vacating the Board’s order because substantial evidence did not show that the employee’s supervisor knew of his protected activity
How later courts described this case
- vacating the Board’s order because substantial evidence did not show that the employee’s supervisor knew of his protected activity
- "Inasmuch as the plaintiffs sought to hold the private defendants liable on a theory that they conspired with the judge to bring about the allegedly unconstitutional acts, the district court held that the judge being immune, and no other state action be *360 ing properly alleged, the constitutional claims against the other defendants should also be dismissed.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
FAIRCHILD, Chief Judge,
concurring.
I concur with Judge Tone, and would add only the following observation.
In most judicial decisions the judge “agrees” with one or more parties and their counsel. Thus it is easy for a state court loser to fulfill, superficially, the agreement element of conspiracy. Ingenious counsel can readily spell out a claim that a state judicial decision impairs a right that is constitutionally beyond the power of the state or impairs a liberty or property interest without due process. Then the wrongful object element is seemingly fulfilled.
As noted by Judge Sprecher, there is a strong policy reason against lower federal court review of state court proceedings. For this reason, I would build into any principle for the recognition of a § 1983 claim based on a private person’s conspiracy with a state judge, a requirement of pleading and proof not only that the private party used the state court proceedings to produce a constitutional wrong, but that there was agreement between the party and judge beyond ordinary request and persuasion by the prevailing party, and that the state court judge invidiously used his office to deprive the § 1983 plaintiff of a federally protected right. See Adkins v. Underwood, 520 F.2d 890, 893 (7th Cir. 1975).