Hyland v. Wonder, 95-15533
| Decision Date | 25 June 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 95-15533,95-15533 |
| Citation | 117 F.3d 405 |
| Parties | 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 4944, 97 Daily Journal D.A.R. 8074 Lanric HYLAND, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Roy L. WONDER, Supervising Judge, Juvenile Court, Superior Court of the City and County of San Francisco, individually and in his official capacity; Daniel M. Hanlon, Presiding Judge, Superior Court of the City and County of San Francisco, individually and in his official capacity; Dennis Sweeney, Chief Probation Officer, San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department, individually and in his official capacity; Fred Jordan, Chief Probation Officer, San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department, individually and in his official capacity; Stephen La Plante, Director, Juvenile Hall, individually and in his official capacity, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Raymond D. Battocchi, Gabeler, Battocchi & Griggs, McLean, VA, for plaintiff-appellant Lanric Hyland.
G. Scott Emblidge, Deputy City Attorney, San Francisco, CA, for defendants-appellees City and County of San Francisco, the San Francisco Superior Court, Dennis Sweeney, Fred Jordan and Stephen La Plante.
Sharon S. Chandler, Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard, San Francisco, CA, for defendants-appellees Roy L. Wonder and Daniel M. Hanlon.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Marilyn H. Patel, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV 90-00646-MHP.
Before SNEED, BOOCHEVER, and THOMPSON, Circuit Judges.
Lanric Hyland, a former volunteer juvenile probation worker, appeals the district court's summary judgment for defendants in his action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which alleged that government officials violated his First Amendment rights when they retaliated against him for his criticism of conditions and management at San Francisco's Juvenile Hall.
The following facts are drawn from the parties' statement of undisputed facts unless otherwise specified.
Lanric Hyland worked as a special assistant to Dennis Sweeney, the Chief Juvenile Probation Officer ("CJPO") at the Juvenile Probation Department of the City and County of San Francisco ("JPD"), from May 1987 to February 24, 1989. During the relevant time, Judge Daniel Hanlon was the presiding judge of the Superior Court, and Judge Roy Wonder was the supervising judge of the Juvenile Court. Sweeney reported directly to Judge Wonder.
Hyland was a volunteer during most of his time at the JPD. Hyland worked for pay for eight months under grants and thereafter worked without pay for fourteen months. Hyland's identification card identified him as "Special Assistant to the Chief Probation Officer." He had his own desk, phone, and keys to the Youth Guidance Center, the executive area, the probation area, and Juvenile Hall.
In June 1988, Stephen La Plante became the director of Juvenile Hall. In August, the Youth Law Center warned that it would file suit over conditions at Juvenile Hall. In October, the California Youth Authority found Juvenile Hall out of compliance with state standards. In January 1989, the California Youth Authority ("CYA") conducted two inspections of the facility and found it in poor condition, out of compliance with state law standards.
In a declaration filed in opposition to Hyland's summary judgment motion, Sweeney stated that around this time, he asked Hyland to help him draft a performance appraisal of La Plante. Hyland wrote a long draft of the performance evaluation, and rated La Plante's performance unacceptable. Sweeney did not deliver the unfavorable evaluation of La Plante to him, or take any other action.
In February 1989, the CYA notified Sweeney and Judge Wonder that Juvenile Hall did not meet minimum standards, and threatened to withdraw its certification. Hyland then decided to take matters into his own hands. Hyland wrote a long memorandum addressed to Judge Hanlon, Judge Wonder, and Judge Daniel Weinstein, the former supervising judge of the Juvenile Court. The memo detailed the problems at Juvenile Hall, documented La Plante's alleged mistakes, failures, and general incompetence to administer Juvenile Hall, and recommended that La Plante be fired.
Hyland showed the draft memorandum to Sweeney on February 24, 1989. After skimming the memorandum, Sweeney told Hyland that his relationship with the Juvenile Court was finished. Sweeney demanded Hyland's keys, and told Hyland he would issue a memorandum stating Hyland was not to be allowed back into Juvenile Hall. [ER p. 74]
Hyland decided to send the memorandum, and on February 27 he delivered the memorandum to Judges Wonder, Hanlon, and Weinstein. An addendum to the memorandum explained Hyland's reasons for disseminating it despite Sweeney's disapproval. In June 1989, the CYA withdrew its certification of Juvenile Hall because of inadequate staff training and overcrowding.
