J.K.J. v. Polk Cnty.

• Decision Date: 26 June 2019
• Docket Number: Nos. 18-1498,18-1499,18-2170 & 18-2177,s. 18-1498
• Parties: J.K.J. and M.J.J., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. POLK COUNTY and Darryl L. Christensen, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

928 F.3d 576

J.K.J. and M.J.J., Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
POLK COUNTY and Darryl L. Christensen, Defendants-Appellants.

Nos. 18-1498
18-1499
18-2170 & 18-2177

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued November 9, 2018
Decided June 26, 2019
Rehearing En Banc Granted, Opinion Vacated September 16, 2019

Lida Marie Bannink, Esq., Thomas J. Weidner, Attorneys, ECKBERG, LAMMERS, P.C., Stillwater, MN, Adam Francois Watkins, Attorney, WATKINS BRADLEY LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Paul David Cranley, Attorney, HUSCH BLACKWELL, LLP, Madison, WI, Kurt M. Simatic, Attorney, HUSCH BLACKWELL LLP, Waukesha, WI, for Defendant-Appellant Polk County, Wisconsin.

Samuel C. Hall, Jr., Sara Catherine Mills, Attorneys, CRIVELLO CARLSON, S.C., Milwaukee, WI, for Defendant-Appellant Darryl L. Christensen.

Before Bauer, Brennan, and Scudder, Circuit Judges.

Brennan, Circuit Judge.

Darryl Christensen, a Polk County, Wisconsin Jail corrections officer, sexually assaulted plaintiffs J.K.J. and M.J.J. over three years during their incarcerations. Plaintiffs sued Christensen and the county under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment claims, in addition to a state law negligence claim against the county. After trial, the jury found Christensen and the county liable for J.K.J. and M.J.J.’s injuries and awarded each $ 2 million in compensatory damages. The jury also levied punitive damages against Christensen, awarding $ 3,750,000 to each plaintiff. Both defendants moved for new trials, and the county also moved for judgment as a matter of law. The district court denied those requests and defendants now appeal the judgments entered against them.

We see no reason to disturb the jury’s verdict against Christensen and so affirm the denial of his request for a new trial. His assaults were predatory and knowingly criminal. But to impose liability against the county for Christensen’s crimes, there must be evidence of an offending county policy, culpability, and causation. These are demanding standards. Christensen’s acts were reprehensible, but the evidence shows no connection between the assaults and any county policy. We therefore reverse and remand for entry of judgment in favor of the county.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Christensen’s Sexual Assaults

M.J.J. and J.K.J. were inmates at Polk County Jail at various times between 2011 and 2014. Christensen admits he engaged in sexual acts with the women individually. To hide his offenses, Christensen planned his encounters to occur when no one was present and in locations where he controlled access. He also urged plaintiffs not to discuss or report his sexual advances because he would lose his job and family if caught. Plaintiffs complied with Christensen’s secrecy directive and his assaults were kept hidden from jail officials.

928 F.3d 582

Polk County authorities discovered Christensen’s assaults against M.J.J. and J.K.J. after a former inmate reported her own sexual encounters with Christensen to an investigator in a neighboring county. When notified of the former inmate’s allegations, county authorities initiated an internal investigation and confronted Christensen, who immediately resigned. The investigation continued, which led to the discovery of Christensen’s abuse of plaintiffs, and ultimately to his prosecution. He eventually pleaded guilty to several counts of sexual assault and is serving a 30-year prison sentence.

B. Trial Evidence

Plaintiffs sued the county and Christensen in separate actions and the cases were consolidated for jury trial. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants were deliberately indifferent to a serious risk of sexual assault in violation of their Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, and that the county violated state law by negligently supervising Christensen.

At trial, Christensen admitted his offenses but challenged the harms plaintiffs suffered. He argued plaintiffs consented to his overtures and that their encounters were the product of "voluntary attraction." Although not stated directly, his position implied that any award of damages should correspond to plaintiffs’ level of consent. Plaintiffs denied consenting to Christensen’s advances and offered expert testimony showing their mental trauma from his assaults.

