Orozco v. Day

• Decision Date: 10 March 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-344,96-344
• Parties: Daniel OROZCO, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Rick DAY, Director of the Department of Corrections and Human Services, Mike Mahoney, Section Warden, Myron Beeson, Section Warden, Candyce Neubauer, Classification Manager, Dave Lanning, Unit Manager, Montana Department of Corrections and Human Services, Montana State Prison, Defendants and Respondents.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

Page 1009

934 P.2d 1009

281 Mont. 341

Daniel OROZCO, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Rick DAY, Director of the Department of Corrections and Human Services, Mike Mahoney, Section Warden, Myron Beeson Section Warden, Candyce Neubauer, Classification Manager Dave Lanning, Unit Manager, Montana Department of Corrections and Human Services, Montana State Prison Defendants and Respondents.

No. 96-344.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs Oct. 10, 1996.

Decided March 10, 1997.

Daniel Orozco, Deer Lodge, Pro Se.

Lois Adams, David L. Ohler, Diana P. Leibinger, Department of Institutions, Helena, for Respondents.

GRAY, Justice.

Daniel Orozco (Orozco), appearing pro se, appeals from the opinion and order of the Third Judicial District Court, Powell County, dismissing his complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

We restate the issues on appeal as follows:

1. Did the District Court err in concluding that the Department of Corrections and the individual defendants are not "persons" under 42 U.S.C. § 1983?

2. Did the District Court err in concluding that the individual defendants have qualified immunity?

Factual and Procedural Background

Orozco is an inmate at the Montana State Prison (MSP). On March 26, 1995, Unit Manager Dave Lanning notified Orozco, via a document entitled "Due Process Notifications," that an ongoing investigation indicated that he was involved in a conspiracy to traffic drugs within the MSP. The notice further stated that a classification hearing would be held to address Orozco's custody level and job assignment and that Orozco could present evidence on his own behalf at the hearing. On the same day, Orozco was placed in temporary lock-up in maximum security for investigation purposes pursuant to MSP Policy No. 15-002.

Orozco was not provided with a hearing investigator to assist in his defense at the classification hearing held on March 28, 1995. As a result of the hearing, Orozco was reclassified to maximum security and was unable to continue earning thirteen days per month good time credits.

Orozco subsequently filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights action against Rick Day, Director of the Department of Corrections; Mike Mahoney, Section Warden; Myron Beeson, Section Warden; Candyce Neubauer, Classification Manager; Dave Lanning, Unit Manager for Close Unit One; the Department of Corrections (Department); and the MSP. Orozco requested a declaratory judgment that the defendants had violated his due process rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution by failing to assign a hearing investigator to assist in his defense during the classification hearing which could, and did, result in his inability to continue to earn thirteen days per month good time credits. He also sought a preliminary and permanent injunction requiring the defendants to adequately train and supervise personnel in established policy and discipline personnel for failure to comply with such policy; to place him back in the general prison population; and to credit him with thirteen days per month good time which was lost due to his placement in maximum security. Finally, Orozco requested an award of money damages against each of the defendants.

The defendants moved to dismiss Orozco's complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), M.R.Civ.P., for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The District Court held a hearing in December of 1995 and, thereafter, granted the defendants' motion to dismiss. Orozco appeals.

Additional facts are set forth below where necessary to our resolution of the issues.

Standard of Review

The District Court dismissed the entirety of Orozco's complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), M.R.Civ.P. In evaluating a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, courts are required to construe a complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. The court should not dismiss the complaint unless it appears that the plaintiff is not entitled to relief under any set of facts which could be proved in support of the claims. Loney v. Milodragovich, Dale & Dye, P.C. (1995), 273 Mont. 506, 509, 905 P.2d 158, 160.

The issues Orozco raises on appeal assert error in the District Court's conclusions of law. We review a district court's conclusions of law to determine whether the court's interpretation of the law is correct. Werre v. David (1996), 275 Mont. 376, 385, 913 P.2d 625, 631.

Discussion

1. Did the District Court err in concluding that the Department and the individual defendants are not "persons" under 42 U.S.C. § 1983?

Orozco based his claim against the Department and each individual defendant on 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which provides:

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.

