Chrissy F. By Medley v. MISSISSIPPI DPW
| Decision Date | 06 December 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. J88-0340(B).,J88-0340(B). |
| Citation | 780 F. Supp. 1104 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Mississippi |
| Parties | CHRISSY F., by Her Next Friend and Guardian Ad Litem, Donna MEDLEY, Plaintiff, v. MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE, Thomas H. Brittian, Jr., Individually and as Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Welfare, Sebe Dale, Jr., Individually and as Chancellor for the Tenth Chancery Court District of Mississippi, Garland Upton, Individually and as Referee of the Marion County Youth Court, Richard L. Douglas, Individually and as District Attorney for Marion County, Mississippi, Marion County Welfare Department, Hancock County Welfare Department, Jeanette Werbey, as Supervisor of Hancock County Welfare Department, Angela Lacy, Individually and as Caseworker for Marion County Welfare Department, Phillip Broadhead, Fred Cooper, Timothy Charles Foxworth, Sharon Whitt, Individually and as Supervisor of Marion County Welfare Department, and Lamar Braxton, Carol Burger, Carole Haney, R.D. Harris, William Reed, Katherin Shepard, and Jessie Weeks, in their official capacities as members of the State Board of Public Welfare, Defendants. |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Daniel S. Mason, Christopher T. Michelletti, Furth Fahrner & Mason, San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiffs.
Sheila Brogna, Children's Law Offices, San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiff.
James F. Steele, Robert G. Jenkins, Office of Atty. Gen., Jackson, Miss., for State defendants.
Thomas D. McNeese, Aultman Tyner McNeese Ruffin, Ltd., Columbia, Miss., for R. Douglass.
Larry O. Norris, P.A., Hattiesburg, Miss., for Timothy C. Foxworth.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY ................................................ 1108
II. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW .......................................................... 1115
A. Elements of a Section 1983 Action ........................................ 1115
B. Substantive Due Process Claims ........................................... 1117
(1) liberty interests and constitutionally protected rights to personal
safety ............................................................ 1118
(2) right of access to courts ............................................ 1119
a. jurisdictional issues as between chancery court and youth court ... 1120
b. inaction and affirmative activity ................................. 1124
C. Procedural Due Process Claims ............................................ 1127
D. CAPTA Claims ............................................................. 1129
E. Pendent State Law Claims ................................................. 1130
III. REMEDIES .................................................................... 1130
IV. CONCLUSION .................................................................. 1131
This matter is on remand pursuant to the Order of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the case of Chrissy F. v. Mississippi Department of Welfare, et al., 883 F.2d 25 (5th Cir.1989). Pursuant to that Order, this Court conducted an evidentiary hearing beginning June 10, 1991, on the merits of the Complaint filed in this matter. The Court, having considered the evidence and arguments presented by the parties, renders the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.
On May 15, 1981, Dorrie Singley married Defendant Timothy Foxworth in Columbia, Mississippi, a small town located in Marion County, Mississippi. On May 15, 1982, Singley gave birth to Foxworth's daughter, Crystal Marie Foxworth ("Chrissy").
Singley and Foxworth were divorced on November 29, 1984, pursuant to a divorce decree of the Chancery Court of Marion County, Mississippi. The divorce decree granted Singley physical custody of Chrissy and gave Foxworth visitation rights with the child.
Between the date of the divorce decree and March, 1985, cooperation between Singley and Foxworth regarding visitation with Chrissy degenerated substantially. On March 8, 1985, Foxworth filed a motion for citation of contempt in Marion County Chancery Court, asserting that Singley had willfully refused to allow Foxworth to exercise his visitation rights as provided in the divorce decree. Foxworth subsequently amended the motion to include allegations that Singley had moved the child outside of the State of Mississippi, thereby further impeding Foxworth's attempts to visit Chrissy. Foxworth believed that Singley had either remarried or was living with a boyfriend in Texas.
On August 7, 1985, Foxworth's motion for citation of contempt was heard before Defendant Chancellor Sebe Dale, Jr., to whom the Foxworth divorce and custody matter had been assigned. Judge Dale had not heard the original divorce proceeding between Singley and Foxworth. During the hearing, allegations were made for the first time that Singley would not allow Chrissy to visit with Foxworth because of Singley's belief that Foxworth was sexually abusing the child. On August 22, 1985, Judge Dale entered an order on the motion, finding that Singley was in contempt of the visitation provisions of the court's divorce decree and ordering Singley's incarceration upon her return to the court's jurisdiction.
