Meeker v. Kercher
| Decision Date | 22 January 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85-1010,85-1010 |
| Citation | 782 F.2d 153 |
| Parties | Charles A. MEEKER, and four minor daughters; Cynthia A. Meeker; Catherine M. Meeker; Ada Marie Meeker; and Minie Constance Meeker, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Helen KERCHER; John Kercher; State of New Mexico (Human Services); Deborah Grout; Vickey King; Elaine Watson; Michelle O'Shields; John Kalejata, All of the Human Services Department; Josie M. Britton, Security Officer; and United States Dept. of State, Federal District Attorney, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Charles A. Meeker, pro se.
Before BARRETT, McKAY, and SEYMOUR, Circuit Judges.
This three-judge panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not be of material assistance in the determination of this appeal. See Fed.R.App.P. 34(a); 10th Cir.R. 10(e). The cause is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
This is an appeal from the district court's dismissal of the plaintiffs' civil rights complaint filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. All of the defendants were somehow involved in a child abuse investigation of plaintiff Charles A. Meeker by the Children's Protective Services branch of the New Mexico Human Services Department. That investigation resulted in the transfer of custody of Mr. Meeker's four minor daughters to the Human Services Department. Plaintiffs alleged that the various defendants' conduct in the state proceedings violated their family rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.
In district court, all of the defendants except one filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim on which relief could be granted. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). Defendant Grout, who was appointed in the state custody proceedings as guardian ad litem for Meeker's daughters, did not file a motion to dismiss. The district court granted all of the motions to dismiss on various grounds.
The district court found that the plaintiffs had failed to make valid service of process on four of the defendants. Furthermore, the district court found that the doctrine of res judicata barred suit against all of the defendants except Grout--including those who had not been properly served. The res judicata bar arose from two prior suits by the plaintiffs in federal and state courts in which they brought almost identical claims against the same defendants based on the same events underlying the instant case. The plaintiffs were unsuccessful on the merits of the prior actions.
The district court sua sponte dismissed the action against the last defendant, Grout, on alternative grounds including failure to state a claim. The court found that, as guardian ad litem, Grout was not acting under color of state law for purposes of the Sec. 1983 claims.
Plaintiffs appeal the district court's judgment.
We will only address the appeal of Charles A. Meeker. We need not address the purported appeal by Meeker's four minor daughters because we agree with the district court that Meeker cannot represent his daughters in this case. The district court ruled, citing 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1654, that although Meeker has the right to appear in propria persona, he does not have the right to represent his daughters. We hold that under Fed.R.Civ.P. 17(c) and 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1654, a minor child cannot bring suit through a parent acting as next friend if the parent is not represented by an attorney.
Each of the defendants have filed a motion to affirm the district court's judgment on the basis that the questions on which the decision of the cause depends are so unsubstantial as not to merit further argument. 10th Cir.R. 9(a). Plaintiff has responded to the motions to affirm.
Upon consideration of the motions to affirm, the response thereto and the record on appeal, we conclude that the district court was correct in dismissing the...
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PARKELL v. South Carolina
...are not state actors for purposes of § 1983, because they give their "undivided loyalty to the minor, not the state." Meeker v. Kercher, 782 F.2d 153, 155 (10th Cir.1986). Accordingly, Plaintiff's § 1983 claim is not actionable against these Defendants Defendants Landrum, Yvonne (Avone) Dav......
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Chrissy F. By Medley v. MISSISSIPPI DPW
...finds, however, that Defendants Cooper and Broadhead should be distinguished from other public official Defendants. In Meeker v. Kercher, 782 F.2d 153 (10th Cir.1986), the court found that a guardian ad litem, although a public employee, was not acting under color of state law for purposes ......
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Collinsgru v. Palmyra Bd. of Educ., 96-5807
...this rule as well. See Devine, 121 F.3d at 581-82; Cheung v. Youth Orchestra Found., 906 F.2d 59, 61 (2d Cir.1990); Meeker v. Kercher, 782 F.2d 153, 154 (10th Cir.1986); Johns v. County of San Diego, 114 F.3d 874, 876-77 (9th Cir.1997); Hickey v. Wellesley Sch. Comm., 14 F.3d 44, 1993 WL 52......
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Collins on Behalf of Collins v. Tabet
...on behalf of the State or in concert with it, but rather by advancing 'the undivided interests of his client.' "); Meeker v. Kercher, 782 F.2d 153, 155 (10th Cir.1986) (guardian ad litem in abuse and neglect proceeding under New Mexico law does not act under color of state law, because he o......