Background
Delmart E.J.M. Vreeland II, a prisoner in the Colorado Department of Corrections, filed a complaint alleging retaliation by sixteen state officials under Section nineteen eighty-three and Colorado law. The allegations included frequent transfers between facilities and other retaliatory actions. The district court dismissed most claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure twelve comma six and allowed only two claims to proceed against two defendants. The parties then agreed to administratively close the case for twelve months, with a provision allowing Vreeland to reopen the case only if he was transferred out of the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility. Vreeland moved to reopen the case after being moved to a different cell within the same facility, but the district court denied the motion and dismissed the case with prejudice. Vreeland appealed both the denial of the motion to reopen and the earlier dismissal of his claims.
The court’s reasoning
The Court of Appeals reviewed the denial of the motion to reopen de novo as a matter of contract interpretation. The court found the agreement unambiguous, stating that reopening was permitted only upon transfer out of the Territorial facility. Changes to housing within the facility did not satisfy this condition. The court rejected Vreeland’s argument that an off-record agreement existed regarding his cell assignment. Regarding the Rule twelve comma six dismissal, the court held that the settlement agreement did not waive Vreeland’s right to appeal the earlier dismissal of claims that were not part of the remaining two claims. On the issue of immunity, the court analyzed whether the assistant attorneys general were acting as advocates or witnesses. The court concluded that filing pleadings and affidavits containing allegations in prior lawsuits constituted advocacy in preparation for judicial proceedings, thus granting them absolute immunity.
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces that strict adherence to the terms of settlement agreements regarding case reopening is required and clarifies the scope of absolute immunity for assistant attorneys general acting in an advocacy capacity.
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