Henne v. Wright
| Citation | 904 F.2d 1208 |
| Decision Date | 01 August 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-1919,89-1919 |
| Parties | , 16 Fed.R.Serv.3d 908 Debra HENNE and Alicia Renee Henne, by her next friend, Debra Henne, Appellee, Linda Spidell and Quintessa Martha Spidell, by her next friend, Linda Spidell, (Intervenor below), Appellee, v. Dr. Gregg F. WRIGHT, in his official capacity as Director, Nebraska Department of Health; and Stanley S. Cooper, in his official capacity as Director, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Nebraska Department of Health, Appellants. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit) |
Marilyn B. Hutchinson, Lincoln, Neb., for appellants.
Roberta S. Stick, Lincoln, Neb., for appellees.
Before ARNOLD, Circuit Judge, BRIGHT, Senior Circuit Judge, and MAGILL, Circuit Judge.
Defendants Dr. Gregg F. Wright, M.D., Director of the Nebraska Department of Health, and Stanley S. Cooper, Director of the Nebraska Bureau of Vital Statistics, appeal the judgment of the district court granting plaintiffs Debra Henne and Linda Spidell declaratory and injunctive relief from a Nebraska statute that restricts the choice of surnames that can be entered on an infant's birth certificate. 1 Plaintiffs brought this action under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 individually and as next friends to their daughters alleging that Neb.Rev.Stat. Sec. 71-640.01 (1986) unconstitutionally infringes their fundamental fourteenth amendment right to choose surnames for their daughters other than those prescribed. The defendants appeal, contending that the district court erred in the following respects: (1) plaintiffs lack standing; (2) plaintiffs failed to join certain parties necessary for a just adjudication under Fed.R.Civ.P. 19(a); and (3) Neb.Rev.Stat. Sec. 71-640.01 does not unconstitutionally infringe a fundamental right. We reject defendants' first two contentions but are persuaded by the third and therefore reverse.
On April 4, 1985, Debra Henne gave birth to Alicia Renee Henne at a hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska. Following Alicia's birth, Debra completed a birth certificate form at the request of a hospital employee. Debra listed Gary Brinton as the father and entered the name Alicia Renee Brinton in the space provided for the child's name. Brinton, also present at the hospital, completed and signed a paternity form.
At the time of the birth, Debra was still married to Robert Henne. Although Debra and Robert Henne had filed for a divorce prior to Alicia's birth, the decree dissolving the marriage did not become final until after the birth. As a result of her marital status, hospital personnel, acting on instructions from the Department of Health, informed Debra that she could not surname her daughter "Brinton." Debra then filled out a second birth certificate form, entering the child's name as Alicia Renee Henne and leaving blank the space provided for the father's name. Robert Henne has never claimed to be Alicia's father and, pursuant to the divorce decree, pays no child support for her.
Almost three years later, on February 4, 1988, Debra Henne went in person to the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the Nebraska Department of Health and requested that Alicia's surname be changed to Brinton and that Gary Brinton be listed on the birth certificate as the father. Debra produced a signed statement personally acknowledging Gary Brinton as Alicia's biological father. She also presented a signed acknowledgement of paternity from Gary Brinton and a letter from him requesting that the birth certificate be changed. Personnel at the Bureau of Vital Statistics, acting indirectly at the direction of defendants Cooper and Wright, denied Debra's request. Other than her visit to the Bureau of Vital Statistics and this action, Debra has made no attempt to change Alicia's surname.
On June 17, 1988, at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, Linda Spidell gave birth to a daughter, Quintessa Martha Spidell. Linda wished to give Quintessa the surname "McKenzie," the same surname as her other two children, who were born in California. Hospital personnel, acting upon instructions from the Department of Health, informed Linda that Quintessa could not be surnamed McKenzie and that if Linda did not complete the birth certificate form the hospital would enter Quintessa's last name as Spidell. Linda completed the form, entering "Spidell" as Quintessa's surname and leaving blank the space provided for the father's name.
Linda surnamed her other children McKenzie simply because she liked that name and not because of any familial connection. For that reason, and because she wishes all three children to share the same name, she wants Quintessa surnamed McKenzie. Linda was not married at the time of Quintessa's birth or at the time of this action and there has been no judicial determination of paternity. At trial, however, both Linda and Ray Duffer, who lives with Linda and her children, testified that Duffer is Quintessa's biological father. Other than this action, Linda has made no attempt to change Quintessa's surname.
