Smith v. Eley

• Decision Date: 29 December 1987
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 86-C-0154G.
• Citation: 675 F. Supp. 1301
• Parties: Carlos SMITH, Plaintiff, v. D. Fred ELEY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Utah

675 F. Supp. 1301

Carlos SMITH, Plaintiff, v. D. Fred ELEY, et al., Defendants.

Civ. No. 86-C-0154G.

United States District Court, D. Utah, C.D.

December 29, 1987.

Brian Barnard, Salt Lake City, Utah, for plaintiff.

Jody K. Burnett, Robert C. Keller, Salt Lake City, Utah, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

J. THOMAS GREENE, District Judge.

This matter came before the court on October 9, 1987 pursuant to the Summit County defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. Summit County Sheriff D. Fred Eley ("Eley"), and Summit County Deputy Sheriffs Joe Offret ("Offret") and Carey Yates ("Yates") were represented by Jody K. Burnett and Robert C. Keller. Carlos Smith was represented by Brian Barnard. The parties presented oral argument and submitted legal memoranda, after which the court took the matter under advisement. Being now fully advised, the court sets forth its Memorandum Decision and Order.

BACKGROUND

This lawsuit arises from the alleged abduction of Shannon Smith from the home and lawful custody of her father Carlos Smith. Carlos and Peggy Smith were divorced on June 16, 1983. The divorce decree awarded custody of the couple's son, Cody, to Carlos, and awarded custody of their daughter, Shannon, to Peggy. In January 1984, Peggy was experiencing personal and financial problems. She called Carlos and asked him to take care of Shannon for a period of time. Carlos agreed. In April or May of the same year, Peggy called Carlos and said she would like to retrieve Shannon. In response, on May 7, 1984, Carlos petitioned the Seventh Judicial District Court for Uintah County for a temporary custody order which the court granted ex-parte. The court also issued an order to show cause why the temporary award should not be made permanent.

On May 11, 1984, Peggy Smith came to Summit County to retrieve Shannon. Peggy somehow enlisted the help of deputy sheriffs Offret and Yates from the Summit County Sheriff's Office. The parties dispute whether Peggy knew that Carlos had been awarded temporary custody. However, it is undisputed that she did not advise the deputy sheriffs that Carlos had temporary custody of the children. Peggy apparently presented the deputy sheriffs with a divorce decree, valid on its face, granting her custody of Shannon.

Both officers accompanied Peggy to Carlos Smith's home. There is considerable dispute concerning the events occurring thereafter. Shannon Marie Smith, a 14-year old stepsister of Shannon Smith, was babysitting Shannon. Shannon Marie tried to advise Peggy, and the deputy sheriffs, that Carlos had been granted temporary custody but Shannon Marie was unable to locate the Order. The deputy sheriffs made some attempt to ascertain the validity of Shannon Marie's claim by telephoning the Summit County Attorney who was not available. Sometime thereafter Summit County Sheriff D. Fred Eley telephoned Offret and Yates at the Carlos Smith residence and conversed with them. Defendants contend that in this conversation Eley advised Offret and Yates that if there was no paper work directing them to act, they were not to interfere in the situation, and were only to keep the peace. Defendants contend they did just that and nothing more. Plaintiff, on the other hand, contends that Eley directed his deputies to assist in removing Shannon, and that the deputy sheriffs' involvement was active and extensive. In particular, plaintiff contends that Offret and Yates announced to Shannon Marie that Peggy Smith could take Shannon and leave, and that Offret and Yates physically helped control Shannon and left the residence with Peggy. Since this matter is before the court on a motion for summary judgment, the court must resolve all such disputes against the moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2513, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

ANALYSIS

1. Child Custody — Failure to State a Claim

Defendants' first line of argument in support of their motion for summary judgment is that a claim based on a child custody battle cannot be stated under § 1983. Defendants argue that matters involving family relationships are uniquely matters of state law outside federal jurisdiction, citing Wise v. Bravo, 666 F.2d 1328, 1332 (10th Cir.1981). In Wise, the Tenth Circuit held that a trial court did not err in dismissing a father's § 1983 claims for interference with his visitation rights. Plaintiff rightly notes that since the challenge in Wise was for interference with visitation rights and not custodial rights, Wise may be distinguished from and does not control this case. However, the Tenth Circuit's analysis in Wise is relevant to this court's determination of whether plaintiff has stated a claim in this case. The Wise court notes that while federal decisions recognize that the parent-child relationship is a fundamental interest requiring close Due Process and Equal Protection scrutiny,

