De Luna v. Hidalgo Cnty.

• Citation: 853 F.Supp.2d 623
• Decision Date: 15 February 2012
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. M–10–268.
• Parties: Francisco DE LUNA, et al., Plaintiffs, v. HIDALGO COUNTY, TEXAS, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas

853 F.Supp.2d 623

Francisco DE LUNA, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.HIDALGO COUNTY, TEXAS, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. M–10–268.

United States District Court,

S.D. Texas,

McAllen Division.

Feb. 15, 2012.

Lisa Graybill, ACLU Foundation of Texas, Mark Stewart Whitburn, American Civil Liberties Foundation of Texas, Austin, TX, Clayton Alan Morton, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP, Cynthia B. Chapman, Dana Brooke Levy, Michael A. Caddell, Caddell Chapman PC, Houston, TX, Courtney Alyssa Bowie, ACLU Foundation Racial Justice Project, New York, NY, for Plaintiffs.

John Andrew Millin, IV, Jose Wilfredo Hernandez, Ortiz & Millin LP, Brandy M. Wingate, Smith Law Group, PC, McAllen, TX, for Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR DENIAL OF CLASS CERTIFICATION, GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, AND DENYING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION AND APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL

RANDY CRANE, District Judge.

I. Introduction

Now before the Court are Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 74); Defendants' Motion for Denial of Class Certification (Doc. 87); Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 90); and Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification and Appointment of Counsel (Doc. 91). Plaintiffs Francisco De Luna and Elizabeth Diaz, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated and pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, bring this suit to challenge alleged violations of their federal due process and equal protection rights by Mary Alice Palacios, Gilberto Saenz, Jesus Morales, Bobby Contreras, Rosa E. Trevino, Luis Garza, Ismael Ochoa, Charlie Espinosa, and E. “Speedy” Jackson, all sued in their official capacities, and by Hidalgo County. (Doc. 23–1). ¹ At the time the lawsuit was filed, all nine of the individual Defendants were Hidalgo County Justices of the Peace (“JP”), seven of whom served on a rotating basis as Magistrates performing arraignments and authorizing the commitment of persons to the County Jail.² Soon after each of the named Plaintiffs turned 17 years old, JP Palacios mailed to their last-known addresses a notice to appear to answer to outstanding charges for failure to attend school and other school-rule violations committed when they were minors. When each Plaintiff failed to appear, Palacios issued separate arrest warrants for each of the charges. Plaintiffs were eventually committed to jail by order of the Magistrates presiding at their arraignments, and incarcerated for more than two weeks in the County Jail, for their failure to satisfy the accumulated fines and costs assessed against them for the school-related charges. It is undisputed that both Plaintiffs were indigent at the time of their incarcerations.

Plaintiffs filed suit on July 26, 2010 and amended their complaint on November 9, 2010, seeking to represent the following proposed class pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a) and 23(b)(2):

All individuals who have been or may in the future be adjudicated or processed for commitment to jail for unpaid fines or costs, pursuant to the provisions of Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 45.046, while in the custody of the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office.

(Doc. 1 at ¶ 161; Doc. 23–1 at ¶ 161).³ On their own behalf and on behalf of the class, Plaintiffs seek declaratory relief against the Magistrates and declaratory and injunctive relief against the County. (Doc. 23–1 at ¶¶ 161–84, 191).⁴ Specifically, Plaintiffs seek a declaration that the Magistrates' alleged practice of ordering the incarceration of persons for nonpayment of fines and costs without determining whether they are indigent and have made a good faith effort to discharge the outstanding debt, and without offering alternatives to incarceration, violates the procedural due process and equal protection guarantees of Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Id. at ¶¶ 168–84, 191. Plaintiffs also seek a judgment declaring as unconstitutional and enjoining the County's alleged practice of processing, booking, and confining persons under these circumstances.

Id. On their own behalf only, Plaintiffs seek damages from the County for its alleged violations of Plaintiffs' constitutional rights. Id. at ¶¶ 185–89, 191.

Defendants filed the Motion for Summary Judgment on all claims against them on October 18, 2011, followed by the Motion for Denial of Class Certification on November 7, 2011. (Docs. 74, 87). Plaintiffs responded with their Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion for Class Certification and Appointment of Counsel, both filed on November 10, 2011. (Docs. 90, 91). Upon review of the parties' Motions and responsive briefing, in light of the record and the relevant law, the Court finds that class certification must be denied and that Plaintiffs' individual claims for declaratory and injunctive relief against the Magistrates and the County must be dismissed because Plaintiffs lack standing to request this relief, either on their own behalf or on behalf of the class. As to the named Plaintiffs' remaining claim for damages against the County, the Court finds that De Luna and Diaz are entitled to summary judgment on the claim that the County violated their federal due process and equal protection rights by failing to afford them an affirmative indigency determination before incarcerating them for their failure to pay fines and costs, but that De Luna may obtain only nominal damages resulting from his unconstitutional incarceration and that Diaz's entitlement to compensatory damages presents genuine issues of material fact that cannot be resolved on summary judgment.

