Raeford v. Williams, 010913 FED3, 12-1802

• Docket Nº: 12-1802
• Opinion Judge: SLOVITER, Circuit Judge.
• Party Name: TYRONE RAEFORD Appellant v. LINDA WILLIAMS; JOSEPH ONUOHA; ESSEX COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE; PROBATION DIVISION, CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT, CHANCERY DIVISION, FAMILY PART OF ESSEX COUNTY SUPERIOUS COURT; FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP POLICE DEPARTMENT; SGT. PHILLIP RIZZO; CRAIG R. NOVIK, Police Chief; JOHN DOES; ESSEX COUNTY; SOMERSET COUNTY; ESSEX COUNTY CORRECT
• Judge Panel: Before: MCKEE, Chief Judge, SLOVITER, and VANASKIE, Circuit Judges
• Case Date: January 09, 2013
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals, Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

TYRONE RAEFORD Appellant

v.

LINDA WILLIAMS; JOSEPH ONUOHA; ESSEX COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE; PROBATION DIVISION, CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT, CHANCERY DIVISION, FAMILY PART OF ESSEX COUNTY SUPERIOUS COURT; FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP POLICE DEPARTMENT; SGT. PHILLIP RIZZO; CRAIG R. NOVIK, Police Chief; JOHN DOES; ESSEX COUNTY; SOMERSET COUNTY; ESSEX COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY; JANE BOZINOVSKI

No. 12-1802

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

January 9, 2013

NOT PRECEDENTIAL

Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) December 21, 2012.

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (D.C. No. 3-10-cv-01314) District Judge: Honorable Peter G. Sheridan

Before: MCKEE, Chief Judge, SLOVITER, and VANASKIE, Circuit Judges

OPINION

SLOVITER, Circuit Judge.

Tyrone Raeford ("Raeford") appeals from the District Court's grant of summary judgment against him on his claim that Jane Bozinovski ("Bozinovski") violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment Rights.¹

I.

In August 2008 a bench warrant was issued for Raeford's arrest after he failed to appear at a child support hearing in Essex County, New Jersey.² The warrant was entered into the Essex County Probation Department's Automated Child Support Enforcement System ("ACSES") database. Although the Essex County Sheriff's Department ("Sheriff's Department") was responsible for executing the warrant, its computer system did not interface with ACSES; the warrant therefore needed to be entered into its system manually. The Family Division of the Essex County Court was responsible for sending the warrant to the Sheriff's Department.

On September 10, 2008, Raeford came to the Probation Department to address his outstanding bench warrant. Jane Bozinovski ("Bozinovski"), who was working at the Probation Department desk, first sent Raeford to be processed by the Sheriff's Department. After returning, Raeford informed Bozinovski that the Sheriff's Department could not find a warrant on file for him, even though he had asked them to check twice. Bozinovski next brought Raeford before a judge, who vacated his warrant. She then entered the order vacating the warrant into ACSES and a warrant database used by the Family Division. The computer system generated three forms; Bozinovski printed the two forms that reinstated Raeford's drivers license, but did not print the "Notice to Vacate /Amend Bench Warrant" that could have been provided to the Sheriff's Department. App. at 76.

Although Raeford's warrant had been vacated in ACSES, it had not been vacated in the Sheriff's Department computer system. When New Jersey police stopped Raeford for a traffic violation on Friday, December 19, 2008, they arrested him on the already vacated bench warrant. Because it was a Friday, Raeford spent the weekend in jail. On Monday, Raeford was transferred to Essex County Jail. On Tuesday, Bozinovski, who happened to be working at the Probation Department, reviewed the list of people in custody who were to be brought to court and discovered that Raeford was in custody even though his warrant had...