United States First Circuit

In a suit under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 alleging that the dissolution of a municipal board for failure to achieve the required state certification violated plaintiff's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, dismissal for failure to state a claim is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff did not allege sufficient well-pleaded facts to demonstrate that defendants directly caused the board's decertification or, if one defendant indirectly caused the decertification through his inaction, that plaintiff's speech was a substantial or motivating factor behind such inaction; and 2) no defendant was responsible for the decision to decertify the board, thus they had no duty to provide plaintiff with notice or an opportunity to be heard.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/18/2008
• Published 01/18/2008

Judges

• TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge., Before TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge, CAMPBELL, Senior Circuit Judge, and LYNCH, Circuit Judge.

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Walter H. Underhill, on brief for appellant.