Larry Synclair, Sr. v. County of Fresno ( 2010 )

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION DEC 16 2010
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
LARRY SYNCLAIR, SR., individually No. 09-15337
and as a parent of Larry Synclair, Jr., a
minor, D.C. No. 1:01-cv-06546-AWI-
DLB
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v. MEMORANDUM *
COUNTY OF FRESNO; et al.,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of California
Anthony W. Ishii, Chief District Judge, Presiding
**
Submitted December 14, 2010
Before: GOODWIN, WALLACE, and THOMAS, Circuit Judges.
Larry Synclair, Sr., appeals pro se from the district court’s summary
judgment in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action claiming that defendants violated his
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
Fourteenth Amendment rights to procedural and substantive due process when they
did not take steps to contact federal officials in connection with the alleged
international parental abduction of his son. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo, Aguilera v. Baca, 510 F.3d 1161, 1167 (9th
Cir. 2007), and we affirm.
The district court properly granted summary judgment to defendants because
Synclair’s interest in enforcing a custody order did not rise to the level of an
entitlement protected by the Due Process Clause. The enforcement action Synclair
sought to bring was not sufficiently specific and the defendant government
officials had discretion to deny enforcement. See Town of Castle Rock, Colo. v.
Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748, 756 (2005) (explaining that “a benefit is not a protected
entitlement if government officials may grant or deny it in their discretion.”); see
also United States v. Wilkerson, 208 F.3d 794, 800 (9th Cir. 2000) (describing the
broad discretion prosecutors are afforded over decisions to investigate or pursue
criminal charges).
AFFIRMED.
2 09-15337