Summary Judgment in Favor of Bullying City Official Correct in 1983 Case

Williams v. Berney, --- F.3d ----, 2008 WL 708436 (10th Cir. March 18, 2008).

Summary judgment was proper on substantive due process claim under § 1983 against city licensing official who bullied and assaulted business owners who did not have proper license. Attempting to distinguish 1983 claims from general tort claims, the 10th created a framework for analyzing claims for use of excessive force by public officials who are not otherwise authorized to use force, holding that a Plaintiff must show that such official abused governmental authority as an integral element of the attack. In what seems tautological reasoning, the 10th held that the official did not abuse his governmental authority (because he was not authorized to use force).