Fortson v. L.A. City Attorney's Office, No. 15-55497 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that defendants violated his Second Amendment rights by seizing firearms and ammunition he kept in his home, and then prosecuting him for the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. At issue was the constitutionality of California's ten-year ban on possession of firearms after a conviction for misdemeanor domestic violence. The court concluded that, because it has already upheld the more restrictive federal lifetime ban for persons convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence in United States v. Chovan, the court must uphold the California law as well. The court denied plaintiff relief on his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment claims of false arrest and malicious prosecution where the record reflects that his arrest and prosecution were based on probable cause that he possessed the weapons unlawfully. The court concluded that plaintiff's Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments claims based on violation of plaintiff's Miranda rights were not cognizable under section 1983. Finally, the court rejected plaintiff's official-capacity claims against the Police Department, City Attorney's Office, and the California Bureau of Firearms, concluding that the Bureau is immune from suit under the Eleventh Amendment, and his remaining claims against the Police Department failed because he has not sufficiently alleged an underlying constitutional violation or otherwise identified an official policy or custom that was the "moving force" behind a potential constitutional violation. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Civil Rights. The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that law enforcement officials violated plaintiff’s Second Amendment rights by seizing firearms and ammunition he kept in his home, and then prosecuting him for unlawful possession. Plaintiff previously had been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence, which under California law, automatically triggers a ten-year prohibition on the ownership or possession of firearms and ammunition. The panel noted that this Court upheld a more restrictive federal lifetime ban for persons convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence in United States v. Chovan, 735 F.3d 1127, 1139–1141 (9th Cir. 2013). Applying Chovan, the panel upheld California’s 10- year ban and determined that it was validly applied to plaintiff. The panel rejected plaintiff’s claims that he was falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted. The panel concluded that since the record reflected that plaintiff’s arrest and prosecution were based on probable cause that he possessed the weapons unlawfully, he necessarily could not be granted relief on these claims. The panel further rejected plaintiff’s claims that his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated because he was never read a warning regarding his rights per Miranda v. Arizona. Finally, the panel rejected 4 FORTSON V. L.A. CITY ATTY’S OFFICE plaintiff’s official-capacity claims, determining that the California Bureau of Firearms was immune from suit under the Eleventh Amendment, and that plaintiff had not sufficiently alleged an underlying constitutional violation against the Los Angeles Police Department.
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