Jeff D. v. Kempthorne

• Decision Date: 23 April 2004
• Docket Number: No. 00-35948.,00-35948.
• Citation: 365 F.3d 844
• Parties: JEFF D., John M., Paula E., Dusty R., minors individually and on behalf of the class they represent by and through their friend Charles Johnson, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Dirk KEMPTHORNE, individually and in his official capacity as Governor of the State of Idaho; Marilyn Howard, individually and in her official capacity as State Superintendent of Public Instruction of the Idaho State Department of Education; Karl Kurtz, individually and in his official capacity as Director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare; George Bachik, William G. Gruzenski, individually and in their official capacities as Directors of State Hospital South, and their successors,<SMALL><SUP>*</SUP></SMALL> Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

365 F.3d 844

JEFF D., John M., Paula E., Dusty R., minors individually and on behalf of the class they represent by and through their friend Charles Johnson, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Dirk KEMPTHORNE, individually and in his official capacity as Governor of the State of Idaho; Marilyn Howard, individually and in her official capacity as State Superintendent of Public Instruction of the Idaho State Department of Education; Karl Kurtz, individually and in his official capacity as Director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare; George Bachik, William G. Gruzenski, individually and in their official capacities as Directors of State Hospital South, and their successors,^* Defendants-Appellants.

No. 00-35948.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted June 10, 2002.

Filed April 23, 2004.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Jody P. Carpenter, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, ID, for the defendants-appellants.

Howard A. Belodoff, Belodoff Law Office, Boise, ID, for the plaintiffs-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho; B. Lynn Winmill, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-80-04091-BLW.

Before BROWNING, B. FLETCHER, and GOULD, Circuit Judges.

BETTY B. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge.

For over two decades, the district court has overseen a series of consent decrees entered into by appellants, the Governor of Idaho and other state officials, to remedy alleged constitutional and statutory violations in the provision of services to a class of more than 2,000 indigent Idaho children who suffer from severe emotional and mental disabilities. At this stage of the litigation, the state officials invoke Eleventh Amendment immunity and also contend that the district court no longer has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 to enforce the consent decrees. In essence, after promising so much over the past twenty years, the officials now claim that those promises are not enforceable. The district court rejected these arguments, and the state officials have appealed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We hold that the district court continues to have jurisdiction and that the Eleventh Amendment does not bar the enforcement of the consent decrees. We therefore affirm and return this case to the district court.

I. Factual Background and Procedural History

The history of this case is a sad record of promises made and broken over two decades. The defendants¹ have repeatedly promised to provide appropriate services to the plaintiffs, who are a class of severely emotionally and mentally disabled children in the State of Idaho. In 1980, the complaint was filed in this case on behalf of 2,000 indigent children, and the parties eventually stipulated to class certification. See Jeff D. v. Andrus, 899 F.2d 753, 757 (9th Cir.1989). The complaint alleged that the state officials had violated the class members' rights under the U.S. Constitution, the Idaho Constitution, and federal and state statutes. Among other things, the complaint alleged that some of the plaintiffs had been hospitalized in facilities along with adults, some of whom were known sexual predators and child molesters. The complaint sought only declaratory and injunctive relief.

The defendants filed their answer setting forth multiple defenses to the plaintiffs' action, including Eleventh Amendment immunity. They also alleged that the plaintiffs had failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.

In 1981, the parties settled a number of claims relating to the provision of educational services. Other claims remained, however, and the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The district court dismissed several of the plaintiffs' federal statutory claims, but found that there were disputed issues of material fact as to the plaintiffs' claims under the U.S. Constitution and under Idaho law.

In 1983, pursuant to subsequent negotiations, the parties resolved a number of claims relating to alleged constitutional violations in the provision of mental health care to the class members. In a settlement agreement, the defendants agreed to end the practice of placing children in adult facilities and to provide a range of community-based services for children who would not need in-patient care. The agreement offered virtually all of the injunctive relief that the plaintiffs sought. It specifically required the defendants, among other things, to prepare a needs assessment of children's mental health programs and to provide the class members with facilities and staff for community-based mental health programs and services. The agreement also provided for continuing jurisdiction by the district court for five years or until the district court was satisfied by stipulation or otherwise that the claims for relief were adequately addressed. The agreement was duly entered as a consent decree by the district court in April 1983.

