Jenkins v. Carruth, 583 F. Supp. 613, 614 (E.D.Tenn. 1982), aff'd, 734 F.2d 14 (6th Cir. 1984). See Garrett v. City of Hamtramck, 503 F.2d 1236, 1247 (6th Cir. 1974) (where constitutional violations of defendants are sufficient to warrant broad remedy, district court should not exercise pendent jurisdiction); Campbell v. Buckles, 448 F. Supp. 288, 293 (E.D.Tenn. 1977) (same). The action before the Court is such a case.
"* * * [U]nlike a claim within the court's original jurisdiction, the adjudication of a pendent claim is committed to the district court's discretion and is not mandatory. * * *" Cemer v. Marathon Oil Co., C.A. 6th (1978), 583 F.2d 830, 832, n. 2. For the reasons it has articulated previously, see Brady v. Washington County, Tenn., D.C.Tenn. (1979), 509 F.Supp. 538, 541; Campbell v. Buckles, D.C.Tenn. (1977), 448 F.Supp. 288, 292-293, the Court is of the opinion that the exercise of pendent jurisdiction herein would not be appropriate. Of particular significance herein is that the plaintiff Mrs. Jenkins has alleged a substantial federal claim, and, if she is able to establish such claim at trial, she will have available appropriate remedies for any and all wrongs arising out of the conduct complained of herein and will be entitled to adequate compensation under that federal claim.
The plaintiff's decedent appears from this record in its entirety to have been a citizen who was killed by law-enforcement officers, acting under color of a Tennessee statute or an ordinance of one of its municipalities, by the use of an excessive and unreasonable amount of force. If this was indeed the situation and the individual defendants were in contact with such decedent in a dwelling to enforce the law, it would appear that they may have, "* * * under color of a statute * * *" or an "* * * ordinance * * *" of a municipality of a "* * * State subject[ed], or caus[ed] to be subjected * *" the decedent, a "citizen of the United States * * * to the deprivation of * * *" a "right * * * secured by the Constitution * * *," Fourteenth Amendment, Due Process Clause, and "* * * be liable to * * *" the plaintiff "* * * in an action at law * * *." 42 U.S.C. § 1983; see Campbell v. Buckles, D.C.Tenn. (1977), 448 F. Supp. 288, 290. The problem is: the plaintiff has not so stated amid redundant allegations of evidentiary matters and other surplusage.
Having considered the traditional notions of judicial economy, convenience and fairness to litigants, Gibbs, supra, 383 U.S. at 726, 86 S.Ct. at 1139, 16 L.Ed.2d at 228[4-7]; having considered further the difficulty of the questions posed by such state law claim and the possibility of jury confusion with respect to separating the state from the federal claim, Moor v. County of Alameda (1973), 411 U.S. 693, 715-717, 93 S.Ct. 1785, 1798-1799, 36 L.Ed.2d 596, 613-614[16-18]; and having considered that the plaintiffs appear to have an appropriate remedy for any and all wrongs arising out of the conduct complained of in any viable federal claim herein, cf. Garrett v. City of Hamtramck, C.A. 6th (1974), 503 F.2d 1236, 1247, the Court, in its discretion hereby DECLINES to exercise its jurisdiction, if any exists, over such purported pendent claim of the plaintiffs. Campbell v. Buckles, D.C.Tenn. (1977), 448 F. Supp. 288, 292- 293[9]. That claim is more properly litigable in the courts of Tennessee.
I agree with those courts which have held that using excessive force to effectuate an arrest violates the arrested person's constitutional rights to due process of law and to be secure against unreasonable seizures. E.g., Campbell v. Buckles, 448 F. Supp. 288, 290 (E.D.Tenn. 1977); Washington Mobilization Committee v. Cullinane, 400 F. Supp. 186, 213 (D.D.C. 1975). This position is supported by various commentators as well. E.g., 2 W. LaFave, Search Seizure § 5.1(d) at 239-40 (1978); Note, The Unconstitutional Use of Deadly Force by the Police, 55 Chi.-Kent L.Rev. 539 (1979).