Lee Morgan v. ECTV Network

Summary

The court grants ECTV Network’s motion for summary judgment in Lee Morgan’s action alleging First Amendment retaliation and Fourteenth Amendment equal protection and due process violations after his public-access television program was removed from the channel. The court concludes that ECTV, a private nonprofit corporation, was not a state actor under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and dismisses the federal claims, declining supplemental jurisdiction over the Pennsylvania constitutional claim.

Holdings

1. ECTV Network, a private nonprofit corporation operating a public-access channel, was not a state actor and therefore could not be liable under Section 1983 for the alleged constitutional violations.
2. Summary judgment was proper because Morgan failed to identify competent record evidence creating a genuine dispute that ECTV acted under color of state law.
3. The court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Morgan's Pennsylvania constitutional due process claim after dismissing all claims over which it had original jurisdiction.

Questions Presented

1. Whether ECTV Network was acting under color of state law and therefore could be liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
2. Whether ECTV was a state actor because it operated a public-access channel, received government funding, or was allegedly controlled by local government officials.
3. Whether summary judgment was proper on Morgan's First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment claims.
4. Whether the court should exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Morgan's Pennsylvania constitutional due process claim after dismissing all federal claims.

Disposition

dismissed