Strahan v. Frazier
| Decision Date | 01 August 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. A. 00-12355-WGY.,CIV. A. 00-12355-WGY. |
| Citation | 156 F.Supp.2d 80 |
| Parties | Richard Max STRAHAN, Plaintiff, v. Paul FRAZIER, Chief, Police Department, Town of Braintree, Massachusetts; William Sellgren; Karen MacAleese, Lieutenant, Police Department, Town of Braintree, Massachusetts; Richard Sanderson, Sergeant, Police Department, Town of Braintree, Massachusetts, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Adam F. Keats, Cambridge, MA, Pro se.
Richard Max Strahan, Cambridge, MA, Pro Se.
Katharine I. Goree, Kopelman & Paige, Barbara J. Saint Andre, Kopelman & Paige, Boston, MA, for Defendants
Richard Max Strahan1 ("Strahan") may be a latter day William Lloyd Garrison. Loud, obnoxious, irascible, contentious, obstreperous, and utterly contemptuous of court processes, when watching and listening to him, see generally Prelim. Inj. Hr'g Tr.; Mot. Hr'g Tr., one can hear Garrison say, "I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—AND I WILL BE HEARD." William Lloyd Garrison, To the Public, The Liberator, Jan. 1, 1831. Strahan is, of course, the paradigmatic measure of this Court's ability and willingness to protect the civil rights of all who come before it.
Strahan brings suit against the defendants, four officers of the Braintree Police Department (collectively, "the Police Defendants"), alleging that they improperly prevented him from gathering signatures for an initiative petition at the South Shore Plaza Shopping Mall ("the Plaza"), a private shopping mall.
Strahan's complaint sets forth three counts. Count I alleges that all of the Police Defendants violated the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution as well as rights under the Massachusetts constitution and seeks a remedy under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985;2 Count II alleges that two of the Police Defendants violated the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments as well as rights under the Massachusetts constitution and seeks a remedy under section 1983; and Count III alleges that all of the Police Defendants violated the federal and state constitutions and seeks a remedy under the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act ("MCRA").
On March 19, 2001, the Police Defendants moved for summary judgment on all counts of Strahan's complaint and to stay discovery pending resolution of their motion for summary judgment. On March 28, 2001, the Court granted the Police Defendants' motion to stay discovery. The Court scheduled a hearing for the summary judgment motion on April 12, 2001. Strahan failed to appear at this hearing, and the Court accordingly dismissed Strahan's suit for failure to prosecute.
On April 23, 2001, Strahan filed a motion for reconsideration of the Court's order of dismissal. On April 26, 2001, the Court held a hearing on Strahan's motion for reconsideration and granted it as to Strahan because he was unable to attend the April 12, 2001 motion hearing. Because Strahan was not then prepared to oppose the Police Defendants' motion for summary judgment, the Court allowed Strahan fourteen days within which to file a written opposition to the Police Defendants' motion for summary judgment.
On May 15, 2001, Strahan filed his untimely written opposition to the Police Defendants' motion for summary judgment and an accompanying affidavit.3 After consideration of Strahan's opposition, this Court, on June 25, 2001, granted in part and denied in part the Police Defendants' motion for summary judgment.4 Pursuant to this Court's order of March 28, 2001, the stay of discovery was lifted on that same date. On July 9, 2001, the Police Defendants filed a motion for partial reconsideration, which the Court denied on July 23, 2001.
As this Court's order on June 25, 2001 set the case for a prompt trial, this memorandum sets forth the reasoning behind that order.
Strahan is a conservation biologist who serves as the National Campaign Director of GreenWorld, an environmental association aimed at protecting endangered species. Compl. ¶ 10;5 Strahan Aff. ¶ 1. Over the last decade, GreenWorld has sponsored several proposed laws for placement on a state-wide election ballot through the initiative petition process set forth in the Articles of Amendment of the Massachusetts constitution. Strahan Aff. ¶ 3. In order to obtain support for its campaigns, GreenWorld's volunteers have been active in "public outreach"—"the peaceful communication of ideas and the concepts ... underlying [the] campaigns to members of the Public." Id. ¶ 2; see Compl. ¶ 10.
The Plaza is a privately owned shopping mall. Carr Aff. ¶ 2. Michael Carr ("Carr") is the Chief of Security at the Plaza, and has been employed there since 1991. Id. ¶ 1. According to Carr, the Plaza routinely allows groups and individuals to collect signatures for petitions in a peaceful manner, id. ¶ 2, but Strahan has caused a number of disturbances at the Plaza, id. ¶ 3 & Ex. A1 (providing incident reports). Carr asserts that Strahan has only been asked to leave the Plaza when he causes disturbances or harasses visitors; on these occasions, the Plaza has sought assistance from the Braintree Police Department. Id. ¶ 4.
