JB v. Washington County

• Decision Date: 02 November 1995
• Docket Number: No. 93-C-1038G.,93-C-1038G.
• Citation: 905 F. Supp. 979
• Parties: J.B., individually, and for her minor child, L.B., Plaintiffs, v. WASHINGTON COUNTY, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Utah

905 F. Supp. 979

J.B., individually, and for her minor child, L.B., Plaintiffs, v. WASHINGTON COUNTY, Defendant.

No. 93-C-1038G.

United States District Court, D. Utah, Central Division.

November 2, 1995.

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Matthew Hilton of Hilton & Steed, Salt Lake City, UT, for Plaintiffs.

Allan L. Larson and Richard A. Van Wagoner of Snow, Christensen & Martineau, Salt Lake City, UT, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

J. THOMAS GREENE, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiffs are represented by Matthew Hilton of Hilton & Steed. Defendant are represented by Allan L. Larson and Richard A. Van Wagoner of Snow, Christensen & Martineau. A hearing on these motions was held on June 8, 1995, after which the matters were taken under advisement. After due consideration of the issues presented, this court renders its Memorandum Decision and Order.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs J.B. and her daughter, L.B., are residents of Washington County, Utah. On April 22, 1993, an anonymous informant notified Washington County Deputy Sheriff Pam Humphreys that the informant had personally witnessed L.B.'s father, R.B., engaged in sexual touching of L.B.¹ The informant further reported that L.B., a seven-year old girl, was home-schooled, that L.B.'s parents did not work outside the home, and that J.B. and L.B. were currently out of town. Deputy Humphreys did not conduct an independent investigation to verify the allegations, nor did she investigate the past criminal history of R.B. (Humphreys Depo. at 25, 37.)

Deputy Humphreys presented the matter to Sheriff Humphries (no relation). It was determined that an interview of L.B. was necessary. Deputy Humphreys' actions in discussing the case with Sheriff Humphries was in accordance with policies and procedures of the Sheriff's Office. (Humphries Depo. at 4-6.) This case was the first one encountered by Deputy Humphreys which involved allegations of abuse by an in-home perpetrator on a child who was home-schooled. (Humphreys Depo. at 14-16.)

In the typical in-home child abuse case, an interview is conducted with the alleged victim at the child's school. (Humphreys Depo. at 27; Langston Depo. at 8, 13.) In cases of child abuse allegations that involve an alleged in-home perpetrator, investigators avoid notifying the alleged perpetrator prior to an interview with the alleged victim in order to prevent the alleged perpetrator from exercising inappropriate influence over the alleged victim. (Humphreys Depo. at 26; Langston Depo. at 6-8.) This case presented a dilemma ma because the child had infrequent contacts outside the home.

Because an interview at public school was not available as a method in this case, Deputy Humphreys consulted Janalee Gregory of the Division of Family Services² and Deputy County Attorney Brent Langston for advice. Gregory and Humphreys considered interviewing L.B. at church, which was perceived to be "the only time she would be away from her parents." (Humphreys Depo. at 17.) However, they determined not to interview L.B. at church due to concerns for L.B.'s best interest, and fears that contact with church authorities and members would draw undue attention to L.B. and the case. (Humphreys Depo. at 17-18.) Langston and Humphreys considered consulting Juvenile Court Judge Joseph Jackson and determined to do so. (Langston Depo. at 4.)

When presented with the general facts of this case, Judge Jackson recommended that the County Attorney's Office file a petition with the Juvenile Court seeking an order directing temporary removal of L.B. from her home for the purpose of conducting an interview. (Humphreys Depo. at 31-33, and Exhibit 1.) Deputy County Attorney Langston prepared such a petition in which it was alleged that "on information and belief" the child was an "abused child," and requested a hearing. Neither Langston nor Deputy Humphreys previously had been involved in a case in which a court order was sought to remove a child from her home for purposes of an interview. (Humphreys Depo. at 22-24; Langston Depo. at 5.)

