Perez v. John and Jane Does 1-10, No. 18-2524 (8th Cir. 2019)
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Plaintiffs, Hispanic residents of Hastings, filed suit alleging a variety of state and federal law claims against various city and county employees, the State of Nebraska, Adams County, and the City of Hastings. Plaintiffs were arrested on charges of conspiracy and witness tampering for their alleged actions in the aftermath of a domestic disturbance in Hastings, and the charges were eventually dismissed.
The Eighth Circuit held that the district court had jurisdiction over the 42 U.S.C. 1983 claims and the second amended complaint was properly before the court. The court declined to address the statute of limitations question because the second amended complaint did not meet federal pleading standards; the district court did not err in dismissing the claims against the Officer Defendants where the pleadings consisted almost entirely of non-specific conclusory allegations; the district court committed no error in dismissing the claims against the Doe Defendants where the second amended complaint did not sufficiently allege who they were, what they allegedly did, their positions were for the city, or any other facts that would permit them to be noticed or identified through discovery; and the district court did not clearly abuse its discretion when it denied plaintiffs' motion to amend or alter the judgment.
Court Description: Erickson, Author, with Loken and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Civil rights. Plaintiffs failed to state a claim against the defendant police officers, and the complaint was properly dismissed; no error in dismissing the claims against the Doe defendants as the allegations were not sufficiently detailed and specific to satisfy the exception to the general prohibition against naming fictitious parties; no error in denying plaintiff's motion to amend or alter the judgment.
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