Monteiro v. City of Elizabeth
| Decision Date | 08 February 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 04-3756.,04-3756. |
| Citation | 436 F.3d 397 |
| Parties | Armenio T. MONTEIRO v. CITY OF ELIZABETH; Patricia Perkins-Auguste, Council President; Andrew R. Cox, Police Officer; Richard Meola, Sergeant of Police Patricia Perkins-Auguste, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Robert F. Varady (Argued), LaCorte, Bundy, Varady & Kinsella, Union, NJ, for Appellant.
David F. Corrigan (Argued), Keyport, NJ, for Appellee.
Before SLOVITER, FISHER, and ROSENN,* Circuit Judges.
This appeal presents the issue of whether, when entitlement to qualified immunity depends on a disputed issue of fact, it is proper to submit that question to a jury. Plaintiff Armenio T. Monteiro filed an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against defendant Patricia Perkins-Auguste, alleging that when he was a member of the Elizabeth, New Jersey City Council, Perkins-Auguste, then President of the Council, violated his First Amendment rights by ejecting him from a public meeting of the Council and having him arrested on a disorderly persons charge on the basis of his viewpoint. Perkins-Auguste asserted that she was entitled to qualified immunity and moved for summary judgment on that ground.
Her motion for summary judgment was denied on the basis that whether she was entitled to qualified immunity depended on a disputed issue of material fact—whether she had Monteiro ejected from the meeting on the basis of viewpoint. The District Court submitted the disputed factual question to the jury, which returned a verdict for the plaintiff, Monteiro, awarding him $10,000 in compensatory damages. The jury also awarded Monteiro $750 in punitive damages, finding that Perkins-Auguste had acted recklessly and with callous indifference to Monteiro's rights.
Perkins-Auguste moved for judgment as a matter of law following the jury verdict under Fed.R.Civ.P. 50, or in the alternative, for a new trial under Fed.R.Civ.P. 59. The District Court denied her motion and entered judgment in favor of Monteiro. She timely appealed. We affirm the judgment because we find no error in the proceedings. The jury's verdict is based on sufficient evidence.
Perkins-Auguste challenges the denial of judgment as a matter of law,1 the submission of punitive damages to the jury, and the admission of two items of evidence. Perkins-Auguste argues that the District Court erred in denying her motion for judgment as a matter of law on the grounds of qualified immunity because a reasonable official in her position would not have understood that ejecting Monteiro from the meeting violated his First Amendment rights. She further argues that the District Court erred in submitting the question of punitive damages to the jury because Monteiro had presented no evidence that she acted intentionally or deliberately to violate his constitutional rights. Perkins-Auguste also argues that it was substantial error for the District Court to admit evidence of Monteiro's acquittal, in municipal court, of the disorderly persons charge, and a City Legal Department Memorandum of Law outlining the procedures to be followed by a Council President in ejecting an unruly member.
On April 10, 2001, the Elizabeth City Council convened for the purpose of considering the City's proposed annual budget. Perkins-Auguste was, at that time, President of the Council and the officer in charge of presiding over the meeting. The meeting was unusually well-attended, with approximately 300 members of the community in the audience. The meeting was taped and broadcast by a local cable station. The members of the Council spoke in turn about their views on the proposed budget.
Monteiro expressed at length his strong objections to the budget, exercising his constitutional right to petition the government on behalf of himself and his constituents. After some discussion from other councilpersons, Perkins-Auguste began to speak. Rather than address the merits of the budget, however, she immediately leveled a pointed attack at Monteiro for what she perceived to be his role in the distribution of a pamphlet protesting the budget and inviting citizens to attend the meeting. The tape reveals that Perkins-Auguste turned toward Monteiro, held up a copy of the pamphlet and stated:
I just want to say, this is deception, what was found in the Council chambers. When you tell residents to come up to City Council because they're going to be charged additionally 600 and 800 dollars for owning a home in the City of Elizabeth, this is deception, Councilman Monteiro, with your name on it.
Monteiro interrupted her: he began. Perkins-Auguste swiftly ruled him out of order, pounding her gavel. Monteiro continued to try to defend himself, and Perkins-Auguste continued to pound her gavel. Perkins-Auguste then asked two municipal officers, who were acting as sergeants-at-arms, to remove Monteiro from the meeting.
