Snyder v. Talbot

• Decision Date: 15 October 1993
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 93-129-B-C.
• Citation: 836 F. Supp. 19
• Parties: Dennis M. SNYDER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Christine TALBOT, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maine

836 F. Supp. 19

Dennis M. SNYDER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Christine TALBOT, et al., Defendants.

Civ. No. 93-129-B-C.

United States District Court, D. Maine.

October 15, 1993.

Dennis M. Snyder, pro se.

Christine Talbot, pro se.

Francis Talbot, Jr., pro se.

Christopher C. Taintor, Norman, Hanson & Detroy, Portland, ME, for defendant Claudia Sharon.

Mary Mitchell Friedman, Petruccelli & Martin, Portland, ME, for defendant Mary Gay Kennedy.

William W. Willard, Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, Portland, ME, for defendant Jeanne Feintech.

Peter J. Brann, Asst. Atty. Gen., Augusta, ME, for defendants Edward Rogers, Roland Beaudoin and Ellen Gorman.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT SHARON'S MOTION TO DISMISS

GENE CARTER, Chief Judge.

This action was instituted on June 1, 1993, by Plaintiff Dennis Snyder on his own behalf and on behalf of his minor child, Plaintiff "S-8", against Defendants Christine and Francis Talbot, Claudia Sharon, Mary Gay Kennedy, Jeanne Feintech, Edward Rogers, Roland Beaudoin, and Ellen Gorman.¹ The factual allegations raised in the Complaint relate to a contested divorce and custody dispute in the State of Maine between Plaintiff Snyder and Defendant Christine Talbot (hereinafter "Talbot") who are the natural parents of Plaintiff "S-8". The Complaint raises causes of action against Defendants pursuant to sections 1983 and 1985(3) of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, alleging that Defendants conspired to deprive Plaintiff Snyder of his rights and liberties protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3). The rights and liberties alleged to have been violated pertain to Plaintiff's right to privacy, encompassing parental rights to enjoy the companionship and society of one's children; rights to due process of the law; and rights to equal protection under the law, all of which are protected against state intervention under the Fourteenth Amendment.² Plaintiff's remaining allegations on behalf of his minor child, Plaintiff "S-8", concern only Defendant Feintech and are dealt with in a separate Memorandum of Decision and Order issued by this Court today. (Docket # 71).

Now pending before the Court is a Motion to Dismiss for failure to state a claim, filed on behalf of Defendant Claudia Sharon, who served as Talbot's private attorney during the divorce/custody litigation. Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6).³ This Court will grant Defendant Sharon's Motion to Dismiss with respect to causes of action filed pursuant to section 1983 because the Complaint fails to allege facts sufficient to support a finding that Defendant acted "under color" of state law, which is a prerequisite to maintaining a cause of action under that section of the Civil Rights Act. 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This Court will also grant Defendant's Motion to Dismiss with respect to causes of action filed pursuant to section 1985(3) because the factual allegations in the Complaint, at most, establish Defendant's participation in a private conspiracy, and private conspirators cannot be held liable for violating rights that are protected under the Constitution only against encroachment by states. 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3). Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 113 S.Ct. 753, 764-65, 122 L.Ed.2d 34 (U.S.1993).

To resolve Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, the Court must accept as true all factual allegations in the Complaint, construe them in favor of Plaintiff, and decide whether, as a matter of law, Plaintiff could prove no set of facts which would entitle him to relief. See Roeder v. Alpha Industries, Inc., 814 F.2d 22, 25 (1st Cir.1987); Gott v. Simpson, 745 F.Supp. 765, 768 (D.Me.1990). The factual allegations underlying Plaintiff's Complaint with respect to Defendant Sharon are set forth below.

I. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

Plaintiff initiated divorce proceedings in August of 1988. The divorce was granted, but custody and visitation were still being litigated when Talbot hired Defendant Claudia Sharon as her legal counsel in the summer of 1990. As proceedings continued into the summer of 1991, Plaintiff was diagnosed as having a disability known as "bi-polar illness." Amended Complaint (Docket # 12), ¶ 69. Plaintiff alleges that this disability places him into "a discrete and insular minority" of handicapped people, id. at ¶ 12, and that he is also a member of a suspect class defined as "divorcing or divorced male parents who have minor children," "having the immutable characteristics of nonbirthing reproductive organs." Id. at ¶ 13.

