Busch v. City of Anthon, Iowa

Decision Date09 November 2001
Docket NumberNo. C 00-4044-MWB.,C 00-4044-MWB.
Citation173 F.Supp.2d 876
PartiesJacqueline K. BUSCH and Larry Busch, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF ANTHON, IOWA, Ron Houghtaling, Ruth Groth, Helen Pulliam, Richard Roark, Doug Boetger, Christine Garthright, Gregory Logan, and Angie Jorgenson, Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa

Jay Denne, Munger, Reinschmidt & Denne, Sioux City, IA, for plaintiffs.

Michael J. Frey, Hellige, Lundberg, Meis, Erickson & Frey, Sioux City, IA, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER REGARDING THE CITY DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

BENNETT, Chief Judge.

                TABLE OF CONTENTS
                I. INTRODUCTION...............................................881
                     A. Factual Background......................................881
                     B. Procedural Background...................................883
                 II. LEGAL ANALYSIS ............................................884
                     A. Standards For Summary Judgment..........................884
                        1. Requirements of Rule 56 .............................885
                        2. The parties' burdens ................................885
                     B. Claims Pursuant To § 1983 ..............................886
                        1. Due process violation................................886
                        2. Assault and battery..................................886
                           a. Arguments of the parties..........................887
                           b. Applicable standard ..............................887
                
                c. Application of the standard.......................890
                        3. False arrest and imprisonment........................892
                           a.  Arguments of the parties.........................892
                           b.  Allegations against City Defendants..............892
                           c.  Applicable standards.............................893
                           d.  Application of the standards.....................896
                        4. Invasion of privacy..................................896
                        5. Retaliation for exercise of free speech rights.......897
                           a.  Arguments of the parties.........................897
                           b.  Nature of the claim..............................898
                           c.  Applicable standards.............................898
                           d.  Application of the standards.....................899
                        6. Qualified immunity...................................900
                           a.  Arguments of the parties.........................900
                           b.  Applicable standards.............................900
                           c.  Application of the standards.....................901
                     C. Common-law Claims ......................................902
                III. CONCLUSION ................................................904
                

Did the souring of relations and confrontations between a resident of a small city in Iowa and various city employees reach the point of constitutional violations and common-law torts? That is the question presented by the motion for summary judgment by the city and its employees in the resident's action involving federal constitutional claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and pendent state-law claims.

I. INTRODUCTION
A. Factual Background

Although a ruling on a motion for summary judgment usually hinges on whether or not there are genuine issues of material fact, the court will not begin this ruling with an exhaustive discussion of the undisputed and disputed facts presented by the record. Rather, the court will begin with a discussion of the factual background sufficient to put in context the plaintiffs' claims and the parties' arguments for and against summary judgment. The court will reserve for its legal analysis the question of whether or not genuine issues of material fact preclude summary judgment on any of the plaintiffs' claims against the moving defendants.

The dramatis personae in this ruling are plaintiffs Jacqueline (Jackie) K. Busch, some time member and president of the City of Anthon Public Library Board, and her husband, Larry Busch; the "City Defendants," consisting of the City of Anthon itself, Richard Roark, the Mayor of the City, Ron Houghtaling, a police officer for the City, Ruth Groth, the City Clerk, and Helen Pulliam, the librarian of the City Library; and the "County Defendants," consisting of various Woodbury County Sheriff's Deputies. Only the City, Defendants have moved for summary judgment, so the present synopsis of the factual background to the Busches' claims focuses on the interactions between the Busches and the City Defendants.1 The Busches contend that they had several clashes with various of the City Defendants in 1998, which they contend give rise to various constitutional and common-law claims.

In 1993, the Mayor of Anthon appointed Jackie Busch to an unpaid position on the Library Board of the City of Anthon. Jackie was elected president of that body in September of 1997. However, things did not go smoothly during 1998. In January of 1998, Jackie had a confrontation with a school teacher at the Anthon-Oto public school regarding a fund raiser for the library, and in February of 1998, there was a dispute among members of the Library Board over Jackie's purchase of a computer for the library, which Jackie and members of her family were purportedly using after normal business hours for both official and personal business.

