# Alonzo Bonner v. Joseph Coughlin

> Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · June 2, 1975 · 517 F.2d 1311

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9461859

## Case

- **Full name:** Alonzo BONNER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Joseph COUGHLIN Et Al., Defendants-Appellees
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- **Decided:** June 2, 1975
- **Citations:** 517 F.2d 1311; 32 A.L.R. Fed. 585
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Fairchild
- **Judges:** Fairchild, Stevens, Sprecher
- **Cited by:** 154 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- **Yellow flag:** Modified by Alonzo Bonner v. Joseph Coughlin, 545 F.2d 565 (1976).
- Negative treatments: 1
- Distinguished by: 0
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9461859

## Opinion text

FAIRCHILD, Chief Judge
(concurring).
With respect to Part I of the opinion of the court, I agree that Bonner has stated a cause of action for the seizure of his transcript. I would predicate the cause of action upon the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and not reach the question whether an incarcerated individual is entitled to Fourth Amendment protection of his interest in privacy. See, however, Hansen v. May, 502 F.2d 728, 730 (9th Cir. 1974).
With respect to Part II of the opinion, I agree that Bonner’s claim that the negligence of the guards caused the loss of his property is not an adequate claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . I would base this result on the proposition that the negligence of a state employee which causes loss of property is not state action which deprives the owner of property under the Fourteenth Amendment, nor is it, under § 1983, action under color of state law subjecting the plaintiff to such deprivation. The availability of a state remedy in damages seems to me to be irrelevant to the existence of § 1983 liability. See Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 183 , 81 S.Ct. 473 , 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961); Chevigny, Section 1983 Jurisdiction: A Reply, 83 Harv.L.Rev. 1352 (1970).

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9461859. Public record. Not legal advice.