At an ex parte hearing on the petition, Judge Jackson questioned Deputy Humphreys concerning the statements of the informant, and entered an Order that L.B. immediately be removed from her home for purposes of an interview and taken to a shelter care location, "there to be held pending a hearing in the ... matter."³ No date for hearing was set forth in the Order.

Deputy Humphreys delivered Judge Jackson's Order to Deputy Wright for execution. On May 3, 1993, Deputy Wright and Deputy Orvin drove to plaintiffs' home, informed J.B. and R.B. of the contents of the Order, and stated that L.B. was to be temporarily removed from the home. (Wright Depo. at 7.) Deputy Wright served R.B. and J.B. with a copy of the Order and informed them that they would not be able to contact L.B. until an interview had been completed. (Wright Depo. at 16.) Deputies Wright and Orvin then took L.B. to a designated shelter home. L.B. was not visibly upset at that time, and appeared comfortable to the officers. (Orvin Depo. at 14-16.)

The next morning at approximately 8:00 a.m., R.B. and J.B., assisted by their attorney, obtained a copy of the petition. At approximately 9:00 a.m. that same day, L.B. was interviewed by Gregory and Humphreys. The interview lasted about twenty minutes. Neither Gregory nor Humphreys observed any behavior by L.B., or obtained any statement, which would substantiate the child abuse allegations. Therefore, L.B. was immediately returned to her parents' custody following the interview. In total, L.B. was separated from her parents for approximately 17.5 hours.

The County Attorney's Office subsequently filed a Motion to Dismiss the petition in Juvenile Court for lack of evidence. Judge Jackson entered an order granting the motion.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The standard for summary judgment motions requires that there is no genuine issue of material fact, such that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. In this regard, the Supreme Court has said: "A party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the court of the basis of the motion, and identifying those portions of `the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with any affidavits, if any,' which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The relevant inquiry is "whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511-12, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). "By its very terms, the Rule 56 standard provides that the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there is no genuine issue of material fact." Id. at 247-48, 106 S.Ct. at 2509-10.

In the instant case, both parties have submitted motions for summary judgment. This court has carefully considered the parties' statements of fact, as well as depositions and other documentation, and concludes that the factual background set forth above is agreed upon.⁴ While there is some dispute over the relative significance of various facts, this court determines that it can appropriately rule as a matter of law, because there is no genuine issue of material fact.

ANALYSIS

Plaintiffs claim that their procedural due process, substantive due process, and equal protection rights under the United States Constitution and the Utah Constitution have been violated. In addition, plaintiffs assert that defendant has failed properly to train its employees in matters concerning constitutional rights.⁵

I. Federal Constitutional Claims Under § 1983.

In order to maintain an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, plaintiffs must show that (1) Defendant Washington County's employees acted under color of state law, pursuant to a County policy, procedure or custom; and (2) plaintiffs thereby were deprived of a constitutionally cognizable right, privilege or immunity. Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 385, 109 S.Ct. 1197, 1202, 103 L.Ed.2d 412 (1989); Hinton v. City of Elwood, Kansas, 997 F.2d 774 (10th Cir.1993).

A. Existence of "Policy, Procedure or Custom."

The Supreme Court has stated that a municipality or county can be found directly liable under § 1983. Monell v. Dept. of Soc. Serv., 436 U.S. 658, 690, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 2035, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). The Tenth Circuit set forth the requirements to maintain an action against a municipality or county in Cannon v. City and County of Denver, 998 F.2d 867, 877 (10th Cir.1993),⁶ stating

The touchstone of a § 1983 action against a governmental body is an allegation that official policy is responsible for a deprivation of rights protected by the Constitution ... Municipalities can be held liable only when an injury was inflicted by execution of a government's policy or custom, whether made by its lawmakers or by those whose edicts or acts may be fairly said to represent official policy.

It is not necessary that the government's policy or custom be formally adopted or written. Rather, as stated by the Supreme Court:

It is plain that county liability may be imposed for a single decision by county policymakers under appropriate circumstances ... If the decision to adopt a particular course of action is properly made by that government's authorized decisionmakers, it surely represents an act of official government "policy" as that term is commonly understood. More importantly, where action is directed by those who establish governmental policy,

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