Lund v. City of Rockford, Illinois

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendants-police officials' motion for summary judgment in plaintiff's section 1983 action, alleging that defendants violated his First Amendment rights by arresting him on traffic charges in retaliation for his news reporter activities and subjecting him to malicious prosecution on said charges, arising out of incident in which plaintiff, as reporter, took pictures and exposed identity of police officers during police prostitution sting that involved police chase of plaintiff from scene. Existence of probable cause defeats claim that plaintiff's arrest was in retaliation for speech protected by First Amendment, and defendants had probable cause to arrest plaintiff on charge of driving wrong way on one-way street. Moreover, plaintiff failed to show that defendants rarely made arrests for driving wrong way on one-way street so as to fit into exception to instant probable cause rule as set forth in Nieves, 139 S.Ct. 1715. Also, defendants were entitled to qualified immunity, where at time of plaintiff's arrest, U.S. Supreme Ct. had previously stated that it had never recognized First Amendment right to be free from retaliatory arrest that is supported by probable cause. Too, plaintiff could not proceed on his malicious prosecution claim, where plaintiff failed to demonstrate that nolle prosequi order dismissing his traffic charges was termination favorable to him, since mere entry of nolle prosequi order did not compel inference that there was lack of reasonable grounds to pursue criminal prosecution.