Merely citing 42 U.S.C. § 1983 without a constitutional violation, too, does not confer federal jurisdiction

A state law claim tied to § 1983 without a constitutional allegation does not confer federal jurisdiction over the state law claim. Hensley v. City of San Buenaventura, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22171 (S.D. Cal. March 17, 2008):

In this case, Plaintiffs do not present a federal question. Plaintiffs never state a federal law which is necessary to the decision of their state claim, and their claim is entirely premised on state law. Jurisdictionally, Plaintiffs only mention 28 U.S.C. § 1331, which simply allows for federal question jurisdiction and nothing more. Although Plaintiffs cite 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Plaintiffs fail to state how Freeman violated their civil rights, and simply stating the code section is not enough to state a claim. Because Plaintiffs fail to articulate any real basis for relief under the Constitution or laws of the United States, the Court finds that Plaintiffs fail to present a federal question to support jurisdiction.

Shots fired call brought officers to a known drug house. They approached men parked in a car across the street from the house which was the subject of the call to inquire what they knew about the shots. They asked one for ID and he reached into his pocket and out fell a crack pipe, which was lawfully seized. United States v. Wheeler, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21881 (D. Neb. March 19, 2008).*

The record supports the trial court’s finding that the third party consent was valid. Appellant’s lack of consent was irrelevant. Figueroa v. State, 250 S.W.3d 490 (Tex. App. — Austin 2008).*

Defense counsel was not ineffective at suppression hearing for failures of proof that were related to defendant’s own refusal to testify. Dasher v. United States, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22188 (M.D. Fla. March 20, 2008).*