Johnson v. Glick

In Johnson v. Glick, 481 F.2d 1028, 1029, (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1033, 94 S.Ct. 462, 38 L.Ed.2d 324 (1973), a divided Second Circuit Court held that a claim cognizable under 1983 was stated by a complaint which alleged that one Fuller, a House of Detention officer, in an unprovoked attack on the plaintiff, 'struck him twice on the head with something enclosed in the officer's fist,' and harassed plaintiff by unduly detaining him for several hours before permitting him to see a doctor. The complaint further alleged that plaintiff has since 'been having terrible pains in his head.' Id. at 1029-1030. In so holding, the Court said in relevant part at page 1032: 'Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165, 72 S.Ct. 205, 96 L.Ed. 183 (1952), must stand for the proposition that, quite apart from any 'specific' of the Bill of Rights, application of undue force by law enforcement officers deprives a suspect of liberty without due process of law. If Rochin suffered such a violation of his constitutional rights by the police as to be entitled to invalidation of a conviction obtained as a consequence, he also was the victim of a violation sufficient to sustain an action under the Civil Rights Act . . ..' Judge Moore, in a dissenting opinion, disagreed with the majority's 'police brutality' categorization of Fuller's conduct. He pointed to the majority's statement that the complaint 'alleged a single, spontaneous incident,' and said with respect to it that the allegations as to 'a few blows to plaintiff' did not constitute deprivation of due process. 481 F.2d at 1034-1035.