Jordan v. Brumfield
| Decision Date | 26 April 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. 16-30734,16-30734 |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
| Parties | AARON JUDE JORDAN, Plaintiff - Appellant v. OFFICER DEREK BRUMFIELD; NEW ORLEANS CITY, Defendants - Appellees |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Before STEWART, Chief Judge, and KING and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.
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Aaron Jordan appeals the dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim against Officer Derek Brumfield and the City of New Orleans (the "City"). Jordan alleges that Officer Brumfield, in his individual and official capacity, violated Jordan's constitutional rights when he obtained an arrest warrant for Jordan on stalking charges without probable cause. He also asserts municipal liability against the City for failure to supervise and failure to train. The district courtdismissed Jordan's § 1983 claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) with prejudice, denying him leave to amend. After consideration of Jordan's claims, we AFFIRM.
Jordan's first contact with the Sens family occurred in 2009, when Judge Paul Sens, then a New Orleans Municipal Court judge, tried and convicted Jordan for criminal trespass. Nothing further happened until 2012. That year, New Orleans Inspector General Ed Quatreveaux issued a letter critical of Judge Sens' practice of hiring family members for positions at the New Orleans Municipal Court. The letter included a list of Judge Sens' relatives who worked at the municipal court, as well as their income. Included on that list was Judge Sens' niece, Lenee Sens-Crowley, and her husband, Dan Crowley, both of whom worked as minute clerks for the court.
After Jordan heard media reports about the Inspector General's criticism, he took it upon himself to disseminate this news to the Sens' personal and professional associates. Jordan sent four different letters concerning the Sens' family, each to multiple recipients. His first letter, dated July 4, 2013, went to judges on the New Orleans Municipal Court, Traffic Court, and First and Second City Courts, and it mentioned both Judge Sens and his family. Jordan sent the second letter, dated August 26, 2013, to a local realty firm once he discovered Lenee Sens-Crowley and the Judge's wife, Ann Sens, worked there; the letter concerned both women. The third letter, dated May 18, 2014, concerned Ann Sens and was sent to another realty company. The final letter, sent on an unspecified day in May 2014, concerned Ann Sens and was sent to clients of the realty firm where she and Lenee Sens-Crowley worked. Theletters were based on the allegations in the Inspector General's letter and related news reports, along with Jordan's opinions. They did not contain any threats or false statements.
In 2014, Jordan founded a citizens' group to patrol the French Quarter composed of concealed-carry permit holders. A local news station interviewed Jordan about the group on May 29, 2014. Lenee Sens-Crowley made a police report after this news story aired, and Officer Brumfield applied for a warrant for Jordan's arrest. Attached to the warrant was the following affidavit:
ON 5-30-2014 AT ABOUT 5:40PM, MS. CROWLEY STATED THAT A SUBJECT KNOWN TO HER AS AARON JUDE JORDAN, IS INTENTIONALLY AND REPEATEDLY HARASSING HER BY SENDING LETTERS TO EMPLOYERS AND CLIENTS. MS. CROWLEY STATED THAT THE (SUBJECT) ARRON JUDE JORDAN, HAS HARASSED THE STAFF FOR WHOM HAS [sic] WORKED IN THE COURTS DURING THE TIME HE HAD A CASE IN WHICH HE WAS CONVICTED FOR TRESPASSING IN 2009. MS. CROWLEY STATED THAT THE (SUBJECT) HAS ALSO HARASSED THE JUDGE WHO SENTENCES [sic] HIM AND THE JUDGES [sic] WIFE AND FAMILY. MS. CROWLEY FURTHER STATED THAT THIS ON GOING [sic] HARASSMENT BY THE (SUBJECT) AARON JUDE JORDAN HAS MADE HER SUFFER EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, AND AFTER LEARNING THAT THE (SUBJECT) WAS KNOWN TO BE A GUN ADVOCATE HAS HER IN AND [sic] EVEN MORE STATE OF FEAR OF THE (SUBJECT) ACTING OUT AGAINST HER AND HER FAMILY.
Once the warrant issued, Jordan turned himself in to police. The District Attorney's Office ultimately declined to prosecute.
Jordan sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, bringing claims against Officer Brumfield in his individual and official capacity and against the City for failure to train. He claimed Officer Brumfield violated his rights under the Fourth, Fourteenth, and Eighth Amendments when he applied for a warrant without probable cause. Jordan also brought numerous state law tort claims. OfficerBrumfield asserted qualified immunity, and both he and the City moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). After allowing both sides to file motions in support and in reply to the motion to dismiss, as well as surreplies, the district court dismissed Jordan's § 1983 claims with prejudice based on qualified immunity. After dismissing all federal claims, the district court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims. The district court also denied Jordan leave to amend his complaint. Jordan timely appealed.
