Granda v. City of St. Louis

• Decision Date: 04 January 2007
• Docket Number: No. 06-2309.,06-2309.
• Citation: 472 F.3d 565
• Parties: Fayette GRANDA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF ST. LOUIS; Bettye Battle-Turner, Hon., individually and in her official capacity with the City of St. Louis, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

472 F.3d 565

Fayette GRANDA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF ST. LOUIS; Bettye Battle-Turner, Hon., individually and in her official capacity with the City of St. Louis, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 06-2309.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: November 13, 2006.

Filed: January 4, 2007.

William E. Moench, argued, St. Louis, MO (Scott P. Hartl, on the brief), for appellant.

Carl W. Yates, III, Associate City Counselor, St. Louis, MO, for appellee.

Before MURPHY, ARNOLD, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.

MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

Fayette Granda brought this § 1983 action against the City of St. Louis and Municipal Judge Bettye Battle-Turner for damages and injunctive relief, alleging violation of her constitutional rights by being incarcerated as a result of her daughter's truancy. The district court¹ granted summary judgment to both defendants. Granda appeals only from the judgment entered in favor of the city. We affirm.

The St. Louis mayor appointed Judge Turner to serve as a provisional municipal court judge in 1999 and then in 2001 to a four year term as a judge of the City of St. Louis Municipal Court. Administrative Judge James Sullivan asked Judge Turner to handle the truancy docket when it was established in 2001. The St. Louis truancy ordinance, City Revised Code § 15.120.030, provides that parents are responsible for their minor children's truancy. If parents are found to have knowingly permitted their children to miss school without excuse or exemption, the ordinance permits the imposition of a fine "in an amount not less than twenty-five dollars" for each day of school missed. Granda first appeared before Judge Turner in June 2002 after her daughter failed to attend school; her case was continued for monitoring of the truancy situation.

The daughter's truancy continued, and Judge Turner issued an order on September 18, 2002 which directed her to participate in therapy, to attend school every day, and not to use any force against her parents. The order also directed that "the family is further ordered to participate with the court staff or they may be subject to charges for contempt of court." Granda appeared before Judge Turner in October after having been physically assaulted by her daughter. Judge Turner held the daughter in contempt and encouraged Granda to file criminal charges against her. Granda originally filed such charges, but she dropped them several days later.

Granda appeared before Judge Turner again on December 6, 2002, along with her husband, her daughter, and the daughter's infant son. After a conference in chambers, Judge Turner ordered that Granda be held in custody at a medium security institution until her next court appearance on or about January 21, 2003. The judge signed a form order indicating that Granda was charged with violation of a city ordinance and had previously failed to appear without just cause. In her deposition Judge Turner later stated that she incarcerated Granda for being in contempt of her orders. Although Granda was allowed to leave the institution from December 24, 2002 until January 3, 2003 to spend the holidays with her family, state social workers took custody of her grandson while she was incarcerated and he has since been adopted by a foster family.

Granda filed this action for damages and injunctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Judge Turner violated her due process rights by illegally incarcerating her for violating the truancy ordinance. She alleges that the ordinance did not provide for incarceration and that she lost the opportunity to care for and take custody of her grandchild as a result of Judge Turner's actions. Granda seeks to hold the city liable by alleging that it was a custom, policy, and practice of the city to incarcerate the parents of truant children illegally. Granda further maintains that the unlawful conduct of the city and Judge Turner was outrageous because it arose from evil motives or reckless indifference to her constitutionally protected rights.

The parties submitted evidence about the municipal court and the 22nd Judicial Circuit of the State of Missouri. The municipal court is a division of that circuit, and orders issued by the municipal judges are subject to review by the circuit court. The record indicates that one truant parent incarcerated by Judge Turner sought a writ of mandamus in the circuit court for her release; the petition was dismissed before a hearing after the parties reached an agreement. Municipal judges are also subject to the local rules of the 22nd circuit, which allow them to determine "matters of policy, administration, and court rules" for their court and to select an administrative judge from one of their number. The administrative judge is responsible for administering the business of the municipal court, including assigning cases, setting the agenda for meetings, and acting as a spokesperson for policy and administrative matters.

During discovery Granda sought to establish that the other municipal judges and city officials knew of or encouraged Judge Turner's practice of incarcerating the parents of truant children. The other judges stated in their depositions that they knew Judge Turner incarcerated parents and that some of them had talked with her about whether that was legal and about the procedures for finding a party in contempt. Judge Turner was elected administrative judge by the other judges while Granda was in custody; Judge Sullivan testified that her selection had been favored by the mayor. Granda also produced evidence of a September 2002 press conference held by the mayor in Judge Turner's courtroom where he emphasized the importance of the truancy ordinance. In his 2003 state of the city address, the mayor praised Judge Turner for following his suggestion to "hold parents equally responsible" for the acts of their children. Granda introduced court records indicating that Judge Turner had incarcerated at least 31 other parents charged with violating the truancy ordinance.

Although Judge Turner's orders were not appealable to the other municipal court judges, Granda asserts that Judge Sullivan once acted to release a minor who had been ordered incarcerated by Judge Turner. Judge Sullivan explained in his deposition that he acted because only the juvenile court had jurisdiction over minors. Judge Walsh, who was elected administrative judge after Judge Turner, testified in her deposition that she reassigned the judge to a full time arraignment calendar while shifting the truancy calendar to the provisional judges because of the amount of time it consumed. Judge Walsh also told Judge Turner that the truancy ordinance did not allow the incarceration of parents of truant children.

Judge Turner and the city moved for summary judgment, arguing that Turner could not be held liable for acts taken in her judicial capacity because of judicial immunity and the Eleventh Amendment. The city asserted that it was also entitled to summary judgment because respondeat superior liability is not available...