# Smith v. City of Fontana

> Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · January 6, 1987 · 818 F.2d 1411

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8950227

## Case

- **Full name:** Sonja Renee SMITH, as Administratrix of the Estate of Rufus A. Smith, Sr., as Guardian Ad Litem for the minor children of the and individually and Marcus Smith, a minor Netra Smith, a minor Anthony Smith, a minor Jarren Smith, a minor Sherri Smith, a minor Arkillius Smith, a minor and Tashieka Smith, a minor, Rufus Anthony Smith, Jr., individually v. The CITY OF FONTANA, a municipal corporation Robert Mejia Larry Smith Nathan A. Simon Charles A. Koehler Ben Abernathy Bill Freeman Donald F. Day William Fragness Jack Ratelle John M. Rager and Kathy Wilson
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- **Decided:** January 6, 1987
- **Citations:** 818 F.2d 1411
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurring in part by Alarcon
- **Judges:** Alarcon, Norris, Tang
- **Cited by:** 252 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- **Red flag:** Overruled on other grounds by Hodgers-Durgin v. De La Vina, 199 F.3d 1037 (1999).
- Negative treatments: 1
- Distinguished by: 0
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8950227

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding that the constitutional interest in familial companionship extends to protect children from unwarranted state interference with their relationships with their parents when father who was unarmed and offered only instinctive resistance to blows administered by police of…
- holding that victim's children "were not directly subjected to the excessive use of state force and therefore cannot maintain personal causes of action under section 1983 in reliance on this Fourth Amendment theory"
- holding that “Kelson’s determination that parents have a constitutionally protected liberty interest in their continued association with their children remains good law.”
- holding that standing for a damages claim satisfies Article III standing with respect to other forms of relief “involv[ing] the same operative facts and legal theory”
- holding that a damages claim satisfies Article III standing with respect to other forms of relief “involv[ing] the same operative facts and legal theory”

## Opinion text

ALARCON, Circuit Judge,
concurring and dissenting:
I concur in the judgment, and in Parts I, II, III, IV, VI, VII, and VIII. I dissent from that portion of Part V which appears to offer advice to the plaintiffs to assist them upon remand in curing the deficiencies in their pleading. These suggestions are unnecessary to the opinion. They will also present clearly avoidable problems for the district court, and this court, in the event of a further appeal, in distinguishing the law of this case from gratuitous obiter dictum.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8950227. Public record. Not legal advice.