This court reviews a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal de novo, "accepting all well-pleaded facts as true and viewing those facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff." Hines v. Alldredge, 783 F.3d 197, 200-01 (5th Cir. 2015) (quoting True v. Robles, 571 F.3d 412, 417 (5th Cir. 2009)). Still, a complaint must be "plausible on its face." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). A plaintiff's "[f]actual allegations must . . . raise a right to relief above the speculative level." New Orleans City v. Ambac Assurance Corp., 815 F.3d 196, 200 (5th Cir. 2016) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). We need not "accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation." Bass v. Stryker Corp., 669 F.3d 501, 507 (5th Cir. 2012) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). When reviewing the dismissal, this court is "not restricted to ruling on the district court's reasoning, and may affirm . . . on a basis not mentioned in the district court's opinion." Gulf Gaur. Life Ins. Co. v. Conn. Gen. Life Ins. Co., 304 F.3d 476, 486 (5th Cir. 2002) (quoting In re Comshare, Inc. Sec. Litig., 183 F.3d 542, 548 (6th Cir. 1999)).
Denial of leave to amend a complaint is reviewed for abuse of discretion. Whitley v. Hanna, 726 F.3d 631, 638 (5th Cir. 2013). "However, where a district court's denial solely was based on futility, this court applies a de novo standard identical, in practice, to the standard used for reviewing a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim." Id. (citing Wilson v. Bruks-Klockner, Inc., 602 F.3d 363, 368 (5th Cir. 2010)).
On appeal, Jordan urges that the district court erred by (1) failing to apply the proper Rule 12(b)(6) standard, (2) dismissing his Malley claim against Officer Brumfield, (3) dismissing his failure-to-supervise and failure-to-train claims, and (4) denying him leave to amend his complaint.
Jordan first claims that the district court impermissibly required him to anticipate the qualified immunity defense; however, it is well established that a plaintiff must plead facts sufficient to overcome qualified immunity. Backe v. LeBlanc, 691 F.3d 645, 648 (5th Cir. 2012); see also Club Retro, L.L.C. v. Hilton, 568 F.3d 181, 207 (5th Cir. 2009) (). When a defendant claims qualified immunity, the district court may, at its discretion, request that the plaintiff reply to a pleading that asserts qualified immunity, and it should ordinarily permit such a reply. Schultea v. Wood, 47 F.3d 1427, 1433-34 (5th Cir. 1995) (en banc). The district court permitted Jordan the opportunity to file a reply and a surreply, so we perceive no error in the district court's handling of qualified immunity in this case.
First, Jordan asserts that Officer Brumfield violated his constitutional rights when he applied for a warrant without probable cause. He insists that the warrant was so deficient that "no reasonable officer would have submitted the application," so qualified immunity is inapplicable. According to Jordan, Officer Brumfield is not entitled to qualified immunity because (1) he plausibly pleaded that Officer Brumfield misled the judge when applying for the warrant, (2) the warrant is bare-bones, (3) Jordan's conduct satisfied none of the elements of simple or felony stalking, and (4) his letters constituted protected free speech. We disagree.
Qualified immunity is a powerful defense that protects "all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law." Whitley, 726 F.3d at 638 (quoting Malley, 475 U.S. at 341). Once invoked, the plaintiff bears the burden of showing that qualified immunity does not apply. Brumfield v. Hollins, 551 F.3d 322, 326 (5th Cir. 2008). A plaintiff must show "(1) that the official violated a statutory or constitutional right, and (2) that the right was clearly established at the time of the challenged conduct." Morgan v. Swanson, 659 F.3d 359, 371 (5th Cir. 2011) (en banc) (quoting Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, 563 U.S. 731, 735 (2011)). Since the plaintiff must prove both prongs, this court maintains the discretion to decide which prong to address first. Id.
When applying for an arrest warrant, an officer will have "qualified immunity from suit unless, 'on an objective basis, it is obvious that no reasonably competent officer would have concluded that a warrant shouldissue.'" Spencer v. Staton, 489 F.3d 658, 661 (5th Cir. 2007) as revised (July 26, 2007) (quoting Malley, 475 U.S. at 341). A warrant issued "by a non-biased magistrate is the 'clearest indication' that officers proceeded ...
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