Defendant Dr. Gregg F. Wright heads the Nebraska Department of Health. The Nebraska Department of Health assists the governor in executing and administering certain laws, including Neb.Rev.Stat. Sec. 71-640.01, the law at issue in this action. Defendant Stanley S. Cooper directs the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the Nebraska Department of Health. In this capacity he ensures that all birth records are filed and maintained in accordance with the laws of Nebraska, including section 71-640.01.
These defendants and the Nebraska Department of Health are responsible for furnishing forms and instructions for use in completing birth certificates to hospitals throughout Nebraska. These birth certificate forms and instructions implement Neb.Rev.Stat. Sec. 71-640.01, which restricts the choice of surnames that can be entered on a birth certificate. Hospital personnel and Nebraska authorities denied plaintiffs their choice of surnames pursuant to this statute.
Debra Henne brought this suit on behalf of herself and her minor child Alicia Renee Henne in federal district court against defendants Wright and Cooper in their official capacities, alleging that Neb.Rev.Stat. Sec. 71-640.01, as implemented and enforced by defendants, violated the Federal Constitution. Linda Spidell later intervened as an additional plaintiff on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor child Quintessa Martha Spidell.
Following a bench trial, the court ruled that the constitutional right to privacy protects a parent's right to name his or her child. The court did not specifically identify the appropriate level of scrutiny by which to examine Neb.Rev.Stat. Sec. 71-640.01. The court held that the justifications for the statute asserted by the defendants failed to satisfy even a minimal level of constitutional scrutiny. Accordingly, the court entered judgment declaring section 71-640.01 unconstitutional, enjoining its enforcement and ordering defendants to change the names on Alicia's and Quintessa's birth certificates. Defendants timely appealed, moving for a stay of the judgment pending appeal. The district court denied the motion but this court subsequently granted a stay pending disposition on appeal.
Defendants argue (1) that the plaintiffs lack article III standing, (2) that plaintiffs failed to join certain necessary parties under Fed.R.Civ.P. 19(a) and (3) that the district court erred in holding Neb.Rev.Stat. Sec. 71-640.01 unconstitutional. We address these arguments in turn. 2
A. Article III Standing
Standing refers to the article III requirement that federal courts only adjudicate actual, ongoing cases or controversies. In order to have article III standing, the plaintiffs must allege an actual or threatened injury in fact as a result of defendants' conduct. In addition, the injury alleged must be fairly traceable to the defendants' conduct and must be likely to be redressed by a favorable decision of the court. Belles v. Schweiker, 720 F.2d 509, 513 (8th Cir.1983) (citing Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc., 454 U.S. 464, 472, 102 S.Ct. 752, 758, 70 L.Ed.2d 700 (1982)).
Here defendants argue that plaintiffs lack standing because the alleged constitutional injury did not result from defendants' conduct but from the conduct of unnamed hospital personnel. We reject this contention. The plaintiffs have alleged that their constitutional right to choose surnames for their children has been infringed by defendants' enforcement and administration of Neb.Rev.Stat. Sec. 71-640.01. Because defendants furnish the forms and instructions by which hospital personnel in Nebraska effect the surname restrictions, plaintiffs' action directly challenges the conduct of defendants. See Amended Complaint pp 16, 17; Complaint of Intervenor pp 16, 17.
Defendants also argue that plaintiffs' injury resulted not from defendants' conduct but from plaintiffs' failure to obtain judicial determinations of paternity. Defendants therefore contend that the required causal connection between the challenged conduct and plaintiffs' injury has not been established. With respect to Linda Spidell, the statute prohibits her from giving Quintessa the surname McKenzie even with a judicial determination of paternity. Moreover, the gravamen of plaintiffs' constitutional claim is that they have a right to choose surnames for their daughters without clearing legal hurdles imposed by the state, such as paternity proceedings. The existence of other avenues by which the plaintiffs may exercise their rights might bear on whether plaintiffs have suffered constitutional injury, but it does not bear on the threshold question of standing.
Defendants further contend that plaintiffs could use the desired surnames without holding the statute unconstitutional. This...
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