Hyland's second amended complaint further alleges the following: on March 6, 1989, Judges Wonder and Hanlon, in concert with Sweeney and La Plante, decided to fire Hyland, in retaliation for his memorandum.
The retaliation continued. On March 12, 1989, Sweeney told a newspaper reporter "Just ask Hyland why he can't be a peace officer in the state of California," an apparent reference to Hyland's 1964 felony conviction. On March 14, La Plante told a supervising counselor that "Sweeney and I will make damn sure Hyland never gets another job in corrections or juvenile justice, if we can help it." On March 20, Sweeney told a probation officer that he planned to take out a full-page ad in a national correctional association publication to tarnish Hyland's reputation. There is no evidence, however, that such an ad was published.
Hyland had been convicted of armed robbery in 1964, and after his release from prison in 1967 and his discharge from parole in 1970, he earned a graduate degree in criminal justice and obtained considerable experience in the administration of criminal justice. Before he could realize his ambition of becoming a deputy chief probation officer, however, he needed to receive a pardon from the Governor of California. Sweeney had promised that he would help Hyland to obtain a pardon.
Sweeney and La Plante, each of whom had written supporting Hyland's application for a pardon, now actively worked to make sure the application was denied. Sweeney wrote withdrawing his support, and called the governor's office to recommend a denial of the pardon, falsely alleging that Hyland had released confidential juvenile court information in another matter. La Plante also withdrew his letter of support. Sweeney and La Plante also convinced another judge who had written in support of Hyland's pardon application to withdraw his support. Hyland appealed to Judges Wonder and Hanlon to prevent Sweeney and La Plante from continuing to retaliate against him, but the judges failed to act. In May 1989, the governor denied Hyland's pardon application, although the Board of Prison Terms and the California Supreme Court had unanimously recommended its approval. The governor's internal review procedure had reached the same conclusion recommending approval.
Hyland also alleged interference with his employer. Shortly after his termination in March 1989, Hyland obtained a position as a paid consultant to the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives ("NCIA"), a nonprofit organization that recommends sentencing options to defense counsel. Hyland's job was to interview juvenile detainees and write reports for presentation to sentencing judges. In June 1989, Hyland wrote to Judges Hanlon and Wonder asking them to prevent Sweeney and La Plante from continuing their retaliation. Hyland appeared at Juvenile Hall for a meeting with a juvenile detainee, and La Plante barred his entry.
In July, Judge Wonder called the Executive Director of the NCIA's Western Regional Office, Vincent Schiraldi, into a meeting. Schiraldi wrote in a subsequent letter to Hyland (attached as an exhibit to the complaint) that as a result of the meeting, the NCIA "must regrettably terminate" Hyland's employment on cases before San Francisco Juvenile Court because "Judge Wonder informed us that you were not to be allowed into the Juvenile Hall and that your presence on cases could be detrimental to our clients." [ER p. 44] On July 11, the Superior Court executive committee met and ratified the decision to exclude Hyland from Juvenile Hall.
In July 1989, Hyland interviewed for the position of director of the Juvenile Justice Commission. He alleges he was not selected for further interviews because of his memorandum about La Plante. Hyland also alleges that the defendants made a variety of public statements to retaliate against him, including Sweeney's false statement on local television news that Hyland had released to the public confidential juvenile court records, and Judge Wonder's statement in a newspaper article to the effect that Hyland was a disservice to his clients.
In January 1990, San Francisco voters passed Proposition L, which created the Juvenile Probation Commission ("JPC") and gave it authority over Juvenile Hall, removing supervisory authority from the Superior Hyland also applied for employment as Executive Secretary of the JPC and Director of Community Services Programs of the JPD. He was not considered for the positions.
Court. Sweeney resigned and was replaced by Fred Jordan as Chief Juvenile Probation Officer. In February 1990, Hyland and the NCIA wrote Jordan asking that Hyland be admitted to Juvenile Hall, and Jordan refused to lift the ban. In June 1990, Hyland wrote to the JPC asking for a review of Jordan's decision. The JPC voted on and ratified the decision to continue the ban in July 1990.
Hyland filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in March 1990, and amended it in May 1990, alleging (in addition to state law claims) that the...
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