Manders v. Lee
| Decision Date | 14 March 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-13606.,01-13606. |
| Citation | 285 F.3d 983 |
| Parties | Willie Santonio MANDERS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Truman LEE, and Chris Crews, a.k.a. Bart Crews, individually and as employees of the City of Homerville, the City of Homerville, Georgia, Alan Brown, individually and as an employee of Clinch County, and Clinch County, Georgia, Defendants, Winston Peterson, individually and as employee of Clinch County, Georgia, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Richard K. Strickland, Whelchel, Brown, Readdick & Bumgartner, Brunswick, GA, for Peterson.
Theodore H. Lackland, Lackland & Heyward, Atlanta, GA, for Manders.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
Before BLACK and HULL, Circuit Judges, and RYSKAMP*, District Judge.
Plaintiff Willie Santonio Manders sued the defendant Winston Peterson, individually and as Sheriff of Clinch County, Georgia, for injuries caused by excessive force against Manders while detained in the county jail. This interlocutory appeal presents the question of whether a Georgia sheriff in his official capacity is an agent for the state, not the county, when performing his law enforcement duties as to use of force, and thus is entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
In the past, our circuit has treated § 1983 suits against Georgia sheriffs in their official capacities as suits against counties. Although those decisions did not analyze whether a sheriff under Georgia law actually represents the state or the county, we are constrained to follow them and must affirm the district court's denial of summary judgment to Sheriff Peterson in his official capacity.
However, as explained herein, we question the correctness of those decisions. We believe that Sheriff Peterson in his official capacity is an agent for the State of Georgia, not Clinch County, when performing his law enforcement duties as to use of force, and is protected by Eleventh Amendment immunity.
Clinch County, Georgia, is a small rural county with a population of approximately 6,000. As the elected Sheriff, the defendant Winston Peterson ("Sheriff Peterson") is responsible for the operation of the jail in Clinch County, for establishing the policies and procedures at the jail, and for hiring, training, and supervising his deputies who work in the jail. Sheriff Peterson's deputy and chief jailer was the defendant Alan Brown.
On May 18, 1997, police officers from the City of Homerville arrested the plaintiff Willie Santonio Manders ("Manders") and transported him to the jail. As Manders was being escorted into the holding cell at the jail, one of the City police officers stated that Manders had "hit him" earlier.1 According to Manders, deputy Brown and a City police officer then repeatedly struck him across the head, neck, and face and banged his head against a wall. Manders suffered from a bruised, swollen face, and the beating affected him emotionally, eventually leading to a stay in a mental hospital.
The morning after the beating, Manders wrote a statement for jail officials, wherein he stated, "They had to be rough with me to let me know that they mean business." In his deposition, Manders testified that Sheriff Peterson and some other officer forced him to write this statement. That same day Manders was released from jail. Afterwards, Manders's mother met with Sheriff Peterson to discuss the beating of her son. According to Manders's mother, Sheriff Peterson responded to her concerns about the beating as follows: "[T]hat happens sometimes when they bite and scratch." Sheriff Peterson did not investigate the beating incident.
Manders also introduced into evidence the Policy and Procedural Manual (the "Manual") of the Clinch County Sheriff's Department. In his deposition, Sheriff Peterson testified that he published the Manual in either 1989 or 1990, drafting some of the policies himself and adopting some state policies. The Manual requires that "[e]ach case involving physical or defensive force be reported in writing to the Sheriff," as follows:
(A) Notification of Supervisor
1. The Sheriff shall be immediately informed of each incident involving the use of force by officers of this Department. Such notification shall be on the same date of the incident.
2. Each case involving physical or defensive force shall be reported in writing to the Sheriff.
3. Each officer present or assisting in an arrest or incident requiring force shall be prepared to submit a report supplement describing the incident if requested.
Deputy Brown, however, never submitted a written report indicating he used force with Manders, and Sheriff Peterson never required deputy Brown to do so even after having met with Manders's mother.
In addition to the report requirement, the Manual discusses both non-deadly and deadly force by an officer in the performance of his duties. The Manual provides that non-deadly force may be used by an officer in these situations:
1. When necessary to preserve the peace, prevent commission of offenses, or prevent suicide or self-inflicted injury.
2. When preventing or interrupting a crime or attempted crime against property.
3. When making lawful arrests and searches, overcoming resistance to such arrest and searches, and preventing escapes from custody.
4. When in self defense, or defense of another against unlawful violence to his person.
The Manual also discusses in detail when use of deadly force is justified. Sheriff Peterson does not have any other written or standard operating procedures for the use of force at the jail or for formal citizen complaints.
On March 24, 1999, Plaintiff Manders filed his complaint. He promptly amended it on April 20, 1999, naming numerous defendants. The only two remaining defendants, however, are Clinch County, Georgia, and Sheriff Peterson in his official capacity.2 The amended complaint asserted that at the time of the acts complained of, the defendant Peterson was acting both individually and as an agent of and representative of Clinch County and was operating under the color of state law.
