Quraishi et al v. St. Charles County, Missouri et al

Filing 63

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER : IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs' Motion for Leave to File First Amended Complaint is GRANTED. [Doc. 26 .] IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss is DENIED asmoot. [Doc. 21 .]IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiffs shall file their First Amended Complaint no later than December 18, 2017. Defendants shall file their answer to Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint no later than January 2, 2018.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the parties ma y conduct discovery limited solely to the personal capacity claims against Deputy Michael Anderson and such discovery must be concluded no later than January 29, 2018.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that any supplemental briefing to Defendants Motion for Summ ary Judgment regarding the personal capacity claims against Deputy Michael Anderson should be filed no later than February 5, 2018. Any responses to the supplemental briefingshould be filed no later than February 19, 2018.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Leave to File Reply to Plaintiffs' Opposition to Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment in Excess of Fifteen Pages is GRANTED. [Doc. 62-3] IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the trial date currently set for January 16, 2018 is VACATED and will be reset at a later date. 26 MOTION for Leave to File First Amended Complaint filed by Plaintiff Ash-har Quraishi, Plaintiff Marla Cichowski, Plaintiff Sam Winslade ( Response to Court due by 12/18/2017.). Signed by Magistrate Judge Nannette A. Baker on 12/15/17. (KKS)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, et al.,

)
)
Plaintiffs,
)
)
v.
)
)
ST. CHARLES COUNTY, MISSOURI, et al., )
)
Defendants.
)

Case No. 4:16-CV-1320 NAB

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Plaintiffs, who are journalists, filed this action against Defendants alleging violations of
their constitutional rights during Plaintiffs’ news coverage of protests in Ferguson, Missouri on
August 13, 2014 following the death of teenager Michael Brown.
Defendants St. Charles County, Missouri and Deputy Michael Anderson filed a Motion to
Dismiss Counts I, II, III, IV, V, and VI of Plaintiffs’ Civil Rights Complaint 1 under 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983. [Doc. 21.] Plaintiffs Ash-har Quraishi, Marla Cichowski, and Sam Winslade filed a
Memorandum in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 25.] and a Motion for
Leave to File a First Amended Complaint [Doc. 26.]. Defendants St. Charles County and
Deputy Anderson filed a Reply Brief in Support of their Motion to Dismiss.

[Doc. 35.]

Defendants did not file a response to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to File a First Amended
Complaint. Defendants St. Charles County, Missouri and Deputy Anderson filed a Motion for
Summary Judgment as to all claims. [Doc. 53.]
First, the Court will grant Plaintiffs’ Motion to File a First Amended Complaint. As the
parties concede, Plaintiffs’ proposed First Amended Complaint contains the same claims as the
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The remaining counts of the Complaint were against two John Doe defendants, who were dismissed from this
action on July 28, 2017.

original complaint, with the exception of specifically alleging that the claims against Deputy
Anderson are against him in his personal capacity. Defendants did not file a response and the
time to do so has passed. [Doc. 26.]
Second, the Court will deny Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Counts I, II, III, IV, V, and
VI of Plaintiffs’ original complaint as moot. Because the First Amended Complaint is the same
as the original complaint with the exception of the specific allegations of personal liability
against Deputy Anderson and this issue is the substance of Defendants’ motion to dismiss, the
motion to dismiss is moot as to Deputy Anderson. The motion to dismiss is moot as to St.
Charles County, because Defendants have filed a motion for summary judgment on those claims.
Defendants requested that if the Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion to file an amended
complaint, they be allowed to conduct limited discovery and submit supplemental briefing on the
personal liability claims against Deputy Anderson. “Personal-capacity suits seek to impose
personal liability upon a government official for actions he takes under color of state law.”
Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 166-67 (1985) (citing Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232,
237–238 (1974)). “Official-capacity suits, in contrast, generally represent only another way of
pleading an action against an entity of which an officer is an agent.” Id. at 166 (citing Monell v.
New York City Dept. of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 690, n. 55 (1978)). “It is not a suit against
the official personally, for the real party in interest is the entity.” Id. “Thus, while an award of
damages against an official in his personal capacity can be executed only against the official’s
personal assets, a plaintiff seeking to recover on a damages judgment in an official-capacity suit
must look to the government entity itself.” Id.
Because of the extensive record on the parties’ summary judgment briefing, the Court
does not know what additional discovery needs to be taken. Nevertheless, the Court will grant

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the parties forty-five days to conduct additional discovery concerning the personal liability of
Defendant Deputy Michael Anderson only. The Court will then allow the parties to submit
supplemental briefing on Deputy Michael Anderson’s personal liability no later than February 5,
2018 with responses due February 19, 2018. Then, for purposes of judicial economy, the Court
will review Defendants’ pending summary judgment motion and any supplemental briefing as
applied to Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to File First Amended
Complaint is GRANTED. [Doc. 26.]
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss is DENIED as
moot. [Doc. 21.]
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiffs shall file their First Amended Complaint
no later than December 18, 2017.

Defendants shall file their answer to Plaintiffs’ First

Amended Complaint no later than January 2, 2018.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the parties may conduct discovery limited solely to
the personal capacity claims against Deputy Michael Anderson and such discovery must be
concluded no later than January 29, 2018.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that any supplemental briefing to Defendants’ Motion for
Summary Judgment regarding the personal capacity claims against Deputy Michael Anderson
should be filed no later than February 5, 2018. Any responses to the supplemental briefing
should be filed no later than February 19, 2018.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion for Leave to File Reply to
Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment in Excess of Fifteen Pages
is GRANTED. [Doc. 62-3]
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the trial date currently set for January 16, 2018 is
VACATED and will be reset at a later date.
Dated this 15th day of December, 2017.

/s/ Nannette A. Baker
NANNETTE A. BAKER
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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