False imprisonment is a Fourteenth Amendment due process claim rather than a Fourth Amendment unreasonable seizure claim

False imprisonment is a due process claim rather than an unreasonable seizure claim. Bracknell v. Montgomery County Comm’n, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23981 (M.D. Ala. March 29, 2007):

Plaintiff is in essence complaining that he was falsely imprisoned by Savage. A false imprisonment claim is properly analyzed under the Fourteenth Amendment, rather than under the Fourth Amendment protection against unlawful search and seizure. See Cannon v. Macon County, 1 F.3d 1558, 1563 (11th Cir. 1993)(holding that the plaintiff must establish that an imprisonment “worked a violation of fourteenth amendment due process rights.”); Douthit v. Jones, 619 F.2d 527, 532 (5th Cir. 1980) (noting that the fourteenth amendment governs false imprisonment actions); Davis v. Hall, 375 F.3d 703, 712 (8th Cir. 2004) (due process clause of the fourteenth amendment protects an individual from detention after his release date). Because Plaintiff’s claims are properly analyzed under the framework of substantive due process of the Fourteenth Amendment, his Fourth Amendment claims are DISMISSED.

Officers could reasonably believe they had probable cause under the search warrant, and the warrant was particular enough (“gambling paraphernalia”). Therefore, they were entitled to qualified immunity. Murray v. City of Lavonia, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23682 (M.D. Ga. March 30, 2007).*

The statute of limitations on a seizure does not really start to run until the seizure abates, so it continues through the possession. Herrin v. Dunham, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24202 (E.D. Mich. March 30, 2007):

The plaintiffs allege an unconstitutional seizure of their property. “[A] seizure of property occurs when ‘there is some meaningful interference with an individual’s possessory interests in that property’ …. This expansive definition is necessary because a seizure threatens an individual’s distinct interest in retaining possession of his or her property.” Thomas v. Cohen, 304 F.3d 563, 569-70 (6th Cir. 2002) (quoting United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 113, 104 S. Ct. 1652, 80 L. Ed. 2d 85 (1984)). The seizure of property continues until the interference ends. Although the property at issue in this case was seized initially on July 13, 2001, the county retained possession of the property until February 2, 2005, when two trailers and an asphalt roller were released to the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs allege “that no other property has yet been returned to” them. Pl.’s Compl. at P 9. The seizure of these items continued until their release. Therefore, the statute of limitations has not expired on these claims. The magistrate judge’s report must be rejected in so far as it suggests otherwise, and the plaintiffs’ objection is sustained.

The savings statute to civil rights claims dismissed without prejudice does not extend the statute of limitations as to civil rights claims not brought in the original action. Fuller v. Cuyahoga Metro. Hous. Auth., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24144 (N.D. Ohio March 30, 2007).*