Boyd v. Owen

• Decision Date: 22 March 2007
• Docket Number: No. 05-3587.,05-3587.
• Citation: 481 F.3d 520
• Parties: James BOYD, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Mickey OWEN and Leslie Foott, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

481 F.3d 520

James BOYD, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Mickey OWEN and Leslie Foott, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 05-3587.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued September 14, 2006.

Decided March 22, 2007.

Greg E. Roosevelt (argued), Edwardsville, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Erik G. Light, Office of the Attorney General, Mary E. Welsh (argued), Office of the Attorney General Civil Appeals Division, Chicago, IL, for Defendants-Appellants.

Before CUDAHY, MANION, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

ILANA DIAMOND ROVNER, Circuit Judge.

James Boyd filed an action in the district court alleging that the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) child welfare investigator Leslie Foott and her supervisor Mickey Owen violated his rights to due process in their investigation of a claim of child abuse and their finding that the claim against him for physical abuse of a child was "indicated." Foott and Owen filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that they were entitled to qualified immunity on the claim. The district court denied that motion, and they appeal that denial to this court.

We generally lack jurisdiction to review denials of summary judgment, but under the collateral order doctrine, a denial of summary judgment on the issue of qualified immunity is immediately appealable to the extent that it presents questions of law rather than fact. Via v. LaGrand, 469 F.3d 618, 622 (7th Cir.2006). Therefore, Boyd may not appeal the district court's denial of summary judgment on qualified immunity insofar as that order determines whether the record sets forth a genuine issue of material fact. Id.; Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, 313, 115 S.Ct. 2151, 132 L.Ed.2d 238 (1995). Such a denial is appealable, however, to resolve disputes concerning an abstract issue of law, such as whether the federal right allegedly infringed was clearly established. Via, 469 F.3d at 623; Johnson, 515 U.S. at 318, 115 S.Ct. 2151; Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U.S. 299, 313, 116 S.Ct. 834, 133 L.Ed.2d 773 (1996). We therefore do not review whether the district correctly determined that genuine issues of fact existed. Instead, accepting the district court's determinations as to the factual issues, and taking the facts as characterized by the district court in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, we determine whether the defendants were nonetheless entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law. Via, 469 F.3d at 623.

On December 30, 2002, DCFS received a hotline report that James Boyd, a police officer with the City of Washington Park, had physically abused the five-year-old daughter of Angela Hampt, a woman with whom he was acquainted. Mary Free, who worked for a crisis center, had received a call from Danny Knight, which alleged that Boyd had caused bruises to the buttocks of Sarah, the daughter of Angela Hampt, and that Boyd also had held a knife to Hampt's throat and that Hampt was afraid of Boyd. Free then conveyed those allegations to DCFS. Knight was a friend of Hampt who lived nearby and had been one of Sarah's babysitters.

Foott was a DCFS child welfare investigator who investigated the allegation, and Owen supervised and participated in the investigation. Upon receiving such an allegation of abuse, DCFS investigators conduct an initial investigation to determine whether credible evidence of child neglect or abuse exists. Credible evidence is established where the available facts, viewed in light of the surrounding circumstances, would cause a reasonable person to believe that a child was abused or neglected. Dupuy v. Samuels, 397 F.3d 493, 497 (7th Cir.2005). If credible evidence of such abuse is found to support the allegation, DCFS designates the report as "indicated." Id.

On January 2, 2003, in the early afternoon, Owen and Foott proceeded to Hampt's apartment to investigate. When there was no response at the apartment, they went to Knight's house down the street and talked with him. They then called the Granite City police who accompanied them to Hampt's apartment. At this time, Hampt answered the door. Hampt allowed Owen and Foott to examine Sarah and they observed the bruises. Hampt asked Sarah how she got the bruises, and Sarah responded "James." Hampt denied that (James) Boyd caused it, and suggested a number of other names of possible perpetrators. At that time, Owen decided to take Sarah into protective custody. On the ride to the field office, Foott asked Sarah in the car who caused the bruises, and she again identified Boyd. During that car ride, Foott and Owen decided that they would "indicate" Boyd for the bruising of Sarah's buttocks. Foott contacted Free again, and Free stated that Boyd was potentially dangerous, violent and psychotic. Later on January 2nd, Foott also interviewed another of Sarah's babysitters, but although the report of that conversation mentions bruising observed on Sarah, it does not identify who caused it. There is some dispute as to when Boyd was contacted, but we assume for this appeal that Foott did not speak with Boyd until February 2003, after he had been indicated for abuse.