II. Summary Judgment and Class Certification Evidence⁵A. Plaintiff De Luna1. Underlying “Class C” Offenses

The “Class C,” fine-only misdemeanors underlying De Luna's challenged incarceration include tickets for violations of the Texas Education Code, such as failure to attend school and failure to comply with school directives. (Doc. 90, Ex. 12); seeTex. Educ. Code §§ 25.094(e), 37.102(c), 37.124(b).⁶ De Luna received the tickets from 2005 through 2007 while attending school within the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District (“ECISD”). (Doc. 90, Ex. 12). De Luna appeared before the Hidalgo County JP Court, and more specifically Defendant Palacios, on two separate occasions and signed an “Explanation and Waiver of Rights” form acknowledging and waiving his rights to remain silent, to a trial by jury, to face the state's witnesses and to bring his own witnesses, and to be represented by an attorney. (Doc. 90, Ex. 11). De Luna's mother, Elsa De Luna, also signed the forms, agreeing to be responsible for any fees and costs assessed against De Luna. See id. In 2007, Palacios transferred the tickets to the Hidalgo County Juvenile Court. (Doc. 90, Ex. 13). The parties dispute whether the tickets were resolved in the Juvenile Court. (Docs. 74, 90, 105).2. Notice of Continuing Obligation to Appear

It is undisputed that De Luna could not be incarcerated as a juvenile for the ticketed offenses. SeeTex.Code Crim. P. Art. 45.060(a). However, the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure provides in relevant part as follows:

(b) On or after an individual's 17th birthday, if the court has used all available procedures under this chapter to secure the individual's appearance to answer allegations made before the individual's 17th birthday, the court may issue a notice of continuing obligation to appear by personal service or by mail to the last known address and residence of the individual. The notice must order the individual to appear at a designated time, place, and date to answer the allegations detailed in the notice.

(c) Failure to appear as ordered by the notice under Subsection (b) is a Class C misdemeanor independent of Section 38.10, Penal Code, and Section 543.003, Transportation Code.

(d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under Subsection (c) that the individual ... did not receive notice as required by Subsection (b).

....

Id. Art. 45.060(b)-(d). Under this authority, Palacios issued a “Notice of Continuing Obligation to Appear” (“NCOA”) to De Luna on December 17, 2008, soon after he turned 17 years old. (Doc. 90, Ex. 29). De Luna claims that he did not receive the NCOA. (Doc. 90; see Doc. 90, Ex. 10 at pp. 6–7). When De Luna did not appear in response to the NCOA, Palacios issued a separate “capias pro fine,” or arrest warrant, for each of the school-related tickets. (Doc. 90, Ex. 6 at pp. 90–91).

3. Arrest

Approximately two years later, on January 11, 2010, De Luna was arrested as an adult for public intoxication and taken to the Hidalgo County Jail. (Doc. 74 at ¶ 7; Doc. 90; Doc. 90, Ex. 15 at ¶ 5). Elsa De Luna states in her affidavit that she spoke with jail officials over the phone who told her that De Luna “had over $10,000 in truancy tickets and that he had to pay them or stay 101 days.” (Doc. 90, Ex. 15 at ¶ 6). When Ms. De Luna explained that her son had already served probation for truancy and that “those ticket cases were over,” she was instructed to call Palacios's court. Id. Ms. De Luna states that “I contacted her court and they would not listen to me. I do not remember who I spoke to, but I was told that my son had to pay the entire amount or stay in jail for 101 days.” Id.⁷

Plaintiffs contend that De Luna “asserted his indigency” during the booking process by answering “no” to the question of whether he could afford an attorney on a form entitled, “Hidalgo County Sheriffs Department Questions Regarding Attorney Information.” (Doc. 90; Doc. 90, Ex. 16).⁸ When questioned during his deposition, De Luna stated that he told “no one” at the Sheriff's Office that he could not afford to pay his tickets. (Doc. 74, Ex. H at pp. 30–31).4. Arraignment

Soon after his arrest, De Luna was arraigned, or “magistrated,” by Defendant Trevino via videoconference. (Doc. 90, Exs. 10, 17). Trevino began the...