Jones v. Murphy, Civil No. CCB-05-1287.

• Decision Date: 04 January 2007
• Docket Number: Civil No. CCB-05-1287.
• Parties: Eric JONES, et al. v. Susan MURPHY, et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

470 F.Supp.2d 537

Eric JONES, et al. v. Susan MURPHY, et al.

Civil No. CCB-05-1287.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

January 4, 2007.

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Sean Robert Day, Law Office of Sean R. Day, College Park, MD, Barrett S. Litt, Litt Estuar Harrison Miller and Kitson LLP, Los Angeles, CA, William Charles Claiborne, III, Law Offices of William Claiborne, Washington, DC, for Eric Jones, et al.

Karl Aram Pothier, State of Maryland Office of the Attorney General Public Safety and Correctional Services, Joshua Neal Auerbach, Baltimore City Department Of Law, Baltimore, MD, Kim Yvette Johnson, Laurel, MD, for Susan Murphy, et al.

MEMORANDUM

BLAKE, District Judge.

The plaintiffs in this case bring constitutional claims against the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore ("City"), the Baltimore City Police Department ("BPD"), collectively "the City defendants,"¹ and current and former wardens² ("Wardens") of the Central Booking and Intake Center ("CBIC"), collectively "the State defendants,"³ for alleged mistreatment of people arrested and taken to CBIC for booking and processing. The plaintiffs allege two general areas of unconstitutional treatment of arrestees while at CBIC: strip searches and "over detention". Three motions are now pending before the court: (1) the City defendants' motion to dismiss the third amended complaint; (2) the State defendants' motion to dismiss the third amended complaint or alternatively for summary judgment; and (3) the plaintiffs' motion to deny the State defendants' motion for summary judgment or alternatively to permit discovery. These motions have been fully briefed, and pursuant to Local Rule 105.6, no hearing is necessary. For the reasons set forth below, the State defendants' motion will be treated as a motion to dismiss and will be denied, with certain exceptions; the City defendants' motion to dismiss will be granted in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The plaintiffs bring this case as a class action, with a proposed class period of May 12, 2003 until final judgment in this case, although no motion for class certification has yet been filed. There are eight named plaintiffs: (1) Eric Jones, arrested for second degree assault and false imprisonment (3d Am.Compl. ¶ 33); (2) Dana West, arrested for leaving the scene of an accident (id. at ¶ 25); (3) Gary Saunders, who has multiple arrests during the proposed class period, including but not limited to misdemeanor theft, trespassing, and open alcohol containers, and has been arrested more than fifty times since CBIC opened in 1995 (id. at ¶¶ 50-51); (4) Anthony Haig, who was arrested for re-selling Orioles tickets and failed to appear for his court hearing, thus there is an active bench warrant for his arrest (id. at ¶¶ 60, 69); (5) Michael Washington, arrested for public urination⁴ (id. at ¶ 70); (6) Kevin Adams, arrested for an open alcohol container (id. at 11 79); (7) Tonia Bowie, arrested for driving with a suspended license (id. at ¶ 42); and (8) David Colyns, arrested for possessing a pocket knife and needle paraphernalia (id. at ¶ 46).

The plaintiffs propose five classes: (1) the suspicionless strip search⁵ class, consisting of those who have been or will be arrested for crimes not involving weapons, drugs, or felony violence, who were strip searched by CBIC employees without any individualized finding that they were harboring weapons, drugs, or other contraband⁶ (id. at ¶ 9); (2) the non-private strip search class, consisting of those who have been or will be subjected to strip searches at CBIC with other arrestees present⁷ (id. at ¶ 12); (3) the equal protection strip search class, consisting of male arrestees strip searched at CBIC while female arrestees are not⁸ (id. at 11 14); (4) the underwear strip search⁹ class, consisting of male arrestees subjected to an underwear strip search while at. CBIC while female arrestees are not¹⁰ (id. at ¶ 16); and (5) the over detention class, consisting of those arrested without warrants who have been or will be detained for an unreasonable length of time (more than 48 hours) before presentment to a judicial officer for a determination of probable cause¹¹ (id. at ¶ 18). Plaintiff Eric Jones also brings an individual claim against former Warden Murphy and the City defendants based on being detained for more than 36 hours prior to presentment. (Id. at ¶¶ 346-47, 358.)

