Billy Russell Land v. Burke

BILLY RUSSELL LAND, Plaintiff, v. JUDGE BURKE, et al., Defendants.

1:19cv1084

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA

June 30, 2020

MEMORANDUM OPINION, ORDER, AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

This case comes before the Court on Plaintiff's Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (the "Application")(Docket Entry 1) filed in conjunction with his pro se Complaint (Docket Entry 2). For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant Plaintiff's instant Application for the limited purpose of recommending dismissal of this action under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) for failing to state a claim and as barred by various immunity doctrines.

LEGAL STANDARD

"The federal in forma pauperis statute, first enacted in 1892 [and now codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1915], is intended to guarantee that no citizen shall be denied access to the courts solely because his poverty makes it impossible for him to pay or secure the costs." Nasim v. Warden, Md. House of Corr., 64 F.3d 951, 953 (4th Cir. 1995) (en banc) (internal quotation marks omitted). "Dispensing with filing fees, however, [is] not without its problems. . . . In particular, litigants suing in forma pauperis d[o] not need to balance the prospects of successfully obtaining relief against the administrative costs of bringing suit." Nagy v. FMC Butner, 376 F.3d 252, 255 (4th Cir. 2004). To address this concern, the in forma pauperis statute provides that "the [C]ourt shall dismiss the case at any time if the [C]ourt determines . . . the action . . .(ii) fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (iii) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief." 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B).

As to the first of these grounds, a plaintiff "fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted," 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii), when the complaint does not "contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.'" Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (emphasis added) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). "Where a complaint pleads facts that are 'merely consistent with' a defendant's liability, it 'stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of "entitlement to relief."'" Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557). This standard "demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation." Id. In other words, "the tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions. Threadbare recitals of theelements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice." Id.¹

Another ground for dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) applies in situations where doctrines established by the United States Constitution or at common law immunize government entities and/or government personnel from liability for damages. See, e.g., Pennhurst State Sch. & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89 (1984) (discussing eleventh-amendment immunity of states and state officials); Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547 (1967) (describing interrelationship between 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and common-law immunity doctrines, such as judicial, legislative, and prosecutorial immunity); cf. Allen v. Burke, 690 F.2d 376, 379 (4th Cir. 1982) (noting that, even where "damages are theoretically available under [certain] statutes . . ., in some cases, immunity doctrines and special defenses, available only to public officials, preclude orseverely limit the damage remedy" (internal quotation marks omitted)).

INTRODUCTION

Asserting jurisdiction pursuant to "42 U.S.C. § 1983," for violation of his "Right to Travel, First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, [Fifth] Amendment, [and Eighth] Amendment [constitutional rights]" (Docket Entry 2 at 3),² Plaintiff initiated this action against four defendants, in both their individual and official capacities: (1) "John Doe Burke" ("Judge Burke"), (2) "Brittany Puckett" ("ADA Puckett"), (3) "Jim O'Neill" ("DA O'Neill"), and (4) "J.D. Stidham" ("Officer Stidham") (id. at 1-3). The Complaint states as its basis for claims under Section 1983 that, by "enforcing General Statute 20-111(2) and G.S. 20-309[,] Defendants are depriving [Plaintiff of] the right to travel, and threats[ and] fines are assessed. The Defendants have sentence[d Plaintiff] for contempt of court." (Id. at 4.) In support, the Complaint's "Statement of Claim" alleges:

This matter came about on 11/4/2018 when Officer [] Stidham of the Winston-Salem Police Department initiated a traffic stop for expired registration and [lack of] liability insurance.

[] Plaintiff . . . stated to Officer [] Stidham that [Plaintiff] was travel[]ing in his personal automobile, not driving a commercial vehicle. [] Plaintiff [ ] explained to Officer [] Stidham that he was in violationof the United States Constitution by issuing [Plaintiff] two citations for something protected by federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

. . . .

During the week of 9/23/19 thr[ough] 9/26/19[, ADA Puckett] informed [] Plaintiff [ ] through telephone that his court date was on 9/26/19 at 9:00 in Courtroom 5B . . . . [ADA] Puckett [later] informed [Plaintiff] by phone that the court proceedings w[ere] rescheduled to 1300 h[ours].

[] Plaintiff [ ] arrived at the Forsyth County Courthouse at 1310 h[ours] for a scheduled evidentiary hearing.

. . . Judge Burke [] presid[ed] over the hearing on both 9/23/19 and 9/26/19.

