Shade v. City of Farmington, Minnesota

• Decision Date: 06 November 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-2487.,01-2487.
• Parties: Jason SHADE, individually; Appellant, v. CITY OF FARMINGTON, MINNESOTA, a Minnesota Municipal Corporation; Ted Dau, individually and in his official capacity, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

309 F.3d 1054

Jason SHADE, individually; Appellant, v. CITY OF FARMINGTON, MINNESOTA, a Minnesota Municipal Corporation; Ted Dau, individually and in his official capacity, Appellees.

No. 01-2487.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: March 15, 2002.

Filed: November 6, 2002.

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David M. Gross, argued, St. Louis Park, MN, for appellant.

Joseph E. Flynn, argued, St. Paul, MN (Pierre N. Regnier, on the brief), for appellee.

Before HANSEN, Chief Judge, JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge, and GOLDBERG,¹ Judge.

HANSEN, Circuit Judge.

Jason Shade (Shade) brought this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action, alleging that his constitutional right to be free from an unreasonable search and seizure was violated by school officials and police officers. He also sought attorneys fees and costs for alleged violations of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (Data Practices Act), Minn.Stat. §§ 13.01-13.99. The district court² ruled on summary judgment that police officer Ted Dau was entitled to qualified immunity for his role in the search and that Shade was not entitled to attorney's fees and costs under the Data Practices Act. Shade appeals, and we affirm.

I.

At the time of the search in question, Shade was a 17-year-old student at the Apple Valley Alternative Learning Center (Apple Valley ALC), located in Apple Valley, Minnesota. On December 2, 1999 Shade's teacher, Allen Schmitz, transported Shade and seven other students by bus from Apple Valley ALC to Al's Autobody, a local business in the neighboring community of Farmington, Minnesota, for automotive shop class. Along the way, Mr. Schmitz stopped the bus at a local fastfood restaurant to allow the students to purchase breakfast. Shade bought a breakfast sandwich and a container of orange juice.

Once the students and Mr. Schmitz were back on the bus and on their way again, Shade asked whether any student around him had something he could use to open his container of orange juice. Brandon Haugen, a student sitting nearby, offered Shade his folding knife. Shade took the knife, unfolded the blade, and used it to open the orange juice. Shade then closed the blade and handed the knife back to Haugen. Through the review mirror, Mr. Schmitz had observed Shade using the folding knife but had not seen where the knife came from or where it went after Shade had used it.

When Mr. Schmitz arrived at Al's Autobody with the students, he contacted Shirley Gilmore, a coordinator at Apple Valley ALC, and told her that he had seen Shade with a knife on the bus. Ms. Gilmore then contacted Dan Kaler, the principal for the alternative school, and they decided that the automotive shop students should be searched before returning to the alternative school because possession of a knife violated the school district's rule prohibiting weapons and presented an immediate safety concern.³ While the students were still in class in Farmington, Principal Kaler contacted the Apple Valley school liaison officer, Michael Eliason, to assist in searching the students. Ms. Gilmore, in turn, relayed a message to Mr. Schmitz that the students were to be detained at Al's Autobody until school officials were able to arrive at the shop to investigate the matter. Officer Eliason contacted his fellow school liaison officer, Officer Ted Dau, at the Farmington high school, to obtain Dau's assistance in searching the students.

Officer Dau, Officer Eliason, and Ms. Gilmore met at a location near Al's Autobody and proceeded to the bus as the students were boarding to return to Apple Valley ALC. Mr. Schmitz informed Officer Dau that he had seen Shade with a "medium-sized knife." (Appellant's App. at 127.) When Officer Dau asked whether any of the other students possessed knives, Mr. Schmitz responded that he did not know.

The officers then asked the students to exit the bus, which they searched but did not find a knife. After the students had exited, Officer Dau informed the students that each of them would be searched to locate the knife that Mr. Schmitz had seen. When Officer Dau asked if any student had a knife to turn over before the officers began their search, Haugen stepped forward and handed a knife to Officer Eliason. Officer Dau thereafter directed the students to place their hands on the bus and spread their legs. Dau conducted a pat-down search of the male students, and Ms. Gilmore searched the two female students in the group.

