Ball

MEMORANDUM *

Rebecca Kay Smith appeals the district court’s dismissal of her excessive force, due process, and free speech claims on qualified immunity grounds. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Smith contends that defendants used excessive force in effecting her arrest by removing her food, water, and supplies, thus putting her at risk of severe dehydration. “Determining whether the force used to effect a particular seizure is ‘reasonable’ under the Fourth Amendment requires a careful balancing of the nature and quality of the intrusion ... against the countervailing governmental interests at stake.” Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 396 , 109 S.Ct. 1865 , 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). Smith does not provide any legal authority for the proposition that her dehydration was an exercise of force by the defendants; her decision to remain in the tree was the proximate and supervening cause of her injuries. Nor does Headwaters Forest Defense v. County of Humboldt, 276 F.3d 1125 (9th Cir.2002), compel a holding in Smith’s favor. Headtvaters stands for the proposition that the use of direct force, in that case,…