Karsjens v. Piper, Civil No. 11-3659 (DWF/TNL)
| Decision Date | 23 August 2018 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 11-3659 (DWF/TNL) |
| Citation | 336 F.Supp.3d 974 |
| Parties | Kevin Scott KARSJENS, David Leroy Gamble, Jr., Kevin John DeVillion, Peter Gerard Lonergan, James Matthew Noyer, Sr., James John Rud, James Allen Barber, Craig Allen Bolte, Dennis Richard Steiner, Kaine Joseph Braun, Christopher John Thuringer, Kenny S. Daywitt, Bradley Wayne Foster, Brian K. Hausfeld, and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. Emily Johnson PIPER, Kevin Moser, Peter Puffer, Nancy Johnston, Jannine Hébert, and Ann Zimmerman, in their official capacities, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Daniel E. Gustafson, Esq., Karla M. Gluek, Esq., David A. Goodwin, Esq., Raina Borrelli, Esq., and Eric S. Taubel, Esq., Gustafson Gluek PLLC, counsel for Plaintiffs.
Scott H. Ikeda, Adam H. Welle, and Aaron Winter, Assistant Attorneys General, Minnesota Attorney General's Office, counsel for Defendants.
This matter is before the Court following remand on three separate matters. First, the parties dispute the proper disposition of Plaintiffs' remaining Phase One counts in light of the Eighth Circuit's decision. (See Doc. Nos. 1095, 1097, 1100, 1102.) Second, Defendants seek summary judgment on all Phase Two counts. (See Doc. Nos. 1095, 1097, 1102, 1105.) Plaintiffs oppose summary judgment and assert that the class should be decertified with respect to these counts. (See Doc. Nos. 1100, 1106.) Third, Defendants ask the Court to apportion the cost of the Rule 706 Experts to Plaintiffs. (Doc. Nos. 1095, 1097, 1102.) Plaintiffs oppose this request. (Doc. No. 1100.) For the reasons set forth below, all remaining claims raised in Plaintiffs' Third Amended Complaint shall be dismissed with prejudice. The Court shall reserve determination on the final apportionment of Rule 706 Expert costs.
This case has an extensive and complex history which has been discussed at length in prior orders. The Court incorporates by reference the factual background in the Court's February 2, 2015 Memorandum Opinion and Order addressing Defendants' prior Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 828), as well as the factual findings from Phase One of trial contained in the Court's June 17, 2015 Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order (Doc. No. 966). The Court assumes familiarity with these and other relevant orders and only briefly summarizes the relevant background here.
Plaintiffs are individuals residing at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (the "MSOP") who are civilly committed under Minnesota Statute § 253D, the Minnesota Civil Commitment and Treatment Act ("MCTA"). (See Doc. No. 635 ("Third Am. Compl") ¶ 2.) The fourteen named Plaintiffs represent a class certified pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2), consisting of "[a]ll patients currently civilly committed to [the MSOP] pursuant to Minn. Stat § 253B." (See Doc. No. 203.) Plaintiffs' lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the MCTA on its face and as applied, as well as various aspects of the MSOP's operation and treatment regime. (See generally Third Am. Compl. ¶ 1.)
Specifically, Plaintiffs' Third Amended Complaint raises the following thirteen claims: (I) Minnesota Statute § 253D is facially unconstitutional; (II) Minnesota Statute § 253D is unconstitutional as applied; (III) Defendants have failed to provide treatment in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Minnesota Constitution; (IV) Defendants have failed to provide treatment in violation of the MCTA; (V) Defendants have denied Plaintiffs the right to be free from punishment in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Minnesota Constitution; (VI) Defendants have denied Plaintiffs the right to less restrictive alternative confinement in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Minnesota Constitution; (VII) Defendants have denied Plaintiffs the right to be free from inhumane treatment in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Minnesota Constitution; (VIII) Defendants have denied Plaintiffs the right to religion and religious freedom in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; (IX) Defendants have unreasonably restricted free speech and free association in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Minnesota Constitution; (X) Defendants have conducted unreasonable searches and seizures in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Minnesota Constitution; (XI) Defendants have violated court ordered treatment; (XII) Defendants Jesson, Benson, Moser, Lundquist, Johnston, and Hébert have breached Plaintiffs' contractual rights; and (XIII) Defendants Jesson, Benson, Moser, Lundquist, Johnston, and Hébert have tortiously interfered with contractual rights and have intentionally violated Minn. Stat. § 253B.03, subd. 7. (Third Am. Compl. at 59-84.)