Each class, as well as Plaintiff Jones, brings claims against both the State and City defendants. The plaintiffs' general theories are as follows: CBIC has both a policy and a practice of unconstitutional strip searches, as well as a practice of unconstitutional over detentions. The State defendants are liable both for establishing this policy and for being deliberately indifferent to their staffs unconstitutional practices. (Id. at ¶¶ 151-65, 173-81.) These constitutional violations were and are known to City defendants, who nonetheless have continued to transport arrestees there rather than pursuing alternatives, such as issuing citations for minor offenses instead of making arrests. (Id. at ¶¶ 127, 165-72, 182-86.) Such aggressive arrest policies and practices result in large numbers of arrestees being taken to CBIC, thereby exacerbating its already, overcrowded conditions. (Id. at ¶¶ 110-18.) The City defendants are thus liable under a theory of "entrustment liability", as they have placed arrestees into the custody of an entity where the constitutional violations were known to them. (Id. at ¶¶ 167-72,182-86.)

All claims are brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the plaintiffs seek both damages and equitable relief. Claims against the State defendants regarding suspicionless strip searches, non-private strip searches, and over detentions (Counts 1, 2, 4, 9¹²) allege violations of the Fourth Amendment. (Id. at ¶¶ 251, 264, 291, 351.) Claims against the City defendants in these areas (Counts 5, 6, 8,10), allege violations of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. (Id. at ¶¶ 311, 322, 344, 366.) Equal protection claims¹³ against the State defendants (Counts 3, 11) are brought under the Fourteenth Amendment (id. at ¶¶ 285, 378), while equal protection claims against the City defendants (Counts 7, 12) are brought under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments (id. at ¶¶ 333, 391).

ANALYSIS

"The purpose of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is to test the sufficiency of a complaint; importantly, a Rule 12(b)(6) motion does not resolve contests surrounding the facts, the merits of a claim, or the applicability of defenses." Edwards v. City of Goldsboro, 178 F.3d 231, 243 (4th Cir.1999) (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted). When ruling on such a motion, the court must "accept the well-pled allegations of the complaint as true," and "construe the facts and reasonable inferences derived therefrom in the light most favorable to the plaintiff." Ibarra v. United States, 120 F.3d 472, 474 (4th Cir.1997). Consequently, a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) may be granted only when "it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); see also Edwards, 178 F.3d at 244. To survive a motion to dismiss, however, a complaint must "in light of the nature of the action . . . sufficiently allege each element of the cause of action so as to inform the opposing party of the claim and its general basis." Chao v. Rivendell Woods, Inc., 415 F.3d 342, 348 (4th Cir.2005). In addition, because the court is testing the legal sufficiency of the claims, the court is not bound by the plaintiffs legal conclusions. See, e.g., Young v. City of Mount Ranier, 238 F.3d 567, 577 (4th Cir.2001) (noting that the "presence . . . of a few conclusory legal terms does not insulate a complaint from dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6)" when the facts alleged do not support the legal conclusions).

State Defendants' Motion to Dismiss or Alternatively for Summary Judgment

Strip Search Claims (Fourth & Fourteenth Amendment Violations)

The strip search claims are not subject to dismissal, as the plaintiffs state claims for which relief could be granted.¹⁴ See Amaechi v. West, 237 F.3d 356, 364-65 (4th Cir.2001) (holding unconstitutional the strip search of an arrestee for a noise violation who did not pose a danger to the officers) (citing Logan v. Shealy, 660 F.2d 1007, 1013-14 (4th Cir.1981) (holding blanket strip search policy regardless of underlying offense unconstitutional and deciding that "as a matter of law, no police officer in this day and time could reasonably believe that conducting a strip search in [a non-private area] ... is a constitutionally valid [search].")); Mary Beth G. v. City of Chicago, 723 F.2d 1263, 1274 (7th Cir.1984) (strip searching all women but not similarly situated men violates Equal Protection Clause).

Over Detention Claims (Plaintiff Jones and Named Plaintiffs)

Jones now brings individual counts against both the City and State defendants for unreasonably long detention, alleging that he was held for "at least 36 hours after his arrest without presentment." (3d Am.Compl. ¶¶ 40.) He is no longer a named plaintiff for the over detention claims. (Id. at ¶¶ 3-4.) The six named over detention plaintiffs all allege that they were detained for more than 48 hours without presentment following their arrests. (Id. at ¶ 18.) Both Jones and the named plaintiffs state claims for which relief could be granted; indeed, the Wardens do not specifically contest this. See County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, 500 U.S. 44, 56-57, 111 S.Ct. 1661, 114 L.Ed.2d 49 (1991) (establishing that presentment within 48 hours of arrest is presumptively constitutional but presentment within that time could still be found unconstitutional depending on the circumstances).

Supervisory Liability Under § 1983

The Wardens argue that...