A.M. v. Luzerne County Juvenile Detention Center

• Citation: 372 F.3d 572
• Decision Date: 10 June 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-3075.,03-3075.
• Parties: A.M., by and through his next friend and mother, J.M.K., Appellant v. LUZERNE COUNTY JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER, a department of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania; *Sandra M. Brulo, individually and in her official capacity as chief administrator of the Luzerne County Juvenile Detention Center; Louis P. Kwarcinski, individually and in his official capacity as deputy chief probation officer in charge of the Luzerne County Juvenile Detention Center; Jerome Prawdzik, in his individual capacity; Christopher Traver, in his individual capacity; Christopher Parker, in his individual capacity; Michael Considine, in his individual capacity; Mark Puffenberger, M.D., in his official capacity; Elaine Yozviak, R.N., in her individual capacity. *(Amended per Clerk's Order dated 8/14/03)
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)

372 F.3d 572

A.M., by and through his next friend and mother, J.M.K., Appellant v. LUZERNE COUNTY JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER, a department of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania; *Sandra M. Brulo, individually and in her official capacity as chief administrator of the Luzerne County Juvenile Detention Center; Louis P. Kwarcinski, individually and in his official capacity as deputy chief probation officer in charge of the Luzerne County Juvenile Detention Center; Jerome Prawdzik, in his individual capacity; Christopher Traver, in his individual capacity; Christopher Parker, in his individual capacity; Michael Considine, in his individual capacity; Mark Puffenberger, M.D., in his official capacity; Elaine Yozviak, R.N., in her individual capacity.

*(Amended per Clerk's Order dated 8/14/03)

No. 03-3075.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued April 16, 2004.

Filed June 10, 2004.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Marsha L. Levick, Lourdes M. Rosado (argued), Juvenile Law Center of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, for Appellant.

Sean P. McDonough (argued), Dougherty, Leventhal & Price, Moosic, PA, for Appellees Luzerne County Juvenile Detention Center, Sandra Brulo, Louis P. Kwarcinski, Elaine Yoziak, Christopher Traver, Christopher Parker, Michael Considine, and Jerome Prawdzik.

James A. Doherty, Jr. (argued), Scanlon, Howley, Scanlon & Doherty, Scranton, PA, for Appellee Mark Puffenberger, M.D.

Before RENDELL, STAPLETON and LAY,^* Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

LAY, Circuit Judge.

A.M., by and through his next friend and mother, J.M.K., filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state tort law against the Luzerne County Juvenile Detention Center (the "Center") and several of its administrators and staff, alleging they violated his substantive due process rights by failing to protect him from harm while he was detained at the Center. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of all Defendants and declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims. A.M. appeals. For the reasons that follow, the District Court's order granting summary judgment will be reversed in part and affirmed in part.

I. BACKGROUND

On July 12, 1999, A.M. was arrested in Lake Township, Pennsylvania, for indecent conduct. He was taken to the Center, a secure detention facility for children alleged to be delinquent or adjudicated delinquent and awaiting final disposition and placement, and remained there until August 19, 1999.¹

While at the Center, A.M. was physically assaulted by other juvenile residents² on numerous occasions. On July 26, 1999, A.M. reported that other residents had, among other things, spit on him, punched him in the arm, put his head in a garbage can, and thrown urine on his bed. An incident report completed by one of the Center's child-care workers, dated August 1, 1999, states that A.M. was hit on the back of the head with a ping-pong paddle thrown by another resident. Another incident report, dated August 2, 1999, relates that A.M. sustained a wound to his chest. The wound would not stop bleeding, and A.M. was taken to the hospital for treatment. Other incident reports were completed by the Center's child-care workers on an almost daily basis between August 2 and August 16, 1999. These reports reveal that other residents punched A.M. in the face, hit him, choked him, "whipped" him in the eye with a towel, and threatened him with physical harm. The assaults left A.M. with multiple bruises over his body, puncture wounds, black eyes, and swollen lips. The assaults also caused A.M. to suffer humiliation, fear, and emotional distress.

Prior to his detention, A.M. had eleven prior psychiatric inpatient hospitalizations for behavior problems, was seeing a psychiatrist in the community, and had been taking medication to treat his Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ("ADHD"). A.M. suffered from several other mental and behavioral disabilities, including anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, atypical bipolar disorder, and intermittent explosive disorder. The Center's administrators and supervisors were made aware of these facts upon A.M.'s admission to the Center or shortly thereafter. A.M.'s mental and behavioral problems were reflected in his behavior at the Center, which included teasing and provoking other residents. After A.M.'s admission to the Center, he initially did not receive any medication for his ADHD because the Center could not obtain the necessary authorization to refill his prescription.