In his amended complaint, Manders further claims that Clinch County and Sheriff Peterson were responsible for establishing policies regarding the use of force at the jail and for implementing those policies by training, monitoring, and disciplining deputies to ensure that the use-of-force policies were followed. According to Manders, deputy Brown beat him, and Clinch County and Sheriff Peterson permitted deputy Brown's use of excessive force. Manders also asserts that Clinch County and Sheriff Peterson failed to provide deputies proper training and oversight regarding use of force at the jail and failed to promulgate rules and regulations adequate to regulate his deputies' conduct, and that this failure caused the beating suffered by Manders.
In addition, the amended complaint alleged that Sheriff Peterson had negligently hired and retained deputy Brown. More specifically, it alleged that Sheriff Peterson knew or should have known that deputy Brown had a history and reputation for violent treatment of prisoners both during and prior to his employment as a deputy sheriff at the jail. The amended complaint asserted that the beating of the plaintiff Manders would not have occurred but for Sheriff Peterson's negligent hiring and retention of deputy Brown.
Manders sought damages against Clinch County and Sheriff Peterson, including punitive damages from Sheriff Peterson. Manders further requested a mandatory injunction whereby the County would be required to revise its policies, guidelines, and regulations on the use of force.3
The defendants Clinch County and Sheriff Peterson filed a joint motion for summary judgment on all claims. The district court granted summary judgment (a) to Sheriff Peterson in his individual capacity as to all claims, (b) to Clinch County and Sheriff Peterson in his official capacity as to Manders's § 1983 claim for the negligent hiring and retention of deputy Brown, and (c) to Clinch County and Sheriff Peterson as to all claims for injunctive relief, stating Manders "lacked the requisite personal stake in the outcome," apparently because Manders was no longer in the jail. Manders did not appeal or cross-appeal any of the rulings granting summary judgment to the defendants.
The district court, however, denied summary judgment with respect to the use-of-force policy claims under § 1983 against Clinch County and Sheriff Peterson in his official capacity. Although Clinch County did not appeal, Sheriff Peterson did. Before appealing, Sheriff Peterson in his official capacity filed a motion for reconsideration, emphasizing that he was a state, not a county, official when performing his law enforcement duties and was entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity. After the district court denied his motion, Sheriff Peterson timely filed this interlocutory appeal.4
This appeal is by only Sheriff Peterson in his official capacity and involves only Manders's § 1983 claims regarding Sheriff Peterson's law enforcement duties and policies as to use of force and his training, supervising, and disciplining of his deputies regarding use of force.
It is well established that a suit against a defendant governmental officer in his official capacity is the same as a suit against the entity of which the officer is an agent. See McMillian v. Monroe County, 520 U.S. 781, 785 n. 2, 117 S.Ct. 1734, 138 L.Ed.2d 1 (1997); Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 165, 105 S.Ct. 3099, 87 L.Ed.2d 114 (1985). It is also settled that Eleventh Amendment immunity extends not only to states of the Union but also to "state agents and state instrumentalities," Regents of the University of California...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Hammond v. Gordon County, CIV.A.4:00-CV0387HLM.
...issue of whether a Georgia sheriff is an agent of the county for purposes of Eleventh Amendment immunity. Manders v. Lee, 2002 WL 397221, at *5, 285 F.3d 983, 993 (11th Cir.2002). In Manders, the Eleventh Circuit noted that it was bound by prior panel precedent to treat a Georgia sheriff as......
- W.C. ex rel. Sue C. v. Cobb County School Dist.
-
Gennusa v. Shoar
...governmental officer in his official capacity is the same as a suit against the entity of which the officer is an agent.” Manders v. Lee, 285 F.3d 983, 990 (11th Cir.2002). Because Sheriff Shoar is an agent of St. Johns County, “in all respects other than name,” plaintiffs' claims are again......
- R.L. ex rel. O.L. v. Miami-Dade Cnty. Sch. Bd.
-
Finding Immunity: Manders v. Lee and the Erosion of 1983 Liability - Thomas B. Ward
...and regulations adequate to regulate deputies conduct, and that this failure caused the beating suffered by Manders." Manders v. Lee, 285 F.3d 983, 988 (11th Cir.), vacated by,300 F.3d 1298 (11th Cir. 2002). 8. Id.at 989. 9. Id. 10. Id.at 1009. 11. Id. 12. Manders v. Lee, 300 F.3d 1298 (11t......
-
Manders V. Lee.
...Appeals Court POLICIES/PROCEDURES Manders V. Lee, 285 F.3d 983 (11th Cir. 2002). An arrestee brought a [section] 1983 claim against a county and sheriff asserting excessive force and other claims. The district court granted summary judgment, in part, for the sheriff but denied it with respe......
-
Manders V. Lee.
...Appeals Court ELEVENTH AMEND Manders V. Lee, 285 F.3d 983 (11th Cir. 2002). An arrestee brought a [section] 1983 claim against a county and sheriff asserting excessive force and other claims. The district court granted summary judgment, in part, for the sheriff but denied it with respect to......