As the officers approached Monteiro, Perkins-Auguste continued her remarks:
As I was stating, this is deception, when Council members put this type of propaganda throughout the community, when you state there's a 600, an 800 dollar tax increase. My taxes, I own a home in this city, my taxes over the last two and three years only went up twenty-five, thirty dollars for the entire year. So I don't know where you guys are coming off with a thousand dollars, 600 dollars, 800 dollars tax increase. Get the facts straight. If you don't want to vote for the budget, don't vote for the budget, but do not lie to the general population. This is disgusting. If you want people to come to the meeting, you tell them to come up because there's something that they need to learn. Do not lie. It's beyond deception.
Monteiro then said: "Well, we'll wait for the bills to come out." In response, Perkins-Auguste exclaimed: "This man cannot keep his mouth shut," and once again asked that he be removed. Monteiro responded that he would not voluntarily leave the meeting, and that, if she wished to have him removed, she would have to have him arrested. As the officers asked Monteiro to step out from his seat, one member of the Council advised that they should "ask for a legal opinion on this," and that "there are rules and regulations in our code that we can adopt right now." Perkins-Auguste did not appear to consult or follow any established procedure in ejecting Monteiro. The evidence introduced at trial reveals that there were at least two possible procedures available to her under the City Council's governing rules. The rules required that the Council vote on the matter of a councilperson's removal.2 No vote was taken. Monteiro was advised by a City Attorney that he was required to abide by the orders of the Council President, to which he responded, "I apologize, I understand that." Soon thereafter, Perkins-Auguste called a five-minute recess.
When the Council reconvened, Monteiro was still sitting in his Council chair. Perkins-Auguste immediately asked the officers to escort Monteiro out of the meeting. They replied that they could not do so unless he was formally placed under arrest. After some vacillation, Perkins-Auguste agreed. She instructed the officers to place Monteiro under arrest and remove him from the meeting. The officers handcuffed Monteiro and led him from the meeting. Perkins-Auguste then proceeded to speak at length to the audience regarding her actions:
He filibustered for over twenty-five minutes. Not one Council member opened their mouths. As soon as I speak and others speak, he thinks he can just talk. That is not how this Council will run meetings. It was disgraceful, and I would not put my Council colleagues in it in terms of having them vote on it. That's a decision the President must make, and I am saddened by it, because I believe in free speech and I believe in representation.
She then raised a copy of the offending pamphlet and continued her quasi-prosecutorial attack in a more aggressive tone:
But when you have Council people who allow this type of propaganda to go out with their name on it to lure City residents up into Council meetings, it's a disgrace also. I own a home in this City, and for over the last four years, taxes have not gone up no more than three percent, if any, in any of those given years. Twenty-five dollars here, maybe seventy or fifty dollars here, nothing more. We all hate to raise taxes, but it's something you have to do if you are an elected municipal official. Taxes is just a part of the nasty job. Taxes is a nasty word, but we must realize, it's a reality in the United States of America. And again, I apologize to every resident in the City of Elizabeth who witnesses this tonight or tomorrow or whenever you see this on TV. We are trying to conduct the City business.... Our chief role as Council representatives is to allocate funds to run the City, to investigate, and to appropriate. And if we cannot do that in a decent, orderly manner and respect one another's positions, then we're just all for waste.
Again, my colleagues, I apologize to you, but he left me with no decision but to have him to be removed. Constantly interrupting throughout the entire meeting, constant warnings. I have a two-and-a-half year old, and I was talking to him like my child, stop, stop. You're going to get it, stop. You're going to be thrown out of here, stop. There comes a point in time when you must act, and again, I apologize to all those who witnessed this, you in the audience, I apologize but he left me no other choice. I cannot allow my colleagues to overrun the meetings just to make a point.
And I was so upset when I saw this [pamphlet] out in the pews to get people to come up to the meeting, 600, 800 dollars. That is not how you get people to be informed. This is scare tactics. His name is on it, he allowed it.
As a result of his removal...
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