there is no substantive federal constitutional, statutory or common law governing family relationships, including matters of custody and visitation rights between parents and children. The substantive aspect of the subject of family law and domestic relations is one uniquely within the province of the respective states. The state's power to legislate, adjudicate and administer all aspects of family law, including determinations of custodial and visitation rights is subject to scrutiny by the federal judiciary within the reach of the Due Process and/or Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Id. at 1332. This case, however, is not a custody dispute. The state has exercised its power to determine custodial rights between Carlos Smith and Peggy Smith Hardman, and has granted Carlos custody of both children.

Although plaintiff couches his claim in terms of both substantive and procedural due process, it really sounds in procedural due process. Following the Wise analysis, it is clear that, had the State of Utah wished to do so, it could have awarded Peggy Smith custody of Shannon Smith without impermissibly infringing Carlos Smith's liberty interest guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Further, the State, as represented by the Summit County Sheriff, could approximately enforce such a custody order without violating the Fourteenth Amendment. Id. at 1336-38 (Seymour, J., concurring). Carlos Smith's complaint is not that his ex-wife impermissibly was given custody, but rather that she and state officials interfered with his custodial rights, without notice or hearing. The interest in maintaining a parent-child relationship has been found protected under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, see Trujillo, 768 F.2d 1186, 1188-89 (10th Cir.1985); Wise, 666 F.2d at 1336-38 (Seymour, J., concurring); Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 92 S.Ct. 1208, 31 L.Ed.2d 551 (1972); Quilloin v. Walcott, 434 U.S. 246, 98 S.Ct. 549, 54 L.Ed.2d 511 (1978), and has been characterized as the right of familial association. Trujillo, 768 F.2d at 1188. Beyond doubt, the right of a parent to procedural due process in the regulation of his custodial relationship with his child is a colorable claim under § 1983.

2. "Mere Negligence" — Failure to State a Claim

Defendants' second line of argument is that the undisputed facts demonstrate that defendants at most were merely negligent in failing to determine the existence and validity of any temporary custody order granting plaintiff custody, and that defendants otherwise merely kept the peace at the scene and did not actually participate in the removal of Shannon Smith. Given these facts, which defendants contend are undisputed, defendants urge that plaintiffs' § 1983 claim must fail since, according to recent Supreme Court and Tenth Circuit precedents, no § 1983 claim may be based on mere negligence.

As defendants note, in Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 106 S.Ct. 662, 88 L.Ed.2d 662 (1986) and Davidson v. Cannon, 474 U.S. 344, 106 S.Ct. 668, 88 L.Ed. 2d 677 (1986), the Supreme Court stated that "the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is simply not implicated by a negligent act of an official causing unintended loss or injury to life, liberty or property." Daniels, 106 S.Ct. at 663 (emphasis added) However, Daniels and Davidson reaffirm the holding of Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981) that any state of mind required to state a claim under § 1983 derives from the constitutional provision in issue, and not from § 1983 itself.¹ Similarly, in Specht v. Jensen, 832 F.2d 1516, 1521 (10th Cir.1987), the Tenth Circuit stated that "in any given section 1983 action, the court must determine the state of mind, if any, necessary to violate the constitutional provision at issue." See also Trujillo v. Board of County Commissioners, 768 F.2d 1186, 1189 (10th Cir.1985); McKay v. Hammock, 730 F.2d 1367, 1373 (10th Cir. 1984) (en banc). Specht is consistent with Daniels and Davidson. Thus in this case the court must determine what constitutional provision is in issue, and the state of mind, if any, necessary to violate that provision.

In this case defendants' arguments regarding negligence must be rejected for three reasons. First, plaintiff has alleged the proper mental state requisite for an action of this kind. In this case plaintiff alleges that his right of familial association² was interfered with, without due process. The Tenth Circuit has concluded that a § 1983 claim may be stated in such cases only where the plaintiff alleges "an intent on the part of the state actors to interfere with the particular relationship protected by the freedom of intimate association." Trujillo v. Board of County Commissioners, 768 F.2d 1186, 1190 (10th Cir.1985). This requirement is consistent with the mandate of Daniels and Davidson, and plaintiff has clearly met it: plaintiff alleges that defendants' actions were taken specifically to harm plaintiff and to deprive plaintiff of his civil rights, that is, to interfere with his...