Al-Mustafa Irshad v. Spann

• Decision Date: 19 July 1982
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 81-0456-R.
• Parties: AL-MUSTAFA IRSHAD, Plaintiff, v. H. G. SPANN, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia

543 F. Supp. 922

AL-MUSTAFA IRSHAD, Plaintiff, v. H. G. SPANN, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 81-0456-R.

United States District Court, E. D. Virginia, Richmond Division.

July 19, 1982.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Al-Mustafa Irshad, pro se.

Eric K. G. Fiske, Asst. Atty. Gen., Richmond, Va., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

RICHARD L. WILLIAMS, District Judge.

Plaintiff Al-Mustafa Irshad is an inmate at the Virginia State Penitentiary. He has filed a section 1983 action against three correctional officers at the Powhatan Correctional Center. See 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1976). Irshad's complaint essentially alleges that he was deprived of four items of personal property through the negligence of these officers. The defendants move to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a cognizable section 1983 claim. See Fed.R. Civ.P. 12(b)(6). The officers ask, in the alternative, for summary judgment. See id. 56(b).

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In late 1980, Irshad was incarcerated at the Powhatan Correctional Center. On the evening of November 30, 1980, a fight developed between Irshad and another inmate. A correctional officer discovered this altercation about 7:25 p. m. He reported it to Captain H. G. Spann. Spann decided to place Irshad in prehearing detention. He, therefore, instructed Corporal L. S. Hatcher to make arrangements for securing the plaintiff's personal property.

About 7:30 p. m., Officer R. N. Booker received a phone call from Hatcher ordering him to secure Irshad's property. Booker claims that he immediately went to the plaintiff's cell. At this time, he discovered that there was no lock on the cell. As a consequence, he had to leave the area to obtain a state padlock. After locking the cell, he allegedly remained in the vicinity for a few minutes. During this time period, he observed several inmates gathering in front of Irshad's cell. Booker, however, was unable to investigate this occurrence, because he allegedly had to return to his duty station. Booker asserts that he checked Irshad's cell about fifteen minutes later. At this time, the lock had disappeared and the door was open. Booker then locked the entire side of the cell-house.

Corporal S. L. Fisher inventoried Irshad's personal property about 8:00 p. m. that evening. Fisher's inventory sheet does not list four items that the plaintiff claims were in his cell at the time of his detention. Irshad contends that these belongings are missing, because fellow inmates stole them from his cell after his detention. The plaintiff initially attempted to recover his property through the inmate grievance procedures, but was unsuccessful. The fact that Powhatan authorities had no record of three of the four items that Irshad reported stolen hampered recovery efforts. Prison regulations require inmates to register all personal property with prison officials.

On May 15, 1981, Irshad filed a section 1983 action in this court against the warden of Powhatan. In his original complaint, Irshad essentially alleged that Spann, Hatcher, and Booker had acted negligently in securing his property. He asserted that this negligence had caused the loss of the missing items. The plaintiff, however, failed to join these officers as defendants.

On August 7, 1981, the court dismissed this action on the ground that the warden was not the party responsible for Irshad's loss. See Irshad v. Johnson, Civil No. 81-0456-R (E.D.Va. Aug. 7, 1981), vacated, 673 F.2d 1311 (4th Cir. 1982). The plaintiff appealed this dismissal to the Fourth Circuit. On January 26, 1982, the Fourth Circuit vacated the dismissal and remanded the case for further consideration. See 673 F.2d at 1311. In particular, the Fourth Circuit requested this court to reconsider the case in light of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981). The appellate court also ordered this court to assist the plaintiff in determining the parties legally responsible for his loss.

On remand, the court added Spann, Hatcher, and Booker as defendants in the case. The court also dismissed the warden from the suit on the ground that he was not legally responsible for the loss. The remaining defendants now move under Rule 12(b)(6) to dismiss the complaint. They request summary judgment in the alternative.

II. LEGAL ANALYSIS

The defendants move to dismiss Irshad's complaint for failure to state a cognizable section 1983 claim. The defendants rely primarily on Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981). They claim that a negligent deprivation of property does not qualify as a due process violation, because Virginia law provides an adequate remedy for the deprivation. The defendants also raise the qualified immunity of Procunier v. Navarette, 434 U.S. 555, 98 S.Ct. 855, 55 L.Ed.2d 24 (1978), as a ground for dismissal. They assert that they are immune from liability, because they acted in good faith at all times.