During the evidentiary hearing, . . . Judge Burke offered [] Plaintiff [ ] a plea bargain . . . . The plea bargain [required ] Plaintiff [ to] plead guilty to a non-moving violation.

[] Plaintiff [ ] informed Judge Burke that he had a right to travel in his automobile[] and the plea bargain was denied.

Immediately after [Plaintiff's] refusal to take [the] plea bargain[,] . . . Judge Burke directed sheriff deputies to arrest [] Plaintiff [ ] for failure to appear in court on 9/26/19, even though [] Plaintiff [ ] was present in court . . . . Bond was set at one-thousand dollars secured.

(Id. at 7-8 (quotation marks omitted).)

Finally, the Complaint asserts that Plaintiff "has and is experiencing mental and emotional pain" and requests "[a] violation fee of [Plaintiff's] liberty [in the amount of] $250,000 per incident or per 15 minutes or any part thereof." (Id. at 5.) The Complaint also requests "actual damages [in the amount of] $800,000[or] $250,000 [for] each defendant," and "punitive damages [in the amount of] $1,000,000 [ because] Defendants acted with malice, deception[,] and abuse of power." (Id. (parenthesis removed).)

DISCUSSION

As an initial matter, to state a claim for relief under Section 1983, Plaintiff must allege factual matter showing "that [he was] deprived of a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, and that the alleged deprivation was committed under color of state law." American Mfrs. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Sullivan, 526 U.S. 40, 49-50 (1999).³ Moreover, Plaintiff must raise his Section 1983 claims "against a 'person'" capable of committing a violation of his constitutional rights. Conley v. Ryan, 92 F. Supp. 3d 502, 519 (S.D. W. Va. 2015) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 1983). As "Congress did not exercise its power to abrogate a state's Eleventh Amendment immunity when it enacted 42 U.S.C. § 1983," Coffin v. South Carolina Dep't of Soc. Servs., 562 F. Supp.579, 585 (D.S.C. 1983), "a State is not a person within the meaning of § 1983," Will v. Michigan Dep't of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 64 (1989).

I. Judge Burke

First, the Complaint alleges that Judge Burke presided, as a judge, over Plaintiff's criminal matter. (See Docket Entry 2 at 7-8.) In this regard, "[j]udges performing judicial acts within their jurisdiction are entitled to absolute immunity from civil liability claims," In re Mills, 287 F. App'x. 273, 279 (4th Cir. 2008) (emphasis added), "even if such acts were allegedly done either maliciously or corruptly," King v. Myers, 973 F.2d 354, 356 (4th Cir. 1992) (citing Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 554 (1967)). See also Mireles v. Waco, 502 U.S. 9, 11 (1991) (stating that "judicial immunity is an immunity from suit, not just from ultimate assessment of damages"). To determine whether an action constitutes a "judicial act" protected by judicial immunity, the Court must consider "whether the function is one normally performed by a judge, and whether the parties dealt with the judge in his or her judicial capacity." King, 973 F.2d at 357. Thus, a plaintiff can overcome the judicial immunity bar only if the judge's "actions were non-judicial or the actions were judicial but were taken without jurisdiction." Evans v. Downey, No. 1:15-CV-117, 2016 WL 3562102, at *2 (W.D. Ky. June 24, 2016) (unpublished) (citing Mireles, 502 U.S. at 13).

Here, the Complaint does not allege that Judge Burke lacked jurisdiction over Plaintiff's case. (See Docket Entry 2 at 7-8.) Further, the actions Plaintiff challenges - conducting hearings, issuing orders, setting bond amounts, and the like - all qualify as judicial. See King, 973 F.2d at 357. In addition, even though Plaintiff alleges that Judge Burke deprived Plaintiff of his constitutional rights, judicial immunity still applies. See id. at 356 (ruling that judicial immunity attaches even where a judge's actions qualify as malicious or corrupt); see also Mikhail v. Kahn, 991 F. Supp. 2d 596, 660 (E.D. Pa. 2014) (holding that "[j]udges are absolutely immune from suit" for money damages arising from their judicial acts, even if such acts took "place ex parte and without notice or a hearing" (internal quotation marks omitted)). Accordingly, Judge Burke enjoys absolute judicial immunity from Plaintiff's damages claims.

Also, any official capacity claim for damages against Judge Burke fails as a matter of law because the State of North Carolina employs him, see N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 7A-3 (bringing all court operations under control of state), 7A-41 (establishing ...