On July 23, 1999, a psychiatric evaluation was performed on A.M. by Dr. Paul Gitlin for the purpose of assessing A.M.'s current mental health treatment needs. During the evaluation, A.M. complained to Dr. Gitlin about the treatment he was subjected to by other residents, and Dr. Gitlin observed that A.M. had a bruise on his arm. Dr. Gitlin noted that A.M. had a long history of mental health and behavioral problems and that A.M. was having difficulty at the Center because of his untreated ADHD. Dr. Gitlin's diagnosis of A.M. included a Global Assessment Functioning scale of 20-30 out of a possible 100, indicating behavior that is "considerably influenced by delusions or hallucinations or serious impairment in communication or judgment... or inability to function in almost all areas." Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 32 (4th ed.2000). Dr. Gitlin stated that it was medically necessary for A.M. to have a highly planned day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and for A.M. to receive medication on a continual basis in order to reduce his impulsiveness and motor restlessness. Dr. Gitlin entered an order for A.M. to receive the medication dexedrine, and A.M. began receiving the medication on July 24, 1999. After Dr. Gitlin's evaluation of A.M., and during the remainder of his detention, no mental health professional was called in to see A.M. or consult with the Center's staff about A.M.'s behavior, despite the ongoing difficulty child-care workers were having with him.

During A.M.'s detention, the Center's administrators directed that A.M. should be placed on the girls' side of the Center for a majority of the day. However, child-care workers periodically failed to abide by this directive, which resulted in A.M. being placed with boys who had previously assaulted him. On one occasion, A.M. was sent from the girls' side to the boys' side because he was "getting on the nerves" of a child-care worker on the girls' side.

On August 19, 1999, A.M. appeared in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, for a disposition hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing the court committed A.M. to Northwestern Intermediate Treatment Facility ("Northwestern") in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, for an indeterminate period of time.

On the day of his admission to Northwestern, John DeAngelo, a counselor at Northwestern, saw that A.M. was bleeding from a puncture wound on his chest. When DeAngelo asked A.M. about the wound, A.M. told him that he had been stabbed with an unknown object while at the Center. A.M. went on to describe to DeAngelo other physical assaults visited upon him by residents of the Center. DeAngelo proceeded to complete an incident report concerning the alleged physical assaults. DeAngelo reported that A.M. told him staff at the Center knew about the assaults but did not do anything to stop them. In addition to the incident report, DeAngelo completed a Report of Suspected Child Abuse, dated August 26, 1999, in which he recounted A.M.'s allegations of abuse while at the Center and inaction by the Center's staff. The Report states that A.M. feared this type of abuse would continue at each of his future placements. DeAngelo and another member of the Northwestern staff observed that A.M.'s eyes were black and blue when he arrived at Northwestern and that A.M. appeared to be very scared. Northwestern staff indicated that A.M. expressed fear that he would be hurt by other children at Northwestern.

In July of 2001, A.M., by and through his next friend and mother, commenced a § 1983 and state tort action against the Center and the following administrators and staff: Sandra Brulo, the Center's chief juvenile probation officer, who acted as the Center's chief administrator; Louis Kwarcinski, the Center's deputy chief of juvenile probation; Jerome Prawdzik, the detention supervisor at the Center; Chris Traver, Michael Considine, and Chris Parker, former child-care workers at the Center; Elaine Yozviak, a former registered nurse at the Center; and Mark Puffenberger, M.D., a physician who provided contract services to the Center. The suit alleged that the Defendants violated A.M.'s substantive due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to be free from harm and to receive appropriate medical treatment while in their custody.

II. DISTRICT COURT OPINION

After discovery, the Defendants moved for summary judgment. The District Court granted the Defendants' motion on June 30, 2003. In its Memorandum accompanying the order granting summary judgment, the District Court addressed each of A.M.'s claims against the Defendants.

Count One. Count One of A.M.'s complaint alleged that the Center and Brulo and Kwarcinski, in their official capacities, were liable for failing to protect A.M. from harm and failing to treat him, and that Dr. Puffenberger was liable in his official capacity for failing to treat A.M.

A.M. alleged several deficiencies on the part of the Center, Brulo, and Kwarcinski as the basis for liability on Count One. The first allegation concerned deficient hiring and staffing practices. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of Brulo and Kwarcinski on this allegation, after concluding that A.M. failed to show a direct causal link between A.M.'s injuries and the alleged hiring of employees without the requisite educational degree or the alleged understaffing of the Center. The second allegation...