Mary Ann Schuman v. The State of California

Ms. Schuman appeals from the dismissal with prejudice of her amended complaint brought under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 , 1985(3). We affirm.

Appellant is an elderly person who was required to take several motor vehicle driving tests which led to the revocation of her driver’s license. Her persistent efforts to regain her license, all fruitless, included a state court mandamus action and taking additional driving tests. In her instant suit, she names as defendants the Governor and the Attorney General of the State of California, a state trial judge, two deputy state attorneys general, a state highway patrolman, several employees of the State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and the City of Riverside.

To state a cause of action under § 1985(3), appellant must claim “some racial, or perhaps otherwise class-based, invidiously discriminatory animus.” Griffin v. Breckenridge, 403 U.S. 88, 102 , 91 S.Ct. 1790, 1798 , 29 L.Ed.2d 338 (1971). No such claim was made.

Since that portion of the amended complaint based on § 1983 alleges no acts on the part of the state defendants (besides the DMV employees), but merely lists their names, no claim for relief is stated as to them. Also, the state…