When Officer Dau searched Shade, he found no knife but did find an item similar in appearance to an ASP tactical baton in Shade's front pocket. An ASP tactical baton is often carried by law enforcement officers for use in neutralizing and controlling aggressive individuals. The item Shade possessed was nine and a half inches long but expanded to more than twenty-two inches. Unlike an actual baton, a portion of its shaft consisted of a sturdy but flexible spring. Based on his possession of the knife on the bus, Shade was charged with possessing a dangerous weapon on school property, in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.66, subd. 1d(a). The school also initiated an expulsion proceeding against Shade on the basis that his possession of the knife and the expandable device violated the school's ban on weapons.

Shade and his parents contested the disciplinary action. They argued that the expandable device was merely a "pointer" that Shade had intended to use in class, which he also used in his family's home business. Shade's father also sought the officer reports prepared after the search for use in defending against the expulsion proceeding. The departments involved, however, declined to provide the information. As a result, Shade filed suit in Minnesota state court, claiming that he was entitled to the reports under the Data Practices Act.⁴ A Minnesota district judge agreed and ordered the departments to provide the information that Shade sought.

Shade subsequently amended his complaint to allege that Officer Dau and the City of Farmington violated his civil rights by conducting an unreasonable search.⁵ Shade also sought costs and attorney's fees incurred in his efforts to obtain the police records. The defendants removed the case to federal court and moved for summary judgment. The district court ruled that Officer Dau was entitled to qualified immunity for his role in the search and that Shade had pointed to no facts supporting a claim of municipal liability against the City of Farmington. The court also recognized that the Minnesota state court had ordered the City to disclose the reports pursuant to the Data Practices Act but concluded that Shade was not entitled to fees and costs.

II.

Shade challenges the district court's grant of qualified immunity to Officer Dau for his role in the search, a decision we review de novo.⁶ Sexton v. Martin, 210 F.3d 905, 909 (8th Cir.2000). A state actor is entitled to qualified immunity when his "`conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.'" Id. (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)). To determine whether qualified immunity is appropriate, we first ask whether the plaintiff alleges facts demonstrating that the state actor violated the plaintiff's constitutional or statutory rights. See Hope v. Pelzer, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 122 S.Ct. 2508, 2513, 153 L.Ed.2d 666 (2002); Washington v. Normandy Fire Prot. Dist., 272 F.3d 522, 526 (8th Cir.2001). In doing so at the summary judgment stage, we "take as true those facts asserted by [a] plaintiff that are properly supported in the record." Tlamka v. Serrell, 244 F.3d 628, 632 (8th Cir.2001). If those facts would establish a constitutional violation if proven at trial, our next inquiry is whether the right violated was clearly established at the time of the state actor's conduct. Washington, 272 F.3d at 526. The law is clearly established if the law was sufficiently developed to give the official "fair warning" that his alleged conduct violated the plaintiff's rights. Hope, ___ U.S. at ___, 122 S.Ct. at 2516.

A.

In defining whether the summary judgment facts demonstrate a constitutional violation, we face the task of determining what Fourth Amendment standard governs the lawfulness of Officer Dau's conduct. The Fourth Amendment protects "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." Bd. of Educ. of Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 92 v. Earls, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 122 S.Ct. 2559, 2564, 153 L.Ed.2d 735 (2002) (internal quotations omitted). As a general rule, the reasonableness requirement obligates law enforcement officers to obtain a judicial warrant, issued only on a showing of probable cause, before conducting a search. Skinner v. Ry. Labor Executives' Ass'n, 489 U.S. 602, 619, 109 S.Ct. 1402, 103 L.Ed.2d 639 (1989). Even in those situations where the Court has found it permissible for officers to conduct a search without a warrant, an officer may, as a general rule, search an individual only when there is "probable cause to believe that the person to be searched has violated the law." Id. at 624, 109 S.Ct. 1402.

But neither the warrant nor the probable cause requirement is a constitutional prerequisite to a valid search when the government has "special needs" beyond normal law enforcement that render the requirements impracticable. Id. at 619, 109 S.Ct. 1402. On three separate occasions, the Supreme Court has recognized that "special needs" exist in the public school setting, thereby permitting school officials to search a student without a warrant and without probable cause to believe that the student violated the law. See Earls, ___ U.S. at ___, 122 S.Ct. at 2569 (upholding the constitutionality of school's policy to randomly drug test students participating in extracurricular activities); Vernonia Sch. Dist. 47J v. Acton, 515 U.S. 646, 664-65, 115 S.Ct....