The gravamen of Plaintiff's conspiracy allegations against Defendant Sharon is that she joined Talbot, Talbot's husband Francis, and his minor child's guardian ad litem (hereinafter "GAL") in a concerted plan to deprive Plaintiff of his constitutional rights (i.e., rights to due process, equal protection, personhood and privacy interests in the society and companionship of his son). The Complaint alleges that the Defendant conspirators were motivated by animus directed at Plaintiff because of his disability and gender as defined above. Id. at ¶¶ 254-85.

In carrying out this alleged conspiracy, Plaintiff claims that Defendant Sharon joined Talbot in falsely informing school personnel and police that Plaintiff was not authorized to pick up his child at school, id. at ¶¶ 98-108; in falsely informing Plaintiff that his visitation schedule with his child had been terminated, id. at ¶ 101; in conspiring with Talbot to disregard court visitation orders, id. at ¶¶ 107 & 131; in exchanging notes and joking with the GAL during court proceedings, id. at ¶¶ 112 & 126; and in relying on the GAL's recommendations to move the court to restrict Plaintiff's visitation rights, id. at ¶ 131. The Complaint further alleges that these actions taken by Defendant and her co-conspirators served to deprive Plaintiff of the companionship of his child for a period exceeding ten months and caused emotional distress, mental anguish, and other damages. Id. at ¶¶ 259, 267, 275, & 283.

In support of his allegations that Defendant and other conspirators were motivated by animus directed at him based on his gender and his handicap, Plaintiff's Complaint describes a conversation that he had with the GAL in which she allegedly made "disparaging remarks" about her husband's relationship with their minor children, id. at ¶ 84, and further alleges that the GAL demonstrated a bias against him by refusing to review the materials or interview witnesses submitted on Plaintiff's behalf. Id. at ¶ 86. With respect to Defendant, the Complaint quotes from a court motion filed by Sharon in which she asked:

On what basis does the Court conclude that `Mr. Snyder's rapid and radical mood changes ... present the appearance of instability' rather than instability? On what evidence does the Court conclude that Mr. Snyder is not in fact unstable?

Id. at ¶ 147. In addition to alleging that the above actions constitute a conspiracy motivated by class-based animus because of Plaintiff's handicap and gender, the Complaint asserts that the failure of the state court to sanction Defendant Sharon's conduct was sufficient to transform her behavior into "state action," supporting a cause of action under section 1983. 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Id. at ¶¶ 372 & 381. The Court will first consider the section 1983 cause of action before assessing the merits of the 1985(3) conspiracy allegations.

II. 42 U.S.C. § 1983⁴

Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Sharon, by conspiring to prevent Plaintiff from visiting with his son, acted "under color" of state law in depriving Plaintiff of his parental right of companionship and society with his natural child. Id. at ¶¶ 371-73 & 379-82. Because Plaintiff does not allege that Defendant acted in concert with any state actor, the Complaint fails to state a claim and will be dismissed.

As the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has indicated, "(i)t is black-letter law that a showing of interference with a constitutionally-protected right by someone acting under color of state law is a prerequisite to a § 1983 action". Malachowski v. Keene, 787 F.2d 704, 710 (1st Cir.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 828, 107 S.Ct. 107, 93 L.Ed.2d 56 (1986) (citing Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970), and Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 81 S.Ct. 473, 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961)). The Defendant need not be an officer of the state to satisfy the purposes of the statute. "It is enough that he is a willful participant in joint activity with the State or its agents". Dennis v. Sparks, 449 U.S. 24, 27, 101 S.Ct. 183, 186, 66 L.Ed.2d 185 (1980).

In order to establish that a private individual acted "under color" of law, the Supreme Court has required a showing that the Defendant "reached an understanding" with a state officer, Adickes, 398 U.S. at 152, 90 S.Ct. at 1605, or corruptly conspired with a judge through the use of bribery or other means, Dennis, 449 U.S. at 29, 101 S.Ct. at 187. The Complaint before the Court, however, is bereft of any allegations that Defendant Sharon made improper contact or reached an agreement with the judge with respect to the alleged violations of Plaintiff's rights. The Complaint alleges merely that the judge's failure to sanction Defendant for her actions "conveys sufficient state authority, power, aid, acquiescence and state action" to satisfy the "under color" of law requirement of section 1983. Complaint, ¶¶ 372 & 381. These allegations, at most, depict Defendant as "resorting to the courts and being on the winning side of a lawsuit" which "does not make a party a co-conspirator or a joint actor with the judge." Dennis, 449 U.S. at 28, 101 S.Ct. at 186.⁵

If the Complaint is read liberally, which is the standard applied to pleadings filed by pro se litigants,⁶ then it is possible to make out a cause of action alleging that Defendant acted under color of state law by conspiring with the guardian ad litem. The Complaint alleges that the...