Charles W., et al. v. Maul, et al.

• Decision Date: 01 August 1998
• Docket Number: Docket No. 98-9290
• Citation: 214 F.3d 350
• Parties: (2nd Cir. 2000) CHARLES W., ANTHONY L., GEORGE K., on behalf of themselves and other similarly situated individuals, and MENTAL DISABILITY LAW CLINIC, TOURO LAW CENTER, Plaintiffs, ROY MCGHIE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. THOMAS MAUL, in his official capacity of Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, ROSALYN RICHTER, in her official capacity of New York City Criminal Court Judge, on behalf of herself and all other local criminal court judges in New York State, ROBERT M. MORGANTHAU, in his official capacity as District Attorney of New York County, WILLIAM GRADY, in his official capacity of District Attorney of Dutchess County, JAMES L. STONE, in his official capacity of Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health, CHARLES HYNES, in his official capacity of District Attorney of Kings County, on behalf of himself and all other district attorneys in New York State, Defendants, JOEL DVOSKIN, Ph.D., personally, and in his official capacity of Acting Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health, LUCY RAE SARKIS, personally, Defendants-Appellants
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 350

214 F.3d 350 (2nd Cir. 2000)

CHARLES W., ANTHONY L., GEORGE K., on behalf of themselves and other similarly situated individuals, and MENTAL DISABILITY LAW CLINIC, TOURO LAW CENTER, Plaintiffs, ROY MCGHIE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. THOMAS MAUL, in his official capacity of Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, ROSALYN RICHTER, in her official capacity of New York City Criminal Court Judge, on behalf of herself and all other local criminal court judges in New York State, ROBERT M. MORGANTHAU, in his official capacity as District Attorney of New York County, WILLIAM GRADY, in his official capacity of District Attorney of Dutchess County, JAMES L. STONE, in his official capacity of Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health, CHARLES HYNES, in his official capacity of District Attorney of Kings County, on behalf of himself and all other district attorneys in New York State, Defendants, JOEL DVOSKIN, Ph.D., personally, and in his official capacity of Acting Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health, LUCY RAE SARKIS, personally, Defendants-Appellants.

Docket No. 98-9290

August Term, 1998

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

Argued May 20, 1999

Decided: June 05, 2000

Defendants Joel Dvoskin and Lucy Rae Sarkis appeal from a judgment entered March 27, 1998 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Sifton, C.J.), denying their motion pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) to dismiss plaintiff Roy McGhie's complaint that alleged a §1983 cause of action against defendants.

Reversed and remanded.

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

LYSSA M. SAMPSON, Assistant Attorney General, New York, New York (Dennis C. Vacco, Attorney General, John W. McConnell, Deputy Solicitor General, Robert A. Forte, Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York, New York, New York, of counsel), for Defendants-Appellants.

WILLIAM M. BROOKS, Mental Disability Law Clinic, Touro College, Huntington, New York, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Before: CARDAMONE, JACOBS, Circuit Judges, and McMAHON^*., District Judge.

CARDAMONE, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Roy McGhie, having been found incompetent to stand trial on a misdemeanor charge, was remanded to a New York state psychiatric center for a brief period, to evaluate whether he presented a danger to himself or others warranting invocation of New York's civil commitment law. His confinement there prompted his suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in which he claims defendants Joel Dvoskin and Lucy Rae Sarkis, as state mental health officials, violated his constitutional rights to due process and equal protection in failing to treat him on an equal footing with candidates for civil commitment. Defendants moved to dismiss plaintiff's complaint asserting qualified immunity, a defense that depends upon whether the right plaintiff asserts is so clearly established that defendants should have known it. A right may be said to be clearly established when it has been recognized either by the Supreme Court or by the applicable Circuit Court. Whether a right recognized only by a trial court or by a state court is clearly established presents a closer question. We had ruled prior to plaintiff's remand to the hospital that some difference in treatment by the state between civil admittees and those remanded from criminal court having been found incompetent to stand trial may be justified. Subsequent to our ruling, a state trial judge held, in a case unrelated to this one, that such different treatment violated that plaintiff's constitutional rights. It is on this state court ruling that McGhie rests his claim.