In order to prevail on a § 1983 claim, the plaintiff must establish:

(1) a violation of rights protected by the [United States] Constitution or created by federal statute, (2) proximately caused (3) by conduct of a "person" (4) acting under color of state law.

Crumpton v. Gates (9th Cir.1991), 947 F.2d 1418, 1420.

The District Court concluded that the Department and the individual defendants are not "persons" within the meaning of § 1983. Orozco contends that the court erred.

Department of Corrections

The United States Supreme Court has held that municipalities and local government units are among those "persons" to whom 42 U.S.C. § 1983 applies. See Monell v. New York City Dep't of Social Serv. (1978), 436 U.S. 658, 690, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 2035, 56 L.Ed.2d 611, 635. States and other governmental entities, on the other hand, are considered "arms of the state" and, as a result, they are not "persons" within the meaning of § 1983. See Will v. Michigan Dep't of State Police (1989), 491 U.S. 58, 70, 109 S.Ct. 2304, 2312, 105 L.Ed.2d 45, 57. The exclusion of states and "arms of the state" from the term "person" contained in § 1983 is based on the immunity from suit provided to states by the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution. See Will, 491 U.S. at 66, 109 S.Ct. at 2309-10.

The Department is an entity within the executive branch of government in the State of Montana (State). See §§ 2-15-102(4) and 2-15-2301, MCA. Thus, it is a governmental entity which is considered an "arm of the state" and not a "person" for § 1983 purposes. See Will, 491 U.S. at 70, 109 S.Ct. at 2312.

Orozco argues that § 2-9-305(2), MCA, required him to join the Department in this action and, therefore, that the District Court erred in concluding that it was not a proper § 1983 defendant. The Department did not respond to Orozco's argument but, in any event, Orozco misreads the statute.

Section 2-9-305(2), MCA, requires governmental entity employers to defend and indemnify employees sued for misconduct committed in the course and scope of the employees' office or employment, including employees against whom a § 1983 action is brought. It does not refer to, or require, joinder of a governmental entity when an employee of that entity is sued. See § 2-9-305(2), MCA. Although the heading of § 2-9-305, MCA, contains the language "Governmental entity to be joined as defendant," nothing in the text of the statute relates to or supports that portion of the heading. We have held that the text of the statute takes precedence over the title in matters of statutory interpretation. See ISC Distrib., Inc. v. Trevor (1995), 273 Mont. 185, 196, 903 P.2d 170, 177.

Orozco's contention that, under § 2-9-305(2), MCA, the Department was a proper party in his § 1983 action is also without merit. The statute addresses actions brought against employees; it does not relate to the propriety or impropriety of suing governmental entities, and the law is clear that § 1983 does not apply to arms of the state. See § 2-9-305(2), MCA; Will, 491 U.S. at 70, 109 S.Ct. at 2312.

We hold that the District Court correctly concluded that the Department is not a "person" within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Individual Defendants

State officials sued for money damages in their official capacities also are not "persons" within the meaning of § 1983, because the suit is not a suit against the state officials, but is a suit against the officials' offices. Therefore, an action for money damages against a state official in his or her official capacity is no different than a suit against the state itself. Will, 491 U.S. at 71, 109 S.Ct. at 2312.

State officials are "persons" within the meaning of § 1983, however, if sued for money damages in their individual capacities for actions taken under color of state law. See Trout v. Bennett (1992), 252 Mont. 416, 425, 830 P.2d 81, 85-86 (following Hafer v. Melo (1991), 502 U.S. 21, 112 S.Ct. 358, 116 L.Ed.2d 301). Orozco argues on appeal that, because he sued the individual defendants in their individual capacities, the District Court erred in concluding that the individual defendants are not "persons" under § 1983.

Generally, where state officials are sued for damages under § 1983, it is presumed that the officials are sued in their individual capacities. See Shoshone-Bannock Tribes v. Fish & Game Comm'n, Idaho (9th Cir.1994), 42 F.3d 1278, 1284 (citation omitted).

Any other construction would be illogical where the complaint is silent as to capacity, since a claim for damages against state officials in their official capacities is plainly barred.

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, 42 F.3d at 1284. In cases where the complaint does not clearly...