Sellars v. Procunier

• Decision Date: 09 April 1981
• Docket Number: No. 78-1120,78-1120
• Parties: John Houston SELLARS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Raymond K. PROCUNIER et al., Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 1295

641 F.2d 1295

John Houston SELLARS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Raymond K. PROCUNIER et al., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 78-1120.

United States Court of Appeals,

Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted May 15, 1980.

Decided April 9, 1981.

John Houston Sellars, San Diego, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant.

Ramon De La Guardia, Sacramento, Cal., for defendant-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.

Before HUG and ALARCON, Circuit Judges, and BLUMENFELD ^*, District Judge.

ALARCON, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner John Houston Sellars ("Sellars") is an inmate of the California Mens Colony at San Luis Obispo. Respondent Procunier was chairman of the California Adult Authority. ¹ Petitioner filed this action in district court, alleging that Procunier and other California Adult Authority officials had conspired to deprive him of rights under the first, fifth, sixth, eighth and fourteenth amendments by giving him a parole release date that requires him to serve an excessively long prison sentence. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants on the ground that parole board members are absolutely immune to suit under the Civil Rights Act (42 U.S.C. § 1983) ² for actions taken when processing parole applications.

The question before us is whether parole board members enjoy any immunity from civil rights suits brought against them by prisoners, ³ and if so, whether that immunity is absolute or qualified. ⁴

FACTS

In 1973, petitioner was convicted of arson in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Petitioner's probation report indicates that within a 10-month period petitioner had ignited flammable liquid at the doors of four Los Angeles-area ballet studios. Petitioner's four children had been enrolled as students at the schools and he had apparently grown dissatisfied with the instruction they were receiving.

The sentencing judge characterized petitioner as "a grave danger to the community," and committed him to state prison on November 23, 1973. In 1975, an Adult Authority panel consisting of respondents Brown and Castro fixed petitioner's prison term at 11 years and set a parole date of December 21, 1983.

Petitioner then filed the instant suit, alleging that his release date was set in retaliation for his expression of political views and for his having filed habeas corpus and other petitions in various courts.

INTRODUCTION

The language of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 is broad and sweeping; "Every person" who, under color of state law or custom, "subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States ... to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured ...." ⁵ (emphasis added) "By its terms, § 1983 'creates a species of tort liability that on its face admits of no immunities.' " Owen v. City of Independence, 445 U.S. 622, 634, 100 S.Ct. 1398, 1407, 63 L.Ed.2d 673 (1980), quoting Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 417, 96 S.Ct. 984, 988, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976). The congressional debates surrounding the passage of § 1 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 17 Stat. 13 the predecessor of § 1983 confirm the broad sweep of the statutory language. See Owen v. City of Independence, 100 S.Ct. at 1408; Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 561-63, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 1221-22, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967) (Douglas, J., dissenting).

Despite the statutory language and the absence in the legislative history of any attempt to narrow that language, it is well established that certain classes of public officials enjoy at least some degree of immunity from suits under § 1983. The Supreme Court has utilized two approaches in determining whether a given public official is shielded in any degree from § 1983 liability. In some cases, the Supreme Court has held that some immunities survive § 1983 because at the time of § 1983's passage they were "so firmly rooted in the common law and (were) supported by such strong policy reasons that 'Congress would have specifically so provided had it wished to abolish (them.)' " Owen v. City of Independence, 100 S.Ct. at 1408, citing Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. at 555, 87 S.Ct. at 1218.

It is no longer the case, however, that immunity at common law in 1871 is the sine qua non for according public officials immunity under § 1983. In some circumstances, the Court has examined the "functional comparability" of the role of the official under scrutiny to the role of analogous officials who enjoyed immunity under common law in order to determine whether the modern-day official is entitled to any degree of immunity. See, e. g., Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 512-17, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 2913-16, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978); Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. at 423 n. 20, 96 S.Ct. at 991 n. 20; Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 245-49, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1691-92, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). Immunity for parole board officials was apparently not well established at common law in 1871 when § 1983 was enacted. ⁶ The question before us, therefore, is whether parole board officials enjoy an immunity from § 1983 liability under the test of "functional comparability."