Four Braintree police officers were involved in the events set forth in the complaint. Chief Paul Frazier ("Chief Frazier") is Chief of Police of the Town of Braintree. Compl. ¶ 5. Sergeant Richard Sanderson ("Sergeant Sanderson") has worked as a police officer for the Town of Braintree for twenty-four years. Sanderson Aff. ¶¶ 1-2. Officer William Sellgren ("Officer Sellgren") has served as a police officer for the Town of Braintree for thirty-seven years. Sellgren Aff. ¶¶ 1-2. Detective Lieutenant Karen MacAleese ("Lieutenant MacAleese") has been a police officer for the Town of Braintree for fourteen years. MacAleese Aff. ¶¶ 1-2.
While gathering signatures for initiative petitions, GreenWorld sometimes accepts donations to support its campaign activities. Compl. ¶ 12; Strahan Aff. ¶ 9. Strahan maintains that "[e]very shopping mall tries to unlawfully restrain [GreenWorld's] peaceful and unobtrusive initiative petition campaign in some weird and arbitrary manner." Strahan Aff. ¶ 5.
In 2000, GreenWorld was conducting an initiative petition campaign to place the Massachusetts Environmentally Safe Fishing Act on the state-wide election ballot. Compl. ¶ 11; Strahan Aff. ¶ 3. GreenWorld, and consequently Strahan, attempted to gather signatures for the initiative petition at several shopping malls. Compl. ¶ 12; Strahan Aff. ¶ 4.
With this background, the Court turns to the specific incidents set forth in the complaint and Strahan's affidavit.
Strahan states that in or around 1992,6 the Police Defendants, specifically Sanderson arrested him for trespass and disorderly conduct simply for "peacefully gather[ing] signatures on an initiative petition." Strahan Aff. ¶ 18; see also Compl. ¶ 16. Strahan was then taken to the Braintree Police Department where he was taunted by the officers, including the Police Defendants. Strahan Aff. ¶ 19. According to Strahan, at his trial for this arrest, Braintree police officers falsely testified that they had arrested Strahan because a woman had complained that he had harassed her. Id. ¶ 20; see also Compl. ¶ 16. Strahan states that the court dismissed the charges against him. Strahan Aff. ¶ 20.
On October 30, 2000, Strahan contacted the Plaza's management office to inform the Plaza's manager that he would be collecting signatures for an initiative petition the next day, Compl. ¶ 14; Carr Aff. ¶ 5, and on October 31, 2000, Strahan arrived at the Plaza to collect his signatures, Compl. ¶ 14; Strahan Aff. ¶ 22. Because the parties' factual accounts of the events of October 31, 2000 differ dramatically, the Court sets forth both accounts separately.
When Strahan arrived at the Plaza on October 31, 2000, he went to the Plaza's management office to inform the management that he had arrived. Compl. ¶ 14; Strahan Aff. ¶ 23. Strahan asked to speak directly to the Plaza's manager about his petitioning "to establish a cooperative relationship," Compl. ¶ 14, and "hopefully [to] get his assurance that he would not immediately have [Strahan] arrested," Strahan Aff. ¶ 23. Strahan states that immediately after he shook the Plaza manager's hand, the manager became irate and screamed 7 Compl. ¶ 14. Strahan indicates that he replied by informing the manager that he "was going to gather signatures in a peaceful manner and that [the manager] should not try and stop [him]." Strahan Aff. ¶ 23. Strahan then left the management office and attempted to begin petitioning. Compl. ¶ 14; Strahan Aff. ¶ 23. Several Plaza employees, however, physically blocked him from doing so. Compl. ¶ 14; Strahan Aff. ¶ 23.
Finding himself "in the middle of a police riot," Strahan Aff. ¶ 23, Strahan states that he decided that the best course of action would be to plead directly with Chief Frazier to allow him to continue to petition peacefully without police intervention. Strahan Aff. ¶ 23. Accordingly, Strahan called the Braintree Police Department several times in an attempt to prevent the Plaza employees from harassing him. Compl. ¶ 14. Sergeant Sanderson, as the watch commander that day, Sanderson Aff. ¶ 3, responded to Strahan's calls, Strahan Aff. ¶ 24; see also Compl. ¶ 14. Strahan asked to speak to Chief Frazier. Strahan Aff. ¶ 24. Strahan then appealed to both Sergeant Sanderson and Chief Frazier to protect his right to gather signatures. Id. The police were "very unsupportive" and threatened Strahan for using the 911...
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