The situation worsened on the evening of April 26 or 27, 1998, when Jackie and her son were at the library after business hours in response to a call from the librarian, Helen Pulliam, about some problems with the computer. The library is in the same building as the city offices. While Jackie and her son were attempting to correct the computer problem, they heard a loud male voice from the other side of the wall that separates the "library" portion of the building from the "city hall" portion. They then received a telephone call from Ms. Pulliam informing them that Officer Houghtaling had called her about someone being in the library after hours. Ms. Pulliam apparently suggested that Jackie and her son leave the library. Jackie called her husband to follow them home from the library, and they departed. However, apparently that same evening, Larry and Jackie returned to the city hall so that Larry could talk to Officer Houghtaling about the incident. Larry initially spoke to Officer Houghtaling while Jackie waited in their vehicle, but when Jackie eventually approached the two men, she asserts that Mr. Houghtaling began to use abusive language, told her to "get the fuck out of here," placed both of his hands on her shoulders, and shoved her backwards.

On or about April 30, 1998, Jackie and Larry Busch met Mayor Roark on the street. The parties apparently dispute whether the Busches had gone looking for Mayor Roark to complain about Officer Houghtaling's behavior, or had simply run into him. In any event, Mayor Roark took the opportunity to inform Jackie that she was being terminated from the Library Board for "inappropriate behavior." On April 29, 1998, all of the other members of the Library Board had sent a letter to Mayor Roark requesting that the City Council remove Jackie Busch from the Library Board "due to inappropriate behavior." See Defendant's Appendix at 21. The printed agenda of the City Council meeting for April 30, 1998, indicates that one of the matters before the Council would be "LIBRARY BOARD," Id. at 22, and the minutes of the meeting reflect that, after discussion, and upon recommendation of the Library Board, a motion to remove Jackie Busch from the Library Board effective April 30, 1998, carried five votes to none. Id. at 23. On or about May 5, 1998, Jackie Busch received a certified letter dated April 30, 1998, from Mayor Roark, the text of which stated, in its entirety, "Upon recommendation of the Library Board and action of the City Council you have been removed from the Anthon Public Library Board effective April 30, 1998." Id. at 24. By letter dated May 6, 1998, Jackie Busch informed the City of Anthon and the Northwest Iowa Regional Library Board that she was "resign[ing] as a member of the Board of the Anthon Public Library effective immediately." Id. at 25.

Jackie also contends that, on or about May 5, 1998, Mayor Roark made a complaint to the Woodbury County Sheriff's Office that Jackie was "harassing" him. She contends that, in the course of "investigating" that report, a Woodbury County Sheriff's Deputy came to her home, demanded to see what medications she was taking, and rifled through her medicine cabinet.

The next incident giving rise to the Busches' claims occurred on or about May 26, 1998, when Jackie went to the library to make photocopies of a letter from her attorney for an upcoming City Council meeting. While she was making her photocopies, both Helen Pulliam, the librarian, and Ruth Groth, the City Clerk, asked Jackie if she intended to pay for the copies. Jackie contends that she had not been required to pay for copies in the past and that she therefore initially indicated that she would not pay for these copies either. Helen Pulliam told Jackie that if Jackie did not pay for the photocopies, she was supposed to call 911. Jackie then had an argument with both Ms. Pulliam and Ms. Groth. At some point, Jackie called her son and asked him to bring her tape recorder to the library, but did not ask him to bring money for the photocopies. In the course of Jackie's argument with Ms. Groth, which apparently ranged beyond the photocopying issue, Ms. Groth purportedly placed both of her hands on the back door separating the library from the city offices and slammed the door onto Jackie's back. Also at some point, a 911 call was made to the Woodbury County Sheriff's Office, although it is unclear whether the call was made by Helen Pulliam or Ruth Groth. Jackie's son left the library with Jackie's photocopies and Jackie left on her bicycle without paying for the copies. Jackie contends that she had told Helen...

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    ...violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.'" Busch v. City of Anthon, 173 F.Supp.2d 876, 900 (N.D.Iowa 2001) (citing Carroll v. Pfeffer, 262 F.3d 847, 849 (8th Cir.2001)) (quoting Harlow, 457 U.S. at 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727). Sc......
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