Fields v. Palmdale School Dist.

• Decision Date: 02 November 2005
• Docket Number: No. 03-56499.,03-56499.
• Citation: 427 F.3d 1197
• Parties: James FIELDS; Tammany Fields; Stuart Haberman; Robert Hoaglin; Kathie Hoaglin; Vanessa Shetler, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. PALMDALE SCHOOL DISTRICT (PSD); Michael Geisser; Arland Atwood, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

427 F.3d 1197 James FIELDS; Tammany Fields; Stuart Haberman; Robert Hoaglin; Kathie Hoaglin; Vanessa Shetler, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
PALMDALE SCHOOL DISTRICT (PSD); Michael Geisser; Arland Atwood, Defendants-Appellees. No. 03-56499. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted June 2, 2005. Filed November 2, 2005.

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Erik Gunderson, Esq., Steven C. Shonack, Esq., Gunderson, Schlichter, Shonack & Handel, LLP, Manhattan Beach, CA; Duane L. Bartsch, Esq., Law Offices of Duane Bartsch, Manhattan Beach, CA, for the plaintiffs-appellants.

Dennis J. Walsh, Esq., Douglas Lyon, Esq., Law Offices of Dennis J. Walsh, APC, Encino, CA, for the defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; James V. Selna, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-03-00457-JVS.

Before: LAY,^* REINHARDT, and THOMAS, Circuit Judges.

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REINHARDT, Circuit Judge.

When parents of schoolchildren in Palmdale, California learned from their sons and daughters that they had been questioned in their public elementary school about sexual topics such as the frequency of "thinking about having sex" and "thinking about touching other peoples' private parts," some of them exercised their constitutional right to take their grievance to the courts. The questioning was part of a survey the Palmdale School District was conducting regarding psychological barriers to learning. The parents brought an action in district court against the School District and two of its officials for violating their right to privacy and their right "to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex." They brought both federal and state claims. The district court dismissed the federal causes of action for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and dismissed the state claims without prejudice to their right to re-file in state court. We agree, and hold that there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children, either independent of their right to direct the upbringing and education of their children or encompassed by it. We also hold that parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students. Finally, we hold that the defendants' actions were rationally related to a legitimate state purpose.

I.

Kristi Seymour volunteered as a "mental health counselor" at Mesquite Elementary School while she was enrolled in a master's degree program at the California School of Professional Psychology. The Palmdale School District, of which Mesquite was a part, collaborated with the School of Professional Psychology, the Children's Bureau of Southern California, and Seymour to develop and administer a psychological assessment questionnaire for first, third, and fifth grade students with the announced goal of "establish[ing] a community baseline measure of children's exposure to early trauma (for example, violence)."

Prior to administering the survey, Seymour mailed a letter to the parents of the children to be surveyed informing them of the questionnaire's nature and purpose, and requesting their consent to its administration.¹ The parental consent letter was

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enclosed in a School District envelope and was mailed using School District postage. The letter did not explicitly state that some questions involved sexual topics, although it did specify that the survey questions were about "early trauma (for example, violence)" and there was a warning that "answering questions may make [the] child feel uncomfortable."

After the School District approved the survey, Seymour administered it during school hours at Mesquite Elementary School. She sat with the students, aged seven to ten, while they completed the survey and ensured that they read and responded to each question. The survey included seventy-nine questions testing the frequency that the subjects experienced a variety of sensations, emotions, thoughts, and experiences. It was composed of four questionnaires. The first questionnaire contains fifty-four questions and is copyrighted by Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.² The children were asked to rate the following activities, among others, on a scale from "never" to "almost all the time": "Bad dreams or nightmares," "Feeling dizzy," "Wanting to yell at people," "Wanting to hurt other people," "Trying not to have feelings," "Can't stop thinking about something bad that happened to me," and "Wanting to kill myself." Ten of those questions were about sexual subjects.³ The second part of the survey is labeled "Bialer-Cromwell LC Scale (Modified)."⁴ These questions concentrate on the child subject's perception of other people and the external world. The third part follows the same format as Bialer-Cromwell, but the questions focus upon the children's past traumatic experiences. Among the questions are the following:

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Have you ever "[B]een threatened or chased by a gang?", "Seen someone get shot?", "Been in a car accident?", "Been touched by someone, on your body, that made your feel uncomfortable?", and "Know[n] anyone who has or is being abused?" The final part is limited to demographic information such as the student's grade, race, and familial living arrangement.

Plaintiffs James and Tammany Fields, Stuart and Kathleen Haberman, Robert and Kathie Hoaglin, and Vanessa Shetler are parents of minor children who were enrolled at Mesquite Elementary School. All of them had children who participated in the survey. The parent-plaintiffs learned of the sexual nature of some of the questions on the survey when their children informed them of the questions after they had completed the questionnaires. The parents allege that if they had known the true nature of the survey, they would not have consented to their children's involvement. Prior to filing in federal court, the parents initially sought redress for their alleged injuries through an administrative tort claim filed with the Palmdale School Board. Therein, they alleged that their "basic constitutional right to control" their children's upbringing had been "robbed" by the defendants' actions. Their claim was denied and they subsequently filed a complaint in district court alleging four causes of action: (1) violation of their federal constitutional right to privacy; (2) violation of their California constitutional right to privacy; (3) deprivation of civil rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983; and (4) negligence. The parents sought damages and injunctive relief.

Defendant Michael Geisser is the Palmdale School District's Director of Psychological Services, and Arland Atwood is the principal of Mesquite Elementary School; both Atwood and Geisser are sued in their official capacities.⁵ The defendants did not file an answer to the complaint. Instead, they moved under Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 12(b)(6) to dismiss the entire action for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. They asserted that there is no deeply rooted and fundamental right of parents "to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex in accordance with their personal and religious values and beliefs." They further contended that the § 1983 claim was not viable because the parents' civil rights had not been violated and that even if they had, the School District is immune from suit and the individual defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. Finally, they argued that they are not liable under California law because their actions were discretionary and state law immunity applies.

The parents countered that the administration of the survey violated their constitutional privacy right as well as their right to control their children's exposure to sexual subjects, that the defendants arrogated unto themselves the parents' right to determine how their children learn about sexual matters, and that the defendants are not immune from suit.

After holding a hearing on the motion, the district court dismissed the federal claims for "lack of a cognizable legal theory." In doing so, it first recharacterized the parents' privacy claim as a substantive due process claim because "all of the Parents' arguments concerning the claim are grounded in the Fourteenth Amendment's Substantive Due Process Clause. Other than citing generally to privacy cases outside the Fourteenth Amendment's scope,

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the Parents do not connect their asserted interest ... to the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, or Tenth Amendments." The court ruled next that the right "to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex in accordance with their personal and religious values and beliefs" does not rise to the level of a fundamental right protected by Substantive Due Process. It further concluded that the fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of one's children does not encompass the right "to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex in accordance with their personal and religious values and beliefs." Finally, the court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law causes of action and dismissed them without prejudice. The parents now appeal.

II.

On appeal, the parents challenge the district court's dismissal of their federal claims for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.⁶ The district court's dismissal pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim is reviewed de novo. See Zimmerman v. City of Oakland, 255 F.3d 734, 737 (9th Cir.2001).

The parents argue that the defendants' actions deprived them of their free-standing fundamental right "to control the...