# Reams v. Irvin

> Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · March 9, 2009 · 561 F.3d 1258

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9416188

## Case

- **Full name:** Edna S. REAMS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Tommy IRVIN, Individually and in His Official Capacity as Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Melinda Dennis, Laura Fokes, Defendants-Appellees
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- **Decided:** March 9, 2009
- **Citations:** 561 F.3d 1258; 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 5188; 2009 WL 579222
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Barkett
- **Judges:** Birch, Barkett, Korman
- **Cited by:** 48 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9416188

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding that no pre-deprivation 3 hearing was required before seizing malnourished horses because “the state’s interest in 4 preventing the inhumane treatment of animals is undeniably substantial and would be 5 significantly compromised if the state were to require a hearing b…
- finding that statutory notice satisfied due process where plaintiff had “thirty days from the time of the impoundment to request a hearing . . . . this was ample time for [plaintiff] to consult publicly available documents, discover her right to a hearing, and exercise that ri…
- holding that “the risk of an erroneous deprivation ... was relatively low” when a veterinarian and trained inspec tors observed conditions at a farm, concluded that donkeys and horses were in unsafe conditions, and removed the animals without a prior hearing
- affirming the district court’s dismissal of procedural due process claims on the basis that post-deprivation judicial review in state court served as a "judicial safety valve,” foreclosing any procedural constitutional challenges
- applying the Mathews v. Eldridge balancing test to reject a claim that a pre-deprivation hearing is required when a state statutory scheme authorizes the impoundment of animals for safety reasons

## Opinion text

BARKETT, Circuit Judge,
concurring specially:
I concur in the district court’s conclusion that summary judgment was appropriate for the defendants in this case. I agree that the district court was correct in finding that due process was satisfied by the availability of both administrative and state-court review. Because there is no constitutional violation in this case, those defendants sued in their individual capacities are also entitled to qualified immunity.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9416188. Public record. Not legal advice.