Ward v. San Diego County Dept. of Social Services, Civ. No. 87-0938-JLI (CM).

• Citation: 691 F. Supp. 238
• Decision Date: 05 August 1988
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 87-0938-JLI (CM).
• Parties: James Michael WARD, Plaintiff, v. SAN DIEGO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES; et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of California

691 F. Supp. 238

James Michael WARD, Plaintiff, v. SAN DIEGO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES; et al., Defendants.

Civ. No. 87-0938-JLI (CM).

United States District Court, S.D. California.

August 5, 1988.

Karen Stawiecki, San Diego, Cal., for plaintiff.

Gerard Smolin, Jr. and Dearing English of Jennings, Engstrand & Henrickson, San Diego, Cal., for defendants Voices for Children and Charlotte Gerry.

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

IRVING, District Judge.

Plaintiff James Ward ("Ward" or "Plaintiff") is the father of a minor child, Gerrit Ward, and defendant Emily Hayes ("Hayes") is Gerrit's mother. Hayes and Ward were divorced and in 1984 the court awarded custody of Gerrit to Ward. In early March 1986, while visiting his mother, Gerrit apparently told her that his step-mother was abusing him. As a result, Hayes refused to return Gerrit to his father. Hayes notified the Department of Social Services ("DSS") of the allegations and requested a change of custody.

DSS immediately began to investigate the situation. On March 10, 1986, a dependency proceeding was initiated to make Gerrit a ward of the court due to his emotional problems. The court named Gerrit a dependent of the court under California Welfare and Institutions Code § 300(a) (West 1986) on June 25, 1986. On July 1, 1987, the juvenile court judge appointed defendant Charlotte Gerry ("Gerry") to serve as the Special Advocate Guardian Ad Litem ("guardian ad litem") for Gerrit.

Gerry is a volunteer for defendant Voices for Children ("Voices"), a non-profit organization operating under the supervision of the Juvenile Court pursuant to California Welfare and Institutions Code §§ 356.5 and 358 (West 1988). The purpose of Voices is to facilitate the movement of dependent minors from temporary placement to permanent homes. Voices selects and trains individuals to do this job and then the Juvenile Court appoints the volunteers to serve as guardians ad litem. The guardian ad litem conducts factual investigations and makes recommendations to the court regarding the placement which will be in the child's best interest. The guardian ad litem serves at the discretion of the juvenile court judge; the appointment may be terminated at any time by court order.

Pursuant to her appointment, Gerry began an investigation into the facts surrounding Gerrit's situation. Gerry spoke with a number of individuals who knew Gerrit and/or his family. Gerry was unable to speak to Plaintiff or his wife. Gerry also had access to any records regarding Gerrit or meetings concerning him. Throughout her investigation, Gerry submitted a number of reports to the court for its consideration in deciding Gerrit's placement.

In his complaint, Plaintiff alleges, inter alia, that defendant Gerry acted outside the scope of her authority while undertaking her investigation and that she treated Plaintiff unfairly and in violation of his constitutional rights. In the hearing on this motion, Plaintiff stated that his only theory of liability against Voices is respondeat superior. Defendants Gerry and Voices argue that summary judgment should be granted in their favor on the grounds of absolute quasi-judicial immunity.

DISCUSSION

The United States Supreme Court has held that various participants in the judicial process are immune from liability. As examples, the Court has held that judges are immune from liability for their judicial acts (Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967)); prosecutors are immune for their actions in initiating prosecutions (Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 96 S.Ct. 984, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976)); and, advocates and witnesses are immune for the performance of their respective functions (Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978); Briscoe v. LaHue, 460 U.S. 325, 103 S.Ct. 1108, 75 L.Ed.2d 96 (1983)). In granting these individuals immunity, the Court focused on the "nature of the judicial proceeding itself" and the "policy of protecting the judicial process." Briscoe, 460 U.S. at 334, 103 S.Ct. at 1115 (citations omitted). The Court has stated that

the ability of courts, under carefully developed procedures, to separate truth from falsity, and the importance of accurately resolving factual disputes in criminal (and civil) cases are such that those involved in judicial proceedings should be `given every encouragement to make a full disclosure of all pertinent information within their knowledge.'

Id. at 335, 103 S.Ct. at 1115 (citation omitted). Accordingly, all persons who perform functions which are an "integral part of the judicial process" are immune from liability. Id.

The Ninth Circuit has determined that a variety of other jobs or functions are an integral part of the judicial process and, therefore, entitled to absolute quasi-judicial immunity. In Demoran v. Witt, 781 F.2d 155 (9th Cir.1986), the court held that probation officers preparing presentencing reports for judges are entitled to absolute immunity. The Court reasoned that in preparing the reports, the probation officers serve as an "arm of the sentencing judge" by "engaging in impartial fact-gathering." Id. at 157. The court expressed its concern that potential civil liability would "seriously erode the officer's ability to carry out his independent fact-finding function and thereby impair the sentencing judge's ability to carry out his judicial duties." Id. (citations omitted).

In Meyers v. Contra Costa County Dept. of Soc. Serv., 812 F.2d 1154 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 108 S.Ct. 98, 98 L.Ed.2d 59 (1987), the court ruled that social workers are entitled to absolute quasi-judicial immunity in performing quasi-prosecutorial functions connected with the initiation and pursuit of child dependency proceedings. The court reasoned that social workers are similar to prosecutors in that they are responsible for initiating dependency proceedings and for exercising independent judgment in determining when to bring such actions. Id. at 1157. The court wanted to avoid the possibility of compromising the social worker's independence by subjecting him or her to civil liability. Id. The court has also held that a social worker has absolute immunity for seeking, obtaining and executing a court order to seize a newborn child from its mother. Coverdell v. Dept. of Soc. and Health Serv., 834 F.2d 758, 762-5 (9th Cir. 1987). The court opined that the social worker's actions in seeking and obtaining the order were within her statutory authority as a quasi-prosecutor and that executing the order was done as an extension of the judge. Id. at 764-5.

Although the Ninth Circuit has yet to apply the theory of absolute quasi-judicial immunity to guardians ad litem, other circuits have done so. In a recent case, the Eighth Circuit held that guardians ad litem appointed by the court to represent children had absolute quasi-judicial immunity in their actions of questioning the children, testifying to the family court, and providing their reports and recommendations to the family court. Myers v. Morris, 810 F.2d 1437, 1466-7 (8th Cir.1987), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 108 S.Ct. 97, 98 L.Ed.2d 58 (1987). The court reasoned that the guardians ad litem were appointed by the court under "its statutory authority to seek the assistance of experts" to "fulfill quasi-judicial responsibilities under court direction." Id. at 1467.

The Sixth Circuit has also held that a guardian ad litem is entitled to absolute quasi-judicial immunity. Kurzawa v. Mueller, 732 F.2d 1456 (6th Cir.1984). The Kurzawa...