Against the county, plaintiffs made four principal allegations: (1) the jail’s sexual assault policies and training were inadequate; (2) the jail customarily tolerated sexually offensive comments by guards; (3) the investigation of a former guard revealed the jail’s sexual assault policy was inadequate and that the jail minimized sexual abuse; and (4) the jail failed to widely implement recommendations under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), 34 U.S.C. §§ 30301 –09. The sum of these allegations, plaintiffs argued, prove the county was deliberately indifferent to a known risk of sexual assault by jail staff. The county disagreed, arguing that the trial evidence did not support the jury’s liability finding and damages awards. These claims were heavily contested, and we recount the evidence noting those facts the county disputed. Although we summarize the trial evidence, on appeal we view the facts in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict. See Lindsey v. Macias , 907 F.3d 517, 518 n.1 (7th Cir. 2018).

1. Policies and training

Plaintiffs alleged the jail had no policy either to prevent or detect sexual assaults, and that its policies on sexual misconduct were "practically nonexistent." At trial, the county produced several policies prohibiting sexual contact between guards and inmates, and two stand out.

Policy I-100 forbids any mistreatment or harassment of inmates, explaining inmates’ rights and informing them that it is never acceptable for "any inmate [to] be the object of verbal, physical, emotional, psychological, or sexual harassment by facility staff." The policy continues, "[a]ny officer engaged in such actions is subject to disciplinary charges and/or termination." Inmates are also provided a handbook when booked into the jail that says:

Every inmate has the right to be safe from sexual abuse and harassment. No one has the right to pressure you to engage in sexual acts. If you are being pressured threatened, or extorted for sex, you should report this to staff immediately.

Likewise, Policy C-202 prohibits any "intimate social or physical relationship with

928 F.3d 583

a prisoner." It also informs jail staff that sexual contact with any inmate is a criminal offense under Wisconsin law, and any officer that suspects such conduct has a duty to report it. See Wis. Stat. § 940.225(2)(h) (categorizing sexual contact and sexual intercourse by a correctional staff member with an inmate as a Class C felony).

Plaintiffs also claimed the county never trained officers to avoid sexual assaults. But the jail’s onboarding and continuing education programs instruct employees that sexual contact with prisoners is a crime and never permitted. The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) approved these programs annually, requiring: (1) eight to ten weeks of "field training," during which a new corrections officer shadows an experienced officer to learn jail policies and procedures; (2) completion of a 160-hour jail training program to become a certified corrections officer; (3) 24 hours of continuing education each year to be recertified; and (4) daily training, which includes specific training on the jail’s prohibition against fraternizing with inmates.

At trial, Christensen acknowledged the jail trained him that sexual contact with inmates is a felony and against jail policies. Specifically, Christensen testified:

• He knew his conduct violated jail policy;

• He was trained his conduct was a crime;

• He knew he was putting plaintiffs at risk;

• He never forgot that sex with inmates was a crime; and

• He agreed he did not require more training to know his conduct was a crime.

Plaintiffs’ expert witness on prison training standards, Jeffrey Eiser, testified that the jail’s policies prohibited sexual contact between inmates and guards. Eiser also corroborated that the county trained Christensen that sexual contact with inmates was a felony and against jail policy.

To support their contention that the jail never trained its staff, plaintiffs relied on two witnesses. The first, Lynelle Manning, was a jailer with the county for about 20 months. Manning testified that although she was never officially certified as a correctional officer, she received "formal training" by the jail and shadowed a senior officer for weeks. She also received and read the jail’s policy and inmate booking manuals, which contain the jail’s prohibition of sexual contact between guards and inmates. Manning also testified that during her employment she never heard sexually charged conversations between jail staff and inmates.

Plaintiffs’ second witness, Sergeant Steven Schaefer of the county’s sheriff’s department, worked at the jail from 2002 until 2015. Schaefer testified "we were all required to attend" countywide...