Tucker v. Williams

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendants-police officials and West Illinois Task Force’s motion for summary judgment in section 1983 action alleging that defendants wrongfully seized plaintiff’s backhoe without warrant. Eleventh Amendment precluded plaintiff’s lawsuit against Task Force since Task Force qualified as state entity based upon control over Task Force exercised by Ill. State Police. Moreover, plaintiff failed to establish viable section 1983 action against individual defendant where record showed that plaintiff consented to instant seizure when seizure occurred two months after plaintiff told said defendant “if its stolen, go ahead and take it.” Also, plaintiff’s ability to use tort law to obtain any remedy for defendant’s post-seizure distribution of backhoe to third-party precluded plaintiff's alternative due process claim pertaining to post-seizure distribution of backhoe.