1. Absolute and Qualified Immunity

a. Absolute Immunity

Of the officials who have been accorded absolute immunity, judges and those performing judge-like functions are the most analogous, in our view, to parole board officials. ⁷

The cases granting absolute immunity to judges recognize that extraordinary reasons are required to justify the drastic step of barring the genuinely wronged individual from any redress against the wrongdoer. The Supreme Court has thus enunciated several policy reasons for striking the balance in these cases in favor of completely shielding the judge from suits under § 1983. The judge is in a unique posture in the adversary system. His or her sole task is to make impartial decisions in vigorously contested actions, to "decide '(c) ontroversies involving not merely great pecuniary interests, but the liberty and character of the parties, and consequently exciting the deepest feelings.' " Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. at 509, 98 S.Ct. at 2912 quoting Bradley v. Fisher, 80 U.S. (13 Wall) 335, 348, 20 L.Ed. 646 (1872). The threat of constant litigation against the decision-maker instituted by disappointed litigants is apparent: it cannot be gainsaid that "(t)he loser in one forum will frequently seek another, charging the participants in the first with unconstitutional animus." Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. at 512, 98 S.Ct. at 2913. Judges "should not have to fear that unsatisfied litigants may hound (them) with litigation charging malice or corruption." Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. at 554, 87 S.Ct. at 1217.

Thus, the proper functioning and indeed the very survival of any independent, dispute-resolving system requires that the dread of subsequent lawsuits be prevented from becoming a factor in a judge's assessment of the merits of a case. Moreover, the judge's time which would be diverted to contesting such litigation could severely constrict the time available for the performance of his or her primary duties. ⁸ Absolute immunity, as the Supreme Court has acknowledged, leaves the genuinely wronged person without civil redress. However, broader societal concerns dictate that the balance be struck in favor of freeing judges from the constant fear of retaliatory suits. The alternative of qualified immunity, or no immunity at all, would disserve the public interest, because these officials would still be subject in some degree to vexatious litigation.

Nevertheless, the balance might not be struck in favor of absolute immunity were it not for the presence of safeguards built into the judicial process that tend to reduce the need for private damage actions as a means of controlling unconstitutional conduct. See Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. at 512, 98 S.Ct. at 2913. ⁹

b. Qualified Immunity

Qualified immunity has been accorded to certain state officials for decisions made in the good faith exercise of their official responsibilities. ¹⁰ It has been recognized that some degree of immunity is necessary in order to insulate these public servants from the possibility of vexatious litigation. In addition, it is accepted that these officials must take prompt action based on information provided to them by third parties. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. at 246, 94 S.Ct. at 1691; Wood v. Strickland, 420 U.S. 308, 319, 95 S.Ct. 992, 999, 43 L.Ed.2d 214 (1975). For that reason, it is thought to be unfair to subject them to liability for good faith actions based on information that later turns out to be incorrect, or for good faith actions taken under the press of time.

The cases have held, however, that such public officials do not require the complete protection afforded to judicial officials. Implicit in these decisions is a recognition of the distinction between judicial and political decision-making. We expect and require the judge to be an impartial fact finder. Decision making by a public official, on the other hand, is above all a political process. See Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U.S. 209, 228, 97 S.Ct. 1782, 1795, 52 L.Ed.2d 261 (1977). We do not expect impartiality; rather we expect that an elected official will balance the demands of his or her constituency in making a decision, and that the decision will to some extent reflect the pressures exerted on the official by those with an interest in the controversy. Political decision-making unlike judicial decision-making is not a pristine process that must be protected at all cost from infection by fear of lawsuits. And although non-judicial executives do run some risk of civil right suits by citizens disgruntled for one reason or another, these suits cannot be expected with the same frequency as suits against judicial officers. Unlike judges or judge-like officials, state officials are not primarily adjudicators of disputes brought before them by advocates who legitimately expect...