[Download] "Thomas v. Sams" by United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Thomas v. Sams
- Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- Release Date : January 29, 1984
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 60 KB
Description
ALVIN B. RUBIN, Circuit Judge: In the course of a dispute concerning the construction by a city of a sewer line across a university campus, a city mayor, who was also ex officio its magistrate and municipal judge, signed a criminal complaint against the unversity's president. Then, in his capacity as magistrate, he issued a warrant for the president's arrest. As a result, the president was detained for more than two hours until he was able to post a cash bond. Invoking 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the president sued the city and the city official. Although the actions taken by the city official in his judicial capacity as a magistrate were shielded by judicial immunity, we affirm the bench-trial judgment against the city official because the arrest warrant did not immunize his prior illegal conduct. The court rejected the president's claim against the city on the bases that the city had not authorized the mayor to arrest the president and the court was ""unwilling to impose liability upon local governments because of the strictly legal actions of their judicial officers."" Because the record demonstrates that the mayor's actions represented city policy, we reverse the judgment in favor of the city and hold it jointly liable with its mayor.