The court first will decide the issue of whether the complaint states a valid section 1983 claim. In Parratt, the Supreme Court held that two elements are essential to a section 1983 action. First, the defendant must have been "acting under color of state law." 451 U.S. at 535, 101 S.Ct. at 1912. Second, the defendant's conduct must have "deprived a person of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States." Id. In this case, the prison officials that allegedly deprived Irshad of his property clearly were acting under color of state law. See id. at 535-36, 101 S.Ct. at 1912-1913; Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 184, 81 S.Ct. 473, 482, 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961). Thus, the critical question is whether the defendants' actions deprived the plaintiff of any constitutional right.

The Parratt doctrine provides the answer to this question. In Parratt, a Nebraska inmate alleged that state prison officials had negligently lost his hobby kit. See 451 U.S. at 530-31, 101 S.Ct. at 1910. He contended that this deprivation violated due process. See id. The inmate's allegations did not implicate any of the substantive constitutional guarantees made applicable to the states by the fourteenth amendment. See id. at 536, 101 S.Ct. at 1913. The Supreme Court, therefore, held that the property deprivation in question did not violate due process, because Nebraska law provided an adequate remedy for the deprivation. See id. at 537-44, 101 S.Ct. at 1913-1917. Under this procedural due process analysis, the inmate's complaint did not state a cognizable section 1983 claim.

If the plaintiff in Parratt had alleged a violation of a substantive constitutional guarantee, such as the fourth or the eighth amendment, he would have stated a cognizable cause of action under section 1983. The fact that an adequate state remedy exists for a substantive due process claim does not remove the constitutional question from that claim. Thus, the existence of the state remedy does not divest the federal courts of subject-matter jurisdiction. See Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976); Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 81 S.Ct. 473, 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961); Duncan v. Poythress, 657 F.2d 691, 704-05 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981), cert. granted, ___ U.S. ___, 102 S.Ct. 1426, 71 L.Ed.2d 647 (1982). The federal and state courts in effect have concurrent jurisdiction over torts based on substantive constitutional guarantees. The Parratt analysis, therefore, applies only to state-law tort claims brought into federal court on procedural due process grounds. See Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. at 536, 101 S.Ct. at 1913; Duncan v. Poythress, 657 F.2d at 704-05; Howse v. DeBerry Correctional Institute, 537 F.Supp. 1177, 1180 (M.D.Tenn.1982).

The Parratt decision governs Irshad's case, because his allegations implicate only the procedural aspects of due process. The due process clause provides that a state shall not "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." Parratt holds that there are four requirements for a valid due process claim. See 451 U.S. at 536-37, 101 S.Ct. at 1913. The plaintiff's allegations definitely satisfy three of these requirements. First, the defendants acted under color of state law. Second, the four missing items fall within the definition of property. See id. at 536, 101 S.Ct. at 1913. Third, the alleged loss qualifies as a deprivation. See id. at 536-37, 101 S.Ct. at 1913. The only issue remaining is whether this deprivation was without due process of law. See id. at 537, 101 S.Ct. at 1913; Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137, 145, 99 S.Ct. 2689, 2694, 61 L.Ed.2d 433 (1979).

In determining whether the alleged deprivation violated due process, the court must resolve two questions. The court first must decide whether a postdeprivation remedy meets the requirements of procedural due process in this case. See 451 U.S. at 537-43, 101 S.Ct. at 1913-1916. If a postdeprivation remedy is sufficient, the court then must focus on whether the particular tort remedy provided by state law satisfies due process. See id. at 543-44, 101 S.Ct. at 1916-1917.

The court first must confront the issue of whether a predeprivation remedy is necessary for the kind of deprivation that Irshad alleges. In approaching this question, Parratt drew a distinction between actions taken pursuant to an established state procedure and isolated actions that do not comply with state practice:

The justifications which we have found sufficient to uphold takings of property without any predeprivation process are applicable to a situation such as the present one involving a tortious loss of a prisoner's property as a result of a random and unauthorized act by a state employee. In such a case, the loss is not a result of some established state procedure and the State cannot predict precisely when the loss will occur. It is difficult to conceive of how the State could provide a meaningful hearing before the deprivation

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