Opinion ID: 473050
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Restriction of Lawrence Joseph's General Concealed Weapons Permit

Text: 34 The Josephs allege that Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thompson influenced Assistant Prosecutor Case, a permanent member of the Oakland County Concealed Weapons Licensing Board, to investigate and reduce Lawrence Joseph's general permit to a restricted permit. They submit that such an activity is administrative and, therefore, subject only to the affirmative defense of qualified immunity. Appellees counter that the prosecutor should be accorded absolute immunity with respect to this activity, because the prosecuting attorney (or an assistant prosecutor chosen by him) is required by Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. Sec. 28.426 to sit on the county-wide three-member concealed weapons licensing board. The appellees' argument that a statutorily mandated duty should be accorded absolute immunity has some force and has been a significant factor in several cases. Mother Goose Nursery Schools, Inc. v. Sendak, 770 F.2d 668, 671 (7th Cir.1985), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 884, 88 L.Ed.2d 919 (1986) (Indiana Attorney General required by state law to review state contracts is absolutely immune); Campbell v. Patterson, 724 F.2d 41, 43 (6th Cir.1983) (per curiam) (Michigan Attorney General obligated by statute to render opinions interpreting law at the request of state agencies was granted immunity for errors arising out of this function), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1107, 104 S.Ct. 1613, 80 L.Ed.2d 142 (1984); Cribb v. Pelham, 552 F.Supp. 1217, 1222 (D.S.C.1982) (prosecutor's statutorily mandated duty to docket cases was accorded absolute immunity). However, the fact that a statute has mandated a duty is not dispositive in and of itself. In each of the above cases the courts expressly considered the nature of the challenged activity mandated by statute and whether it was quasi-judicial. Mother Goose, 770 F.2d at 671; Campbell, 724 F.2d at 43; Cribb, 552 F.Supp. at 1222. In all cases the acts were found to be within the individual's advocatory or quasi-judicial functions. Id. 35 We are not convinced that a prosecutor functions in his quasi-judicial capacity when sitting on a concealed weapons licensing board. The Michigan Supreme Court has held that concealed weapon licensing boards are not state boards or agencies subject to the provisions of the Michigan Administrative Procedures Act. Rather, they are local regulatory bodies created by state statute pursuant to the legislature's exercise of its police powers. Hanselman v. Wayne County Concealed Weapon Licensing Board, 419 Mich. 168, 196-97, 351 N.W.2d 544 (1984). Each board has exclusive authority to dispense or deny weapons permits in its county and must determine 'proper reason' and 'suitability' [for a permit] based upon consideration of local needs and an exercise of its discretion. Id. at 189. The boards are composed of law enforcement officials [a prosecutor, police officer, and sheriff] to insure that the power to issue and revoke permits is properly placed with those professionals most able to assess community needs and problems in this area. Bay County Concealed Weapons Licensing Board v. Gasta, 96 Mich.App. 784, 791, 293 N.W.2d 707 (1980). Further, it has been noted that the holder of a permit has only a modicum of interest in his permit, so that minimal procedural safeguards are required in revocation hearings. Id. at 790-91, 293 N.W.2d 707. 36 In view of these facts we find Cleavinger, supra, --- U.S. at ----, 106 S.Ct. at 496, instructive. In Cleavinger the Supreme Court found that a prison disciplinary committee performed adjudicatory functions in that they heard testimony, received evidence, and rendered decisions regarding inmates accused of infractions; however, the Supreme Court concluded that such activities did not rise to a  'classic' adjudicatory function and accorded only qualified immunity to the committee members. The Court emphasized that the committee members were not professional hearing officers, as are administrative law judges. By virtue of their professional ties to the prison, neither were they truly independent and impartial, as are state and federal judges. Further, few of the procedural safeguards of the Administrative Procedures Act were present. The Court likened the committee to the school board members in Wood v. Strickland, 420 U.S. 308, 95 S.Ct. 992, 43 L.Ed.2d 214 (1975), who adjudicated violations of school regulations, but who were protected only by qualified immunity. The Court observed that absolute immunity would not significantly increase the officials' ability to exercise discretion so as to warrant the absence of a remedy for persons subjected to intentional and unjust deprivations. 5 Cleavinger is consistent with the Supreme Court's earlier holding in Butz that administrative law judges who adjudicate within an administrative agency enjoy absolute immunity because their duties are functionally comparable to those of a judge. In Butz the presence of Administrative Procedures Act safeguards and a structure insuring the adjudicator's independent judgment on the evidence, free from outside influences, were significant factors underlying the Court's decision. 438 U.S. at 512-13, 98 S.Ct. at 2913-14. 37 Although the Oakland County Concealed Weapons Licensing Board does perform some adjudicatory functions, it does not adjudicate in the formal, classic sense. Moreover, as law enforcement professionals who may have had occasion to deal with some applicants, the board members cannot be said to be impartial, independent, and free from outside influences. Further, as noted by the Michigan Supreme Court, these boards are not subject to the Michigan Administrative Procedures Act, and are vested with wide discretion based on local needs. Therefore, we conclude that only qualified immunity should be granted members of the Concealed Weapons Licensing Board, and dismissal on the basis of absolute immunity with regard to this activity was erroneous.F. The Prosecutors' Opposition to Expungement of the Record 38 The Josephs allege that the prosecutors' continuing opposition to expungement of their records even after losing all appeals with regard to dismissal of the charges was an administrative act not to be accorded absolute immunity. Appellees, on the other hand, urge that Prosecuting Attorney's Policy Memorandum # 38 requires routine opposition to all motions for expungement; they analogize this activity to filing an appeal or motion for a new trial. They conclude that such activity should be afforded the same absolute immunity received for trial proceedings. 39 Like the other issues raised on appeal, the facts are sketchy at best. In addition, it is questionable whether the prosecutor had any discretion at all, either as an administrator or advocate, to oppose expungement in light of Mich.Comp.Laws Ann. Sec. 28.243 which provides for mandatory return of records in most cases. Mich.Comp.Laws Ann. Sec. 28.243 provides in relevant part: 40 (2) If a person accused ... is released without a charge made against him or her, the official taking or holding an accused's fingerprints, arrest card, and description shall immediately return this information without the necessity of a request. If not returned, the accused shall have the absolute right to demand and receive the return at any time after the release and without the need to petition for court action. 41 (3) If an accused ... is found not guilty of the offense charged, the arrest card, the fingerprints, and description shall be returned to him or her by a court order signed by the trial court and directed to the official holding this information, which order shall issue automatically upon the finding of not guilty without the necessity of request therefor. If for any reason the order of return is not issued upon a finding of not guilty, the accused shall have the absolute right to the return, upon request, at any time after the acquittal. If the order of return is refused the accused, the accused shall have the right to petition the circuit court of the county where the original charge was made for a preemptory writ of mandamus to require issuance of the order of return. 42 The only exceptions to the mandatory return of the accused's record occur in cases where the person arrested has a prior conviction, aside from a misdemeanor traffic offense, or where the person arrested was charged with a sexual offense. In such cases a judge must by express order entered on the record order return. Mich.Comp. Laws Ann. Sec. 28.243(6)(a) and (b). Therefore, remand is necessary to develop the facts on this issue. If the district court develops facts indicating that the circumstances require return pursuant to the clear mandate of Sec. 28.243, clearly the prosecutors cannot be said to have engaged in advocatory conduct in furtherance of the judicial process, because there was nothing to adjudicate or advocate. On the other hand, if the facts demonstrate that due to a prior conviction a hearing or legal proceeding was conducted with regard to a motion for expungement, the prosecutors were acting as advocates representing the state's interest in the judicial process.