Judge
Robert S. Lasnik
WESTERN DISTRICT OF
ROGER W. KNIGHT, )
) No. C02-879L
plaintiff, )
v. ) PROPOSED ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S
) MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY
CITY OF
MERKLE, Mayor of
ELSOE, Chief of
LONDI K. LINDELL,
Attorney, WAYNE STEWART,
Assistant )
STEPHENS, Director of
Department of )
Licensing, DENNIS BRADDOCK, Secretary )
of Department of Social and Health Services, )
GARY LOCKE, Governor of
and
doing business in the State of
)
defendants. )
____________________________________)
THIS
MATTER came before the Court on the
Plaintiff’s Motion for Partial Summary
Judgment. The
Motion was filed on
The
Court considered the pleadings filed herein and the following evidence and
pleadings:
Plaintiff’s
Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
Declaration by Roger W. Knight in Support of Plaintiff’s Motion for
Summary Judgment.
Having
reviewed the foregoing, the Court finds that:
Plaintiff
is entitled to a partial summary judgment finding:
That
the impoundment of Mr. Knight’s automobile was an unreasonable seizure that
violated his
Fourth and
Fourteenth Amendment rights. His claim for damages due to this seizure was
not an issue in any Washington court proceeding and does not implicate any
previous Washington court judgment and is therefore not barred in this
action. Mr. Knight is entitled to
damages in the amount of $205.74 for the cost of recovering his automobile from
defendant SUPERIOR TOWING, and for $50.00 damages for the inconvenience of the
one day loss of his vehicle and as nominal damages under
42 U.S.C. §1983 for
the deprivation of property without due process of law.
The Antipeonage Act,
42 U.S.C. §1994, provides
this Court with jurisdiction
independent of any other statute to enforce the rights it declares. These rights include the right to not have
established, maintain, or enforced, a person’s service or labor as a peon in
liquidation of a debt or obligation, or otherwise, and therefore to have
declared null and void any act, law, resolution, regulation, usage, or ORDER of a State to the extent that
such orders violate the rights declared by the Antipeonage
Act. The language in the Antipeonage Act specifically listing orders creates a
statutory exception to the
Rooker-Feldman
doctrine, which applies to
42 U.S.C. §1983, which does not include “orders” in
its list of state law elements.
The
language of the Antipeonage Act, “debt or obligation,
or otherwise” clearly includes child support or any other duty to provide for a
child however it may be manifested in the acts, laws, resolutions, orders,
regulations, or usages of a State or Territory.
It is undisputed that Mr. Knight lacks wealth sufficient to allow his
compliance with the support order without employment. Requiring Mr. Knight to sign a “repayment
agreement” with which he may comply only by employment as a condition for
restoration of his driver’s license is an attempt by virtue of the acts, laws,
resolutions, orders, regulations, and usages of the State of Washington to
establish, maintain, or enforce his service or labor as a peon in liquidation
of a debt or obligation, or otherwise which is declared null and void by the Antipeonage Act.
Based
upon the foregoing findings, it is hereby ORDERED:
Plaintiff’s
Motion for Partial Summary Judgment is GRANTED.
Damages
are awarded to the plaintiff ROGER W. KNIGHT payable by
The suspension of the driver’s
license held by plaintiff ROGER W. KNIGHT, by defendants FRED STEPHENS, DENNIS
BRADDOCK, and GARY LOCKE; the prosecution for DWLS in
King County District
Court, Bellevue Division, Nos. MIC 84199 and MIC 84268, by defendants
CITY OF
MERCER ISLAND,
ALAN MERKLE,
RON ELSOE,
LONDI K. LINDELL, and WAYNE STEWART; the
provisions of the WorkFirst Act, Laws of Washington
1997 chapter 58 §801 et seq.,
RCW 74.20A.320 under which the plaintiff’s
license was suspended, and any effect of any previous Washington court order or
judgment to the extent that is allows for the suspension of the plaintiff’s
license for nonpayment of child support are declared null and void by the Antipeonage Act,
42 U.S.C. §1994. The provisions of the WorkFirst
Act other than §801 et seq. are not affected by this summary judgment.
Defendants
FRED STEPHENS, DENNIS BRADDOCK, and GARY LOCKE shall restore the driver’s
license held by plaintiff ROGER W. KNIGHT without requiring a reissue fee and
they and their successors in the offices of Director of
Department of
Licensing, Secretary of Department of Social and Health Services, and
Governor
of Washington shall not suspend his license for noncompliance with a child
support order. Defendants FRED STEPHENS
and GARY LOCKE and their successors in their offices may suspend Mr. Knight’s
license for reasons other than noncompliance with the support order as provided
by Washington state law not affected by the WorkFirst
Act, Laws of Washington 1997 chapter 58, §801 et seq.,
RCW 74.20A.320 et seq.
Damages
for violation of the Antipeonage Act by the
defendants to the extent not immune, including where immunity is waived by
criminal bad faith, remain to be determined in subsequent proceedings.
DONE IN OPEN COURT THIS _________ day of ____________________ 2002.
________________________________
JUDGE
ROBERT S. LASNIK
Presented by:
By
____________________________________
Roger W. Knight, plaintiff pro se
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