Doe v. Rowe

• Decision Date: 09 August 2001
• Docket Number: No. 00-CV-206-B-S.,00-CV-206-B-S.
• Citation: 156 F.Supp.2d 35
• Parties: Jane DOE, Jill Doe and June Doe, by and through their guardian, Maine Department of Human Services, and the Disability Rights Center of Maine, Inc., Plaintiffs v. G. Steven ROWE, Attorney General for the State of Maine, et al., Defendants
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maine

156 F.Supp.2d 35

Jane DOE, Jill Doe and June Doe, by and through their guardian, Maine Department of Human Services, and the Disability Rights Center of Maine, Inc., Plaintiffs v. G. Steven ROWE, Attorney General for the State of Maine, et al., Defendants

No. 00-CV-206-B-S.

United States District Court, D. Maine.

August 9, 2001.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Kristin L. Aiello, Disability Rights Center, Augusta, ME, for Jane Doe, Jill Doe, June Doe, plaintiffs.

William R. Stokes, Paul Stern, Susan P. Herman, Assistant Attorney General, Augusta, ME, for Attorney General, Secretary of State, defendants.

ORDER ON CROSS MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

SINGAL, District Judge.

Before the Court are both State Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket # 41) and Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket # 44). Through these cross motions, the parties ask the Court to resolve the following significant question: By prohibiting voting by persons under guardianship for mental illness, does the Maine Constitution violate the Fourteenth Amendment and the Americans with Disabilities Act?

For the reasons described below, the Court answers this question in the affirmative. Thus, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' Motion and DENIES State Defendants' Motion.

I. STANDARD FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Generally, a federal court grants summary judgment "if ... there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). "An issue is genuine `if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.'" Ayer v. United States, 902 F.2d 1038, 1044 (1st Cir.1990) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). When faced with cross motions for summary judgment, the Court must draw all reasonable inferences against granting summary judgment to determine if there are genuine issues of fact that require a trial. See Cont'l Grain Co. v. Puerto Rico Mar. Shipping Auth., 972 F.2d 426, 429 (1st Cir.1992). However, "`conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation'" will not suffice to create a genuine issue of material fact requiring a trial. Dynamic Image Techs., Inc. v. United States, 221 F.3d 34, 39 (1st Cir.2000) (quoting Medina-Munoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir.1990)). Pursuant to the Local Rules, the Court has "no independent duty to search and consider any part of the record." Local Rule 56(e). Rather, the Court relies on the parties' submitted statements of material facts ("SMF") and the record citations found therein to construe the relevant facts. See Local Rule 56.

II. BACKGROUND

The Court has previously addressed the facts underlying this case in its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Docket # 16). While the Court lays out all of the relevant facts below in accordance with the summary judgment standards,¹ it refers interested parties to this earlier Order to put the facts, as well as the parties' proffered legal arguments, in context.

Maine's Constitutional Restrictions on Voting²

Pursuant to Maine's Constitution and relevant implementing statute, persons who are "under guardianship for reasons of mental illness" are prohibited from registering to vote or voting in any election.³ ME. CONST. art. 2 § 1; see also 21-A M.R.S.A. § 115(1). A mentally ill person under guardianship, who votes knowing that he or she is subject to the prohibition, can be subject to criminal prosecution. See 21-A M.R.S.A. § 674(3)(B) (making it a Class C crime for a person to vote or attempt to vote "knowing that the person is not eligible to do so.").

This restriction on voting by persons under guardianship due to mental illness was added to the Maine Constitution in 1965. Prior to the approval of the 1965 amendment, Maine's Constitution disenfranchised "paupers and persons under guardianship." (Chapter 34 of the Resolves of 1965 at 1065) (Attach. to State Defs. Mot. for Summ. J. (Docket # 41).) Through the 1965 amendment, Maine sought to limit its disenfranchisement of persons under guardianship to only those persons under guardianship due to mental illness.

The Plaintiffs

Plaintiffs Jane Doe, Jill Doe, and June Doe, are all women under guardianship by reason of mental illness. Through their public guardian, the Maine Department of Human Services ("DHS"), Plaintiffs brought this case claiming that the State of Maine has denied them the right to vote in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment as well as federal statute. The Disability Rights Center of Maine, Inc. not only represents the three named Plaintiffs but also is separately named as a Plaintiff in order to challenge Maine's voting restriction on behalf of other mentally ill persons under guardianship.

