Moran v. Bench
| Decision Date | 01 December 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 6544.,6544. |
| Citation | 353 F.2d 193 |
| Parties | Lucille E. MORAN, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. William F. BENCH et al., Defendants, Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit |
Lucille E. Moran, pro se.
Edward W. Brooke, Atty. Gen., and Samuel W. Gaffer, Asst. Atty. Gen., on brief for appellees.
Before ALDRICH, Chief Judge, McENTEE, Circuit Judge, and SWEENEY, District Judge.
In this action for damages brought under the civil rights statutes, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985, against certain officials of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles the district court granted summary judgment for the defendants. On plaintiff's appeal the sole question is whether her affidavit raises an issue of fact.
The underlying facts are not in dispute. Late in 1959 plaintiff was involuntarily committed, for psychiatric reasons, to a Veterans Administration hospital. Early in 1960, defendant Bench, a "supervisor" at the Registry, received a telephone call from a caller who appears to have been an official of the V. A. facility, recommending that plaintiff's operator's license be suspended. Bench communicated the recommendation to defendant Riley, then Registrar; the license was suspended, and notice of suspension was sent to plaintiff's brother in Massachusetts. Later in 1960, when plaintiff sought reinstatement of her license, Bench informed her that she must produce a statement showing a discharge from the facility, as well as a psychiatrist's certification of competency. These were delivered to Bench, who then notified plaintiff that cErtain additional documents were necessary. Apparently on the ground that he had lost or had not received the psychiatrist's certificate, Bench demanded this of her again. Plaintiff, claiming that these requirements were improper, did not comply. In 1963 she appealed to the Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Appeal Board, which affirmed the suspension. In 1964, after compliance with some, but apparently not all, of the conditions, the suspension was lifted.
It does not appear that the defendants' acts were beyond their authority, or that their conduct was arbitrary or unreasonable. If they acted in good faith, treating the suspension as a matter of ordinary procedure, even if they might be thought to have been over-demanding, plaintiff has no federal claim. Cf. Wall v. King, 1 Cir., 1953, 206 F.2d 878, 884, cert. den. 346 U.S. 915, 74 S.Ct. 275, 98 L.Ed. 411. However, if defendants employed their official powers for the purpose of injuring the plaintiff, rather than to serve the proper ends of their governmental duties, plaintiff might well have a claim under the civil rights statutes. Cf. Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 1886, 118 U.S. 356, 6 S.Ct. 1064, 30 L.Ed. 220; People v. Walker, 14 N.Y.2d 901, 252 N.Y.S.2d 96, 200 N.E.2d 779 (1964).
Each defendant's affidavit states precisely, or in substance, "that at all times material he was acting in good faith in carrying out his duties and that this suspension was a routine matter, not handled any differently than any other suspension for the same cause; that he does not know the plaintiff except as a person involved in a `suspension' matter; that he does not know any of the other persons referred to in...
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deLEIRIS v. Scott
...See, e.g., Creative Environments, 680 F.2d at 831-34 (rejecting plaintiff's challenge to treatment by zoning board); Moran v. Bench, 353 F.2d 193, 194 (1st Cir.1965) (rejecting plaintiff's challenge to treatment by registry of motor vehicles). The type of unfettered discretion invidiously e......
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...Snowden v. Hughes, 321 U.S. 1, 10, 64 S.Ct. 397, 88 L.Ed. 497 (1944); Powell v. Jarvis, 460 F.2d 551, 553 (2d Cir. 1972); Moran v. Bench, 353 F.2d 193 (1st Cir. 1965); Dunn v. Gazzola, 216 F.2d 709, 711 (1st Cir. 1954); Yglesias v. Gulfstream Park Racing Ass'n, 201 F.2d 817 (5th Cir. 1953).......
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Puglisi v. Underhill Park Taxpayer Assoc.
...proper ends of their government duties, plaintiff might well have a claim under the civil rights statutes." Id. (quoting Moran v. Bench, 353 F.2d 193, 194 (1st Cir.1965), cert. denied, 384 U.S. 906, 86 S.Ct. 1341, 16 L.Ed.2d 359 (1965)). As with his §§ 1981 and 1982 claims, this court finds......
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...Slotnick v. Staviskey, 560 F.2d 31 (1st Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1077, 98 S.Ct. 1268, 55 L.Ed.2d 783 (1978); Moran v. Bench, 353 F.2d 193 (1st Cir. 1965), cert. denied, 384 U.S. 906, 86 S.Ct. 1341, 16 L.Ed.2d 359 (1965). In Safeguard Mut. Ins. Co. v. Miller, 477 F.Supp. 299 (E.D.P......
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