Doe v. Ladue, Civil No. 07-2190 (DSD/SRN).

• Citation: 514 F.Supp.2d 1131
• Decision Date: 04 September 2007
• Docket Number: Civil No. 07-2190 (DSD/SRN).
• Parties: John DOE and Jane Doe, Plaintiffs, v. Shaun E. LaDUE, individually and in his official capacity of Chief of Police of the Owatonna Police Department, Ricardo Magana, individually and in his official capacity, Tim Hassing, individually and in his official capacity, Mike Earl, individually and in his official capacity, Willie Goodsell, individually and in his official capacity, Jay Matejcek, individually and in his official capacity, John Roes I through V, individually and in their official capacities, and the City of Owatonna, Minnesota, Defendants.
• Court: United States District Courts. 8th Circuit. United States District Court of Minnesota

514 F.Supp.2d 1131

John DOE and Jane Doe, Plaintiffs, v. Shaun E. LaDUE, individually and in his official capacity of Chief of Police of the Owatonna Police Department, Ricardo Magana, individually and in his official capacity, Tim Hassing, individually and in his official capacity, Mike Earl, individually and in his official capacity, Willie Goodsell, individually and in his official capacity, Jay Matejcek, individually and in his official capacity, John Roes I through V, individually and in their official capacities, and the City of Owatonna, Minnesota, Defendants.

Civil No. 07-2190 (DSD/SRN).

United States District Court, D. Minnesota.

September 4, 2007.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Frederick J. Goetz, Esq. and Goetz & Eckland PA, Minneapolis, MN, for plaintiffs.

Jason M. Hiveley, Esq., Jon K. Iverson, Esq. and Iverson Reuvers, LLC, Bloomington, MN, for defendants.

ORDER

DAVID S. DOTY, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction. Based upon a review of the file, record and proceedings herein, and for the following reasons, the court grants plaintiffs' motion.

BACKGROUND

On September 20, 1991, plaintiff John Doe was convicted of one count of a lewd act upon a child under the age of fourteen in violation of California Penal Code § 288(a). Doe was placed on probation for five years and, under California law, subjected to lifetime predatory offender registration. After the incident, in May of 1992, Doe and his family moved from California to Owatonna, Minnesota. Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes § 243.166, plaintiff's lifetime registration requirement followed him to Minnesota. Therefore, in compliance with Minnesota law, Doe initially registered as a predatory offender by providing the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension ("BCA") with his fingerprints, a photograph and information regarding his, whereabouts, residences, places of employment and vehicle make and model. At that time, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and the BCA determined that Doe's risk level was "not assigned." (Goetz Aff. Ex. 1.) After the initial registration, Doe completed annual BCA address verification forms as required by Minnesota law.

In December of 2004, defendant Shaun E. LaDue became chief of the Owatonna police department ("OPD"). Under La-Due's leadership, the OPD instituted a proactive compliance or verification approach in monitoring registered predatory offenders. The proactive approach, as advocated in the BCA predatory offender training manual, recommends that local police departments conduct quarterly visits to the last known address of every predatory offender in their jurisdiction. (Hiveley Aff. Ex. A.) During such visits, conducted on a random basis four times per year, OPD officers seek face-to-face contact with the registered offender to verify the RCA's identification and registration information. Additionally, once a year on a random basis, OPD officers visit an offender's home to photograph the offender and his or her vehicles.

Doe claims that these visits, often made by officers in marked squad cars who demand to meet with Doe personally and return to his home until he meets their demands, have injured him and his family. Doe argues that he was threatened with arrest and prosecution for violating his registration requirements if he did not fully comply with the officers' requests. He claims that the visits have subjected him and his family to a negative social stigma and resulted in de facto community notification of his past criminal wrongdoing. Further, he asserts that the officers have, without any reasonable or articulable suspicion of wrongdoing, seized him and entered his house at all hours of the day and night, thereby interrupting the quiet enjoyment of his home.

On May 4, 2007, Doe and his wife, plaintiff Jane Doe, filed this action against LaDue, the City of Owatonna and OPD officers. Doe argues that the OPD's proactive enforcement practices extend beyond the measures authorized by Minnesota Statutes §§ 243.166 and 244.052 and violate his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure and his Fourteenth Amendment rights of due process and equal protection. Doe also asserts claims against LaDue and other OPD officers individually under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiffs now move the court for a preliminary injunction to halt the OPD's use of the proactive approach to predatory offender monitoring.

