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Salvation Army Drug Treatment Employee Is Not State Actor

By Howard M. Friedman

In Cain v. Caruso, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70009 (ED MI, Aug. 11, 2009), a Michigan federal district court adopted the recommendations of a magistrate judge in lawsuit filed by a parolee who failed to complete his drug treatment program that was a condition of his parole. The magistrate judge, at 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71692 (July 23, 2009), recommended that defendant Margaret Tursak be found not to be a "state actor" in her position with a faith-based drug treatment program operated by the Salvation Army. Defendant Tursak separately raised the defense of qualified immunity. The magistrate judge rejected that defense, finding that the policies underlying qualified immunity do not extend to staff employed by a private drug treatment center.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on August 18, 2009 (boomark / email).