On February 2, 2015, the Court issued an order denying Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment on all counts in Plaintiffs' Third Amended Complaint. (Doc. No. 828.) The matter proceeded to trial in two phases. (See Doc. No. 647.) The Court explained the two phases of trial as follows:
(Id. at 2.) Phase One of trial took place between February 9, 2015 and March 18, 2015. (See Doc. Nos. 839, 908.)
On June 17, 2015, the Court issued its Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order, granting Plaintiffs' request for declaratory relief on Counts I and II. (Doc. No. 966 at 75.) The Court stated, "[b]ecause the Court finds the program is unconstitutional on its face and as applied (Counts I and II), and because any remedy fashioned will address the issues raised in the remaining Phase One Counts, the Court need not address Counts III, V, VI, and VII." (Id. at 65.) The Court noted that its "determination that the MSOP and its governing civil commitment statutes are unconstitutional concludes Phase One of this case." (Id. at 5.) The Court also reiterated that "Counts VIII, IX, and X, will be tried in the second phase of trial (‘Phase Two’)."1 (Id. at 76.) On October 29, 2015, the Court issued a First Interim Relief Order directing injunctive relief to remedy the court's findings of unconstitutionality. (Doc. No. 1035.)
Defendants appealed the Court's June 17, 2015 and October 29, 2015 Orders to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. (Doc. No. 1036.) On January 3, 2017, the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion "revers[ing] the district court's finding of a constitutional violation and vacat[ing] the injunctive order." Karsjens v. Piper , 845 F.3d 394, 411 (8th Cir. 2017). It remanded the case to this Court "for further proceedings on the remaining claims in the Third Amended Complaint." Id.
Following a series of stays during which Plaintiff sought further review at the United States Supreme Court, the Court and the parties met for a Status Conference on October 25, 2017. (See Doc. Nos. 1080, 1086, 1093.) Thereafter, Defendants filed a renewed Motion for Summary Judgment, seeking summary judgment on Counts VIII, IX, and X, as well as apportionment of the Rule 706 Expert costs to Plaintiffs. In briefing this motion, Defendants also briefed the issue of how the Court should address the remaining Phase One counts (Counts III, V, VI, and VII) in light of the Eighth Circuit's decision. (Doc. No. 1095.) The parties fully briefed these issues, and the Court heard argument on February 5, 2018. (Doc. Nos. 1097, 1100, 1102, 1103.) The Court notes additional facts as necessary to resolve the pending matters, below.
Defendants argue that the remaining claims in Phase One should be dismissed because these claims were determined by the Eighth Circuit's decision in Karsjens v. Piper , 845 F.3d 394 (8th Cir. 2017). Specifically, Defendants assert that, "[f]or the same reasons the Eighth Circuit reversed the Court's substantive due process analysis as to Counts I and II, the substantive due process claims asserted in Counts III, V, VI, and VII should also be dismissed." (Doc. No. 1097 at 4.) According to Defendants, the remaining Phase One counts must be dismissed because the Eighth Circuit has already reviewed the trial record and determined that Defendants did not engage in conduct that shocks the conscience. Defendants also contend that the Eighth Circuit implicitly decided Counts III, V, VI, and VII, precluding further review of these claims on remand.2
Plaintiffs, on the other hand, argue that the remaining Phase One counts "have yet to be decided by the Court, and that their outcome is not dictated by the Eighth Circuit's decision with respect to Counts I and II." (Doc. No. 110 at 1-2.) Plaintiffs urge the Court to make "a full analysis and ruling on these claims" and to conclude that Plaintiffs' remaining...
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