The district court agreed with plaintiff. It therefore denied defendants' motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) and entered judgment against defendants on March 27, 1998 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Sifton, C.J.). We think under the circumstances that plaintiff has not alleged a due process violation, and the alleged equal protection right could not be said to be so surely established as not to admit to substantial doubt and, as a consequence, it was error to deprive defendants of qualified immunity. Hence, we reverse.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff McGhie is an individual plaintiff in a yet uncertified class action brought in the Eastern District of New York on behalf of a proposed class of patients initially committed to, or detained by, facilities operated by the New York State Office of Mental Health or the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities allegedly in violation of their civil rights. Defendant Dvoskin is the former Associate Commissioner of the Office of Mental Health. Defendant Sarkis is the Executive Director of the South Beach Psychiatric Center (Center) located in Richmond County, New York. Plaintiffs named as defendants a number of other officials not before us on this appeal.

The complaint alleges, inter alia, that plaintiffs' commitment to the Office of Mental Health or the Office of Mental Retardation facilities pursuant to N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law §§730.40 and 730.60 after they were found incompetent to stand trial for misdemeanors or minor felonies violated their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process. Specifically, plaintiffs contend these rights were violated because they were not afforded the same procedural protections that govern civil commitments, and because the nature of such commitment did not bear a reasonable relation to the purpose for which they were committed.

Plaintiffs premised their claims on a decision of the New York State Supreme Court, Westchester County, in Ritter v. Surles, 144 Misc. 2d 945 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Westchester Co. 1988), that declared unconstitutional certain aspects of New York's statutory scheme for involuntary commitment of individuals found incompetent to stand trial. Plaintiffs also sought injunctive relief - such claims are currently in settlement negotiations. Plaintiff McGhie alone asserted a claim for monetary damages against defendants Dvoskin and Sarkis in their individual capacities.

A. Statutory Framework

To understand the issues on appeal, a brief summary of New York law governing commitment to state mental health facilities is helpful. When a local criminal court is presented with a defendant who may be unfit to stand trial, the court must order an examination of the defendant, see N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law §730.30(1) (McKinney 1995), and may also hold a hearing if the defendant requests one or if the court deems it necessary, see id. §730.30(2). Under New York Criminal Procedure Law, an "incapacitated person" is defined as "a defendant who as a result of mental disease or defect lacks capacity to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his own defense." Id. §730.10(1). Upon a finding by the local court that a defendant is an incapacitated person, §730.40(1) requires the court to "issue a final or temporary order of observation committing him to the custody of the [Commissioner of Mental Health] for care and treatment . . . for a period not to exceed ninety days from the date of the order." Id. §730.40(1). If the charge is for a misdemeanor, the order must be a "final order of observation;" if the accusatory instrument is a felony complaint, it must be a "temporary order," unless the district attorney consents to a final order. Id.

When the local court has issued a final order, it must then dismiss the charges against the incapacitated person. Such dismissal bars any further prosecution on the charge contained in the accusatory instrument. See id. §730.40(2). An individual committed under a final order of observation may be released at any time prior to the expiration of such order. But pursuant to N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 14, §540.9 (1995), before such a release can be made, the decision to release must be reviewed by a special hospital forensics committee, which acts as a second medical opinion on the appropriateness of the release.

In addition to such review prior to release, under N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 730.60(6) (McKinney 1995), a patient committed under a final order of observation may not be discharged, released on condition, placed in any less secure facility, or granted a temporary pass (collectively, placed on less restrictive status) without the facility first delivering written notice, at least four days in advance, to a number of officials, primarily law enforcement officials. Further, the hospital forensics committee must approve such placement in advance. See N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 14, § 540.9 (1995). This statutory scheme controls commitment of those individuals charged with commission of a crime.

Article 9 of New York's Mental Hygiene Law sets out the state's civil commitment scheme. Under this law, a psychiatric hospital may involuntarily admit a patient upon the certificates of two physicians and a confirmation of the need for hospitalization by a third physician. See N.Y. Mental Hyg. Law §9.27(a) & (e) (McKinney 1996). In an emergency, a hospital may admit a patient upon the certificate of one doctor who has determined that the patient has a mental illness that requires immediate inpatient care and is likely to result in serious harm to himself or others. See id. §§ 9.37(a); 9.39(a); 9.40(a). The need for immediate hospitalization must be confirmed by a staff physician prior to admission. See id. § 9.37(a).

Within 72 hours after admission, if the patient does not agree to hospitalization as a voluntary patient, certification from yet another staff physician that the patient is in need of involuntary treatment must be filed with the hospital. See id. In addition to the procedures just outlined, the confinement of a person "in need of involuntary care" is prohibited unless such person poses a substantial threat of physical harm to himself or to others. I...