DISCUSSION

The court examines four factors when considering whether to grant preliminary injunctive relief. See Dataphase Sys., Inc. v. C L Sys., Inc., 640 F.2d 109, 112-14 (8th Cir.1981). Those factors are (1) the threat of irreparable harm to the movant in the absence of relief, (2) the balance between that harm and the harm that the relief would cause to the other litigants, (3) the likelihood of the movant's ultimate success on the merits and (4) the public interest. See id. at 112-14. The court balances the four factors to determine whether injunctive relief is warranted. See Northland Ins. Cos. v. Blaylock, 115 F.Supp.2d 1108, 1116 (D.Minn.2000). The movant bears the burden of proof concerning each factor. See Gelco v. Coniston Partners, 811 F.2d 414, 418 (8th Cir. 1987). The likelihood of success on the merits is not, alone, determinative. See Dataphase, 640 F.2d at 113. Instead, the court considers the particular circumstances of each case, remembering that the primary question is whether the "balance of equities so favors the movant that justice requires the court to intervene to preserve the status quo until the, merits are determined." Id. If the threat of irreparable harm to the movant is slight when compared to likely injury to the other party, the movant carries a particularly heavy burden of showing a likelihood of success on the merits. See ASICS Corp. v. Target Corp., 282 F.Supp.2d 1020, 1025 (D.Minn. 2003).

I. Threat of Irreparable Harm

Plaintiffs must first establish that irreparable harm will result without injunctive relief and that such harm will not be compensable by money damages. See Blaylock, 115 F.Supp.2d at 1116. Possible or speculative harm is not enough. See Graham Webb Int'l v. Helene Curtis, Inc., 17 F.Supp.2d 919, 924 (D.Minn.1998). Rather, the party seeking the injunctive relief must show a significant risk of harm exists. Johnson v. Bd. of Police Comm'rs, 351 F.Supp.2d 929, 945 (E.D.Mo.2004). The absence of such a showing alone is sufficient to deny a preliminary injunction. See Gelco, 811 F.2d at 420.

The court finds that the threat of irreparable harm to plaintiffs weighs in favor of granting a preliminary injunction. It is undisputed that OPD officers have subjected Doe to searches and seizures of his person. Doe contends that the OPD has carried out these searches and seizures without probable cause or reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. Defendants argue that the BCA training manual advocates such practices and that Minnesota Statutes § 243.166 does not prohibit them. A state agency's training manual, however, does not override the Supreme Court's directive that government officials cannot undertake a "search or seizure absent individualized suspicion." See Chandler v. Miller, 520 U.S. 305, 308, 117 S.Ct. 1295, 137 L.Ed.2d 513 (1997).¹ Nor does a state law's failure to prohibit a constitutionally violative practice make it tenable. Doe has complied with his annual registration without incident for thirteen years and carries the lowest risk level possible — "not assigned." Further, defendants have offered no evidence of probable cause or reasonable suspicion that exists to justify the searches and seizures of Doe and the accompanying disruption of his family. Therefore, based on the evidence currently before it, the court finds that the OPD's methods have violated Doe's Fourth Amendment rights in the past and threaten to cause him future harm. Accordingly, this factor weighs in favor of injunctive relief for plaintiffs.

II. Balance of Harms

Under the second factor, the court considers whether the irreparable harm to the movant outweighs any potential harm to the nonmovants should the injunction issue. See Dataphase, 640 F.2d at 114. Defendants argue that plaintiff is not harmed because his 1991 conviction mandated registration and he is merely objecting to the impact of that requirement. The court finds that the OPD's practices have gone beyond the registration requirement and caused plaintiffs considerable harm. Defendants, meanwhile, have not suggested how a preliminary injunction would harm them. Further, enjoining the proactive methods does not keep defendants from monitoring Doe. The BCA advocates a reactive approach — the method the OPD used before LaDue's tenure — that enables law enforcement to monitor predatory offenders through annual registration. (See Hiveley Aff. Ex. A.) Accordingly, this factor also supports the issuance of an injunction.

III. Likelihood of Success on the Merits

The third factor questions whether the movant will likely prevail on the merits. While not overriding the other factors, the likelihood of success on the merits is preeminent. See Halikas v. Univ. of Minn., 856 F.Supp. 1331, 1335 (D.Minn.1994). Defendants argue that plaintiffs have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits because LaDue, the OPD officers, and the City of Owatonna are entitled to qualified immunity. Plaintiffs allege that the OPD's proactive monitoring approach violated Doe's clearly established Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure² and that defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity.

The applicability of qualified immunity is a question of law analyzed in two parts. Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001). The court first determines whether the facts alleged are adequate to show a constitutional violation, and, if so, whether the law regarding the...