Shirley Tyus v. Earl Cranor, No. 06-3370 (8th Cir. 2007)

 Annotate this Case

Court Description: Civil case - civil rights. District court did not err in dismissing plaintiff's Section 1983 as she sued the defendant only in his official capacity and he had Eleventh Amendment immunity.

Download PDF
United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________ No. 06-3370 ___________ Shirley A. Tyus, * * Appellant, * * Appeal from the United States v. * District Court for the * Eastern District of Arkansas. Earl Cranor, Adult Probation and * Parole Officer, Conway, AR, Faulkner * [UNPUBLISHED] County, * * Appellee. * ___________ Submitted: August 22, 2007 Filed: August 27, 2007 ___________ Before WOLLMAN, COLLOTON, and BENTON, Circuit Judges. ___________ PER CURIAM. Shirley Tyus appeals the district court s1 dismissal of her 42 U.S.C. ยง 1983 complaint against a state parole and probation officer. Upon de novo review, see Thomas v. St. Louis Bd. of Police Comm rs, 447 F.3d 1082, 1084-85 (8th Cir. 2006) (standard of review), we conclude that dismissal was proper because Tyus sued Officer Cranor only in his official capacity. See Johnson v. Outboard Marine Corp., 1 The Honorable Susan Webber Wright, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas. 172 F.3d 531, 535 (8th Cir. 1999) ( [I]n order to sue a public official in his or her individual capacity, a plaintiff must expressly and unambiguously state so in the pleadings, otherwise, it will be assumed that the defendant is sued only in his or her official capacity. ); Murphy v. Arkansas, 127 F.3d 750, 754 (8th Cir. 1997) (Eleventh Amendment bars damages claims against state officials acting in their official capacities).2 The judgment is affirmed. ______________________________ 2 We do not consider Tyus s claim for injunctive relief because it was not raised in the district court. See Alexander v. Pathfinder, Inc., 189 F.3d 735, 740 (8th Cir. 1999). -2-

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.