Not For Publication in West's Federal Reporter
Citation Limited Pursuant to 1st Cir. Loc. R. 32.3
United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
No. 05-1936
JOSÉ A. RAMOS-RODRÍGUEZ; NYDIA RAMOS-MARTÍNEZ,
Plaintiffs, Appellants,
v.
PEDRO A. TOLEDO-DÁVILA, Superintendent, Puerto Rico Police
Department; PABLO SANTIAGO-GONZÁLEZ, Inspector General, Puerto
Rico Police Department; COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO,
Defendants, Appellees.
ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO
[Hon. Raymond L. Acosta, U.S. District Judge]
Before
Howard, Circuit Judge,
Baldock* and Stahl, Senior Circuit Judges.
John Ward-Llambias on brief for appellants.
Salvador J. Antonetti-Stutts, Solicitor General, Mariana D.
Negrón-Vargas, Deputy Solicitor General, Maite D. Oronoz-Rodríguez,
Deputy Solicitor General, and Rosa Elena Pérez-Agosto, Assistant
Solicitor General, on brief for appellees.
November 17, 2006
*
Of the Tenth Circuit, sitting by designation.
STAHL, Senior Circuit Judge. Having considered the
parties' briefs and the record below, we affirm the district
court's grant of summary judgment in this case, for substantially
the reasons outlined in the district court's careful opinion.
Appellants, both members of the Puerto Rico Police
Department (PRPD), brought suit against the Superintendent and
Inspector General of the PRPD and against the Commonwealth, for
civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Ramos-Rodriguez
alleges that he was denied due process when he was not promoted to
First Lieutenant, and together they allege their right to
association was violated when the PRPD investigated whether they
were conducting an intimate relationship at the police station. We
review a grant of summary judgment de novo. Mulloy v. Acushnet
Co., 460 F.3d 141, 145 (1st Cir. 2006). Ramos-Rodriguez's due
process claim does not survive summary judgment because, viewing
the facts in the light most favorable to him, he has failed to
allege a viable property interest in receiving a promotion. Stuart
v. Roache, 951 F.2d 446, 455 (1st Cir. 1991). Puerto Rico law does
not permit promotion of a police officer where he has outstanding
disciplinary complaints. 25 P.R. Laws Ann. § 3114(d) (2003).
Here, it is uncontested that Ramos had at least two, and up to
seven, complaints pending against him on each of the three relevant
promotion dates. In addition, Ramos-Rodriguez's allegation that
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the PRPD had a practice of lodging anonymous complaints to prevent
promotions simply is not supported by the record.
Appellants also argue that "both plaintiffs have been
deprived of a federally protected right to privacy by undue
surveillance and harassment." Appellants' Brief at 14. However,
appellants expend only two sentences of their brief on this
argument, one in the Statement of Issues and one in the Conclusion.
With such a paucity of argumentation, appellants have waived this
issue. United States v. Zannino, 895 F.2d 1, 17 (1st Cir. 1990)
("[I]ssues adverted to in a perfunctory manner, unaccompanied by
some effort at developed argumentation, are deemed waived.").
Affirmed.
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