Although this court subsequently invalidated portions of the consent decree that were unrelated to the remedies for the alleged substantive injuries, see Jeff D. v. Evans, 743 F.2d 648 (9th Cir.1984), the Supreme Court reinstated the decree as entered by the district court. See Evans v. Jeff D., 475 U.S. 717, 742-43, 106 S.Ct. 1531, 89 L.Ed.2d 747 (1986).² Shortly after the Supreme Court's decision, another dispute emerged between the parties as to the scope of the plaintiff class, resulting in another appeal to this court. See Jeff D. v. Andrus, 899 F.2d 753 (9th Cir.1989); see also Jeff D. v. Andrus, 861 F.2d 591 (9th Cir.1988).

By the late 1980s, there were serious concerns about the state's compliance with the consent decree and the plaintiffs filed a motion to enforce it. The parties again negotiated a settlement and eventually stipulated to a supplemental agreement in December 1990. The agreement reiterated the defendants' obligation to prevent hospitalization of the class members in adult facilities, and expanded the defendants' agreement in 1983 to ensure "an available, accessible continuum of alternative community-based treatment facilities and residential programs providing mental health services to [the] plaintiffs...." The 1990 agreement also required the defendants to prepare legislative budget requests to fund the programs that were agreed upon. As contemplated by the parties, the district court entered the agreement as a consent decree.

This decree did not end the difficulties, however. In 1993, the plaintiffs filed a motion with the district court requesting that the defendants be ordered to comply with the decrees. The matter was referred to a magistrate judge. The defendants did not contest that they were failing to comply with the agreements regarding the provision of community-based services and, with the plaintiffs, submitted a joint proposed report and recommendation that was adopted by the magistrate judge. The district court adopted the recommendation of the magistrate judge and entered an additional order requiring the defendants immediately to allocate a minimum level of resources — as recommended by the defendants themselves — to each of seven regions within the state for the provision of the agreed-upon community services.

Because the plaintiffs continued to contend that the defendants had not complied with the decrees, the defendants agreed in 1995 to conduct independent evaluations of the state's mental health system for children and of the defendants' compliance with the decrees. Beginning in 1997, the defendants themselves hired outside experts to conduct a thorough evaluation of their compliance. Based on the results of this compliance review ("the 1998 Compliance Review"), the plaintiffs moved for a finding of contempt against the defendants in March 1998. The defendants, however, negotiated yet another compliance agreement that provided for an additional independent needs assessment and the creation of a compliance action plan. The defendants also agreed to submit "requests for funding to the Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee of the Idaho State Legislature," and agreed in principle with the findings and recommendations made in the 1998 Compliance Review. The district court approved the compliance agreement in December 1998 as a third consent decree, and one which resolved the plaintiffs' motion for contempt.

As required by the 1998 agreement, the defendants' independent experts completed their needs assessment in June 1999. A large portion of the report's recommendations focused on community-based outpatient care. The defendants, accordingly, developed a compliance plan for the needs assessment's recommendations.

However, the plaintiffs objected to the defendants' proposed plan, and by 2000, the plaintiffs again moved for a finding of contempt and for the district court formally to adopt the needs assessment itself as the defendants' compliance plan. Instead of negotiating this time, the defendants objected and filed a brief response. The defendants also filed a motion to dismiss the case and to vacate the consent decrees under Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The defendants argued that the district court no longer had subject matter jurisdiction over the consent decrees because the decrees did not redress continuing violations of federal law, and thus jurisdiction was improper under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. The defendants also claimed that the continued enforcement of the consent decrees was barred by the Eleventh Amendment.

The district court held a hearing on the parties' motions on August 29, 2000. The court indicated that it planned to deny the defendants' motions to dismiss the case or vacate the consent decrees; it noted that it had continuing jurisdiction to enforce the decrees under Rufo v. Inmates of the Suffolk County Jail, 502 U.S. 367, 389, 112 S.Ct. 748, 116 L.Ed.2d 867 (1992). The district court also found that no showing had been made to justify modifying or vacating the...