In August 2003, Boyd was hired by the Maryville Police Department in a part-time position, with the possibility of being considered for a full-time position in the future. As part of the hiring process, he agreed to a background check. The Maryville Chief of Police later called Boyd into his office and asked him who Angela Hampt was. The Chief indicated that he had learned that Boyd had been indicated for physical abuse, and had been investigated for allegations of sexual abuse (which were subsequently determined to be unfounded.) The Chief further stated that he did not want an officer with a pending or indicated report working for his department. Given the choice of resigning or being terminated, Boyd chose the former. Boyd subsequently filed this lawsuit alleging that the violation of his due process rights by the defendants resulted in the indicated finding, and the loss of his ability to pursue his chosen occupation of law enforcement.

Owen and Foott sought summary judgment on the ground that they were protected from suit by the doctrine of qualified immunity. Under that doctrine, they are shielded from suit unless Boyd can demonstrate (1) the violation of a constitutional right that is (2) clearly established at the time of the alleged violation, so that a reasonable public official would have known that his or her conduct was unlawful. Green v. Butler, 420 F.3d 689, 700 (7th Cir.2005); Sonnleitner v. York, 304 F.3d 704, 716 (7th Cir.2002). In the district court, Boyd argued that they violated his constitutional right to due process of law by issuing an indicated finding under the credible evidence standard, which did not include an adequate investigation or consideration of mitigating evidence. Boyd argued that the constitutional violation was clearly established by this court's decision in Dupuy v. Samuels, 397 F.3d 493 (7th Cir.2005).

The district court appears to have conflated the two prongs of the qualified immunity test. The court held that Boyd possessed a protected liberty interest in his employment as a police officer. The court then recognized that our decision in Dupuy could not clearly establish any due process violation because it was issued after the events at issue in the case. The court nevertheless held that Foott and Owen violated Boyd's clearly established constitutional right to due process because "DCFS' own rules and regulations imposed a duty to identify other possible explanations for the abuse," and Owen and Foott failed to do so. Dist. Ct. Order at 5.

The district court properly held that our Dupuy decision could not demonstrate a clearly established right because it did not exist when these events occurred, but its alternative reasoning is erroneous. The Supreme Court has made clear the requirement of due process is not defined by state rules and regulations, but is an independent determination. Cleveland Bd. Of Educ. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 541, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985); see also Lyon v. Dept. of Children & Family Services, 209 Ill.2d 264, 282 Ill.Dec. 799, 807 N.E.2d 423, 434 (2004). Accordingly, the district court erred in determining that the failure to comply with DCFS regulations demonstrated a violation of a clearly established constitutional right.

As we will see, Boyd provides nothing further to demonstrate that the right was clearly established. . We cannot jump to that issue, however, because the Supreme Court has made clear that we must first consider whether there was a violation of a constitutional right before we can consider whether that right was clearly established at the time of the violation. Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001). Or, more precisely in the context of this summary judgment denial, we must first determine whether, in light of the facts as set forth by the district court, Boyd has alleged sufficient facts for a reasonable jury to find that the failure of the defendants to consider exculpatory evidence violated his right to due process.

Boyd argues that he possessed a liberty interest in his employment as a police officer, and that the indicated finding deprived him of that interest without due process. Owen and Foott argue on appeal that Boyd does not in fact possess a liberty interest that was implicated by the indicated finding, and therefore that the Due Process Clause does not apply. "`It is well-settled that an individual has no cognizable liberty interest in his reputation.'" Dupuy, 397 F.3d at 503, quoting Doyle v. Camelot Care Ctrs., Inc., 305 F.3d 603, 617 (7th Cir.2002). However, "`when a state actor casts doubt on an individual's "good name, reputation, honor or integrity" in such a manner that it becomes "virtually impossible for the [individual] to find new employment in his chosen field," the government has infringed upon that individual's liberty...