland Branch as its "court liaison." In this capacity, he contends that he was to report on ways the Portland Branch might influence the court system to further racial equity.

[¶ 4] A member of the Portland Branch, Candy Wright, had alleged she was the victim of police brutality at the hand of the Portland Police Department. Sebunya was an employee of the city, and assigned to the police department.³ Holland and others felt that Sebunya had a conflict of interest between his duties as a police employee and his advocacy duties as Portland Branch president. Sebunya had not advocated on behalf of Ms. Wright after Portland Police Chief Chitwood had requested that he not get involved in that case. According to Holland, Sebunya indicated that he was unwilling to do anything to challenge Chitwood.

[¶ 5] Holland talked with a member of the Executive Committee, Gerald Talbot, about how to proceed, including whether he should attend the meeting. Talbot invited Holland to come to the meeting, even though Talbot himself would not be able to attend. Holland attended the Executive Committee meeting to deal with the Wright matter and what he perceived as Sebunya's conflict of interest. Almost immediately, Sebunya approached Holland and asked him why he was there. Holland refused to respond. Sebunya then told Holland that he would have to leave; Sebunya called the police department for assistance.⁴ Two police officers were dispatched to the church. Before they arrived, however, the Executive Committee discussed what they should do in these circumstances. It was at this point that Holland told the committee about Talbot's invitation. A committee member sought to contact Talbot to discover if he had invited Holland, but was unsuccessful.

[¶ 6] When the two officers arrived, they met with Sebunya, who told them that Holland had refused to leave what Sebunya said was a closed meeting.⁵ The officers asked Holland to leave the meeting, but he did not respond. They then informed Holland that he would be arrested if he refused to leave. Holland got up and began walking with the police toward the door. Before he had left the room, however, he stopped and asked if he was under arrest. The officers placed him under arrest for disobeying their orders to leave the room. Holland was then taken from the room.

[¶ 7] In February of 1997, Hollad brought this action in Superior Court against Sebunya, several other members of the Executive Committee, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Holland's complaint alleged the denial of his rights under the First, Fourth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; violations of 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985, and 1986; false imprisonment; violations of Article I, Sections 1, 5, and 6-A of the Maine Constitution; malicious prosecution; intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress; and prima facie tort. Sebunya moved for a summary judgment. After concluding that Sebunya acted within his authority when he ejected Holland, the court entered a summary judgment in favor of Sebunya. Holland appeals from that judgment.

[¶ 8] We review the entry of summary judgment "for errors of law, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom the judgment was entered." Peterson v. State Tax Assessor, 1999 ME 23, ¶ 6, 724 A.2d 610, 612. The entry of a summary judgment will be upheld "if the evidence demonstrates that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to [a] judgment as a matter of law." Id. A defendant is entitled to a summary judgment if the plaintiff bears the burden of proof on an essential element at trial and the state of the evidence is such that, if the plaintiff presented no more evidence, the defendant would be entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. See June Roberts Agency, Inc. v. Venture Properties, Inc., 676 A.2d 46, 48 (Me.1996)

.

[¶ 9] Holland presses several claims of error challenging the entry of a summary judgment in his claims of constitutional and federal law violations, false imprisonment, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and malicious prosecution.⁶ Holland specifically attacks the Superior Court's determination that Sebunya's actions at the Executive Committee meeting were authorized by the internal operating procedures of the Portland Branch, and that summary judgment would be proper on that ground.

I.

[¶ 10] As to Holland's section 1983 and constitutional claims, whether or not Sebunya was authorized by the Portland Branch to have Holland removed is not necessarily dispositive of whether Sebunya had violated Holland's federal and state constitutional rights. See, e.g., Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 152, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970)

(allowing a section 1983 suit to proceed upon allegations that private restaurant had conspired with police to refuse to serve plaintiff because of plaintiff's race). What is fatal to his claims, however, is Holland's failure to show the state action required to prevail on these counts.

[¶ 11] In order to "state a claim for relief in an action brought under § 1983, [plaintiffs] must establish that they were deprived of a right secured by the Constitution ... and that the alleged deprivation was committed under color of state law." American Mfr. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Sullivan, 526 U.S. 40, 49-50, 119 S.Ct. 977, 143 L.Ed.2d 130 (1999). Private action, "no matter how discriminatory or wrongful," may not be reached through section 1983. Id. The same is true of claims brought directly under the Constitution; "most rights secured by the Constitution are protected only against infringement by governments."⁷ Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922, 936, 102 S.Ct. 2744, 73 L.Ed.2d 482 (1982); United Bhd. of Carpenters and Joiners of America v. Scott, 463 U.S. 825, 103 S.Ct. 3352, 77 L.Ed.2d 1049 (1983); Walter v. United States, 447 U.S. 649, 656, 100 S.Ct. 2395, 65 L.Ed.2d 410 (1980); Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1, 13, 68 S.Ct. 836, 92 L.Ed. 1161 (1948).

[¶ 12] Holland, however, has not provided sufficient evidence to establish the state action necessary to justify a recovery under section 1983. The United States Supreme Court has established a two-part analysis for evaluating whether the requisite state action is present:

First, the deprivation must be caused by the exercise of some right or privilege created by the State or by a rule of conduct imposed by the state or by a person for whom the State is responsible.... Second, the party charged with the deprivation must be a person who may fairly be said to be the state actor. This may be because he is a state official, because he has acted together with or has obtained significant aid from state officials, or because his conduct is otherwise chargeable to the State.

Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. at 937, 102 S.Ct. 2744.

[¶ 13] Sebunya asserts in his statement of material facts submitted in support of his motion for a summary judgment that on the night of February 13, 1995, he was not acting in his capacity as Cultural Affairs Coordinator for the City of Portland. Holland's Rule 7(d)(2) statement submitted in opposition to the motion for a summary judgment does not refute that assertion. Holland meely recites that Sebunya at the time was an employee of the police department, a fact that is not disputed. See Saucier v. State Tax Assessor, 2000 ME 8, ¶ 5, 745 A.2d 972, 974

(holding that a party opposing summary judgment must specifically rebut the movant's statement of material facts); see also Prescott v. State Tax Assessor, 1999 ME 250, ¶ 6, 721 A.2d 169, 172 (deciding that a failure...