Lauderdale v. Smith
| Decision Date | 27 September 1960 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 3764. |
| Citation | 186 F. Supp. 958 |
| Parties | Edgar A. LAUDERDALE, Sr., Plaintiff v. Eugene G. SMITH, Chief of Police, City of Little Rock, Arkansas, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Arkansas |
Amis Guthridge, Little Rock, Ark., Sidney W. Provensal, Jr., New Orleans, La., for plaintiff.
Joseph C. Kemp, City Atty., Little Rock, Ark., for defendant.
This is an action for alleged violation of plaintiff's civil rights. Rev.Stat. § 1979 (1875); 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 (1958).
At the time of commencement of this action the defendant was Chief of Police of the City of Little Rock, Arkansas. After the complaint was filed the defendant died.
The administrator of the estate of defendant has filed a motion suggesting the death of Smith and moving to dismiss the action, while plaintiff has moved to revive the action against the administrator of the defendant's estate.
The Motion to Dismiss is granted.
The plaintiff's cause of action is based upon alleged due process violations incident to his arrest for dynamiting a public building in the City of Little Rock. He seeks to recover for improper arrest, for detention without right to see counsel, for detention for an unreasonable time before being charged with an offense, and for the setting of excessive bail — all alleged to have occurred at the direction of defendant acting under color of State law.
He asserts that the actions of defendant harmed his reputation and standing in the community, caused injury to his business, brought embarrassment, humiliation and grief to his family and himself. It is clear that any possible damage to plaintiff's business was incidental to any damage to his reputation and standing in the community and was not the direct result of any action of defendant, lawful or otherwise, complained of in this action.
In other words, his action is for vindication of rights personal to himself. These violations of plaintiff's civil rights, if true, are in the nature of personal wrongs, similar to tort actions for slander, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and invasion of privacy. The question before the court is whether such alleged violations of plaintiff's civil rights survive the death of defendant. It is my conclusion that they do not, and that the action must abate.
The right of action plaintiff seeks to enforce was created by Congress and is governed by federal substantive law. See Nelson v. Knox, 6 Cir., 1956, 230 F.2d 483. In the...
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Pollard v. United States
...this Court must look to the common law developed by the federal courts with respect to the survival of such actions. Lauderdale v. Smith, 186 F.Supp. 958 (E.D.Ark.1960). Claims based upon the violation of constitutional rights do not ordinarily survive the death of the injured party. Evain ......
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Roberson v. Wood
...for the survival of such cause of action, the Court must resort to the common law developed in federal courts." Lauderdale v. Smith, 186 F.Supp. 958, 959 (E.D.Ark.); Barnes Coal Corp. v. Retail Coal Merchants Ass'n., 128 F.2d 645 (4th Cir. No federal case relying on federal common law is di......
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Railing v. United Mine Workers of America
...Inc., 297 F.2d 323 (3rd Cir. 1961); Kirk v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 179 F.2d 619 (1st Cir. 1950); Lauderdale v. Smith, 186 F.Supp. 958 (E.D.Ark.1960). 6 The text of Section 8(b) (4), as relevant for the purposes of this decision, is as "It shall be an unfair labor practice for a l......
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Pritchard v. Downie
...they abated upon the death of defendant Smith. These motions were granted by the court, and the complaints dismissed. Lauderdale v. Smith, 186 F. Supp. 958 (E.D.Ark.1960), but the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed and reinstated the complaints. Pritchard v. Smith, 289 F.2d 15......