A. Jane Doe

Jane Doe is a thirty-three year old resident of Limestone, Maine, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.⁴ Since 1987, she has been under full guardianship because of her mental illness. DHS has served as Jane Doe's appointed guardian since 1993. When Jane Doe was placed under full guardianship, the Probate Court did not specifically consider whether she had the capacity to vote. Additionally, the Probate Court did not notify her that as a result of the guardianship proceedings she might lose her right to vote.

Jane Doe wished to vote in the November 2000 election. Although she understood the nature and effect of voting such that she could make an individual decision regarding the candidates and questions on the ballot, the Maine Constitution prohibited Jane Doe from voting because she was under guardianship by reason of mental illness. Seeking to protect her right to vote, Jane Doe sought a preliminary injunction from this Court in October of 2000 (See Pls. Mot. for Prelim. Injunction (Docket # 2).) As a result of this litigation, Jane Doe learned that it was the position of the State of Maine that a person under full guardianship by reason of mental illness could vote if the Probate Court specifically reserved the individual's right to vote.

On October 31, 2000, Jane Doe filed an unopposed motion with the Aroostook County Probate Court requesting that her guardianship order be modified to allow her to vote. On November 3, 2000, Probate Judge Dunleavy granted the motion thereby reserving Jane Doe's right to vote although she was under full guardianship by reason of mental illness. According to the State of Maine, this modification made Jane Doe eligible to vote in the November 2000 election, although she remained under guardianship by reason of mental illness.

B. Jill Doe

Jill Doe, a seventy-five year old resident of Bangor, Maine, has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In 1996, Jill Doe was placed under full guardianship because she was found to be incapacitated by her mental illness. During the guardianship proceedings, Jill Doe, through her representatives, argued that she was not incapacitated. Alternatively, Jill Doe argued that the Probate Court should only subject her to a limited guardianship that would assure she took her medication. Despite these arguments, the Probate Judge appointed DHS as Jill Doe's full guardian. According to Jill Doe, no one raised the issue of her capacity to vote before placing her under full guardianship.

Similar to Jane Doe, Jill Doe sought to amend the conditions of her guardianship after learning that Maine would allow her to vote despite being under guardianship by reason of mental illness if the right to vote was specifically reserved by the Probate Judge. On November 1, 2000, Jill Doe filed an unopposed motion to revise her guardianship order with the Penobscot County Probate Court. In a sworn affidavit accompanying her motion, Jill Doe explained that she had voted in the past by absentee ballot not realizing that she was not allowed to vote. The substance of this affidavit strongly suggested that Jill Doe understood the nature and effect of voting such that she could make an individual choice about the candidates and questions on the ballot. That same day, Probate Judge Woodcock endorsed the motion, "Motion Denied under the provisions of Article II, Section I of the Constitution of the State of Maine." (Defs. SMF Sealed Attach. 2.) As a result, Jane Doe reasonably believed she was prohibited from voting in the November 2000 Election.

Dr. William Anderson, Jill Doe's attending psychiatrist since 1995, believes that Jill Doe has the mental capacity to understand the nature and effect of voting despite his belief that she does not have the capacity to make responsible decisions regarding her psychiatric treatment. Based on his detailed conversations with Jill Doe, Dr. Anderson reports that Jill Doe knows Maine law restricts her from voting although she genuinely wants to vote. Moreover, Dr. Anderson is of the opinion that Jill Doe is capable of making an individual choice when casting a ballot based on her own strongly held opinions.

C. June Doe

June Doe, a sixty-eight year old resident of Bangor, Maine, has been diagnosed with intermittent explosive disorder, antisocial personality⁵ and mild organic brain syndrome (secondary to encephalitis).⁶ Since 1985, she has been under full public guardianship because of this diagnosis. In 1996, while under guardianship, June Doe earned a high school diploma or "GED."

The Probate Court did not notify June Doe that as a result of being under full guardianship for a mental illness she would lose her right to vote, nor did it specifically consider her capacity to vote. In fact, prior to learning that Maine law prohibited persons under guardianship for mental illness from voting, June Doe had voted in elections while she was under guardianship.

Unlike Jane Doe and Jill Doe, June Doe was unable to seek a modification of her guardianship order prior to the November 2000 election because she was hospitalized. Because...