In May, 1986, Singley returned to Mississippi and took up residence in Bay St. Louis, which is located in Hancock County, Mississippi. She was subsequently arrested for contempt and jailed from July 8 through July 18, 1986, pursuant to Judge Dale's order. Because of Singley's incarceration and the allegations of child sexual abuse that had been raised in the matter, the case received substantial media attention and was on its way toward becoming a cause celebre for those interested in the rights of abused children.
Following her release from jail, Singley sought the assistance of Defendant Richard Douglas, District Attorney for the 15th Judicial District of Mississippi, which includes Marion County and Columbia, Mississippi. Douglas informed Singley that he needed physical evidence of the alleged sexual abuse before he could institute criminal proceedings against Foxworth.
On November 18, 1986, following a visitation period with Foxworth, Chrissy was taken to a hospital emergency room in Hancock County, Mississippi, the county where Singley and her daughter were then residing. Dr. William Bradford examined the child and thereupon filed a "Report of Suspected Battered Child" regarding Chrissy with the Hancock County Welfare Department. In his report, Dr. Bradford noted physical symptoms that suggested Chrissy may have been sexually abused. Dr. Bradford recommended to Singley that she seek follow-up assistance from the Mississippi Department of Public Welfare.
On November 19, 1986, Singley met with Bridget Logan of the Hancock County Welfare Department to discuss the suspected sexual abuse noted in Dr. Bradford's report. Logan interviewed Singley and Chrissy individually and recommended that Chrissy be examined by a pediatrician experienced in child sexual abuse cases.
On November 25, 1986, Logan accompanied Singley to the office of Dr. R. Bryant McCrary, the pediatrician whom Logan had recommended to Singley. Following his examination of Chrissy, Dr. McCrary filed a "Report of Suspected Battered Child" with the Hancock County Welfare Department in which he stated that his findings were "very suspicious of child abuse." While still at Dr. McCrary's office, Logan telephoned Judge Dale's office to inform him of the findings made by Drs. Bradford and McCrary. However, no action was taken at that time to suspend or otherwise modify Chrissy's visitation with Foxworth.
On November 26, 1986, Chrissy was interviewed by Margaret Alfonso, Assistant District Attorney for Hancock County, Mississippi, who had been notified of Chrissy's case by Dr. McCrary. On December 1, 1986, Alfonso wrote to Marion County District Attorney Douglas, noting that she had interviewed Chrissy, that Chrissy had told her of specific acts of molestation that had occurred during her visits to Columbia, Mississippi, with Foxworth, and that criminal prosecution of Foxworth should be considered based on the strength of the evidence.
On December 3, 1986, Garnett Harrison, the attorney Singley had retained at the recommendation of Alfonso, sent the medical reports of Drs. Bradford and McCrary to Mason Sistrunk, an investigator in the Marion County District Attorney's Office. Harrison also wrote to Logan and requested that she file an abuse petition in Hancock County, the county in which Singley and Chrissy resided. However, Logan advised Harrison that the matter needed to be handled in Marion County Chancery Court and that any Youth Court action that might be appropriate would also need to be initiated in Marion County. Logan further informed Harrison that this information had been relayed to Sistrunk in the Marion County District Attorney's Office.
On December 10, 1986, Singley met with Gary Arthur, a case worker with the Marion County Welfare Department. At that meeting, Singley provided Arthur with copies of the reports of Drs. Bradford and McCrary and a copy of Alfonso's December 1, 1986, letter to Douglas. Arthur interviewed Chrissy about the alleged sexual abuse, but she was unable to verbalize the alleged incidents other than to say, "Daddy did it."
On December 11, 1986, Arthur prepared a "Report of Suspected Battered Child" form and sent it to District Attorney Douglas and the Marion County Sheriff's Department to inform them that the Marion County Welfare Department was investigating the Foxworth matter. On December 12, 1986, Arthur prepared an investigation report which indicated that Arthur had been told by Marion County Attorney Forrest Dantin that the matter would be handled by Judge Dale in Chancery Court as a custody matter rather...
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