Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Summary Judgment Properly Denied in Sec. 1983 Case

York v. City of Las Cruces, __ F.3d __, 2008 WL 1795062 (10th Cir. April 22, 2008)

No summary judgment in 42 U.S.C. 1983 case for qualified immunity to police who arrested plaintiff for saying “bitch” in public and within the hearing of others, and used brutal force in arresting him. Because the facts raised the question of whether the amount of force used was reasonable, even viewing it from the perspective of a reasonable officer, and because under the law of the time no reasonable officer would have determined that there was probable cause to arrest the plaintiff for saying “bitch” in public, summary judgment was correctly denied.