Opinion ID: 62905
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Entry Into the Home

Text: The Gateses' first claim is that the individual defendants entered the Gateses' home on February 11, 2000, without a warrant and in violation of the Fourth Amendment. There are two aspects to this claim: (1) whether the defendants' initial entry into the house was permissible, and (2) whether the defendants' decision to remain in the house after Gary ordered them to leave was permissible.
The Gateses contend that TDPRS employees and Fort Bend deputies violated the Fourth Amendment by entering the Gateses' home without a warrant or court order on February 11, 2000. [8] In response, the TDPRS employees and Fort Bend deputies assert that their entry into the Gateses' home was permissible because (1) the housekeeper, Menjivar, consented to their entry, (2) they were compelled by exigent circumstances, and (3) they met the reasonableness standard of the special needs doctrine. The district court did not make clear which, if any, of those arguments it relied on when dismissing the case. [9] Thus, we will consider all three arguments made by the defendants.
The first step in the qualified immunity analysis requires us to determine if the Gateses have alleged the violation of a constitutional right. Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151. We begin by noting that it is well established in this circuit that the Fourth Amendment regulates social workers' civil investigations. Roe v. Tex. Dep't of Protective & Regulatory Servs., 299 F.3d 395, 401 (5th Cir.2002); see also Wooley, 211 F.3d at 925 (stating that Fourth Amendment standards apply in both criminal and civil contexts). Therefore, we will apply the typical Fourth Amendment standards in assessing the defendants' conduct. [P]hysical entry of the home is the chief evil against which the ... Fourth Amendment is directed. United States v. United States Dist. Court, 407 U.S. 297, 313, 92 S.Ct. 2125, 32 L.Ed.2d 752 (1972). Pursuant to our Fourth Amendment law, [w]arrantless searches of a person's home are presumptively unreasonable unless the person consents, or unless probable cause and exigent circumstances justify the search. United States v. Gomez-Moreno, 479 F.3d 350, 354 (5th Cir.2007); United States v. Gould, 364 F.3d 578, 587 n. 9 (5th Cir.2004); see also United States v. Mendez, 431 F.3d 420, 429 (5th Cir.2005) (Consensual searches are established exceptions to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement.). The Supreme Court has also carved out an exception to the warrant requirement in a few instances when there is a special need that is `divorced from the State's general interest in law enforcement.' Roe, 299 F.3d at 404 (quoting Ferguson v. City of Charleston, 532 U.S. 67, 79, 121 S.Ct. 1281, 149 L.Ed.2d 205 (2001)). Therefore, we must now decide whether consent, exigent circumstances, or a special need justified the warrantless entry into the Gateses' house. [10]
The individual defendants first argue that their entry into the Gateses' home was constitutional because Menjivar, the Gateses' housekeeper, gave them consent to enter. This court determines whether consent was given based on the totality of the circumstances. United States v. Freeman, 482 F.3d 829, 831-32 (5th Cir.2007). [T]he standard for measuring the scope of... consent under the Fourth Amendment is that of `objective' reasonableness  what would the typical reasonable person have understood by the exchange between the officer and the suspect? Florida v. Jimeno, 500 U.S. 248, 251, 111 S.Ct. 1801, 114 L.Ed.2d 297 (1991). In this case, the parties dispute whether Menjivar gave consent for the TDPRS employees and Fort Bend deputies to enter the house. As noted earlier, although a few believe they had consent to enter, none of the individual defendants remember what was said. Menjivar asserts that she did not intend for the individuals to enter and that no one ever asked for permission to enter. However, she admits that she did not tell the defendants that they could not enter and she also indicated that they could interview the children when the children arrived home. [11] We have previously held that [s]ilence or passivity cannot form the basis for consent to enter. Roe, 299 F.3d at 402. Further, [i]t is well established that a defendant's mere acquiescence to a show of lawful authority is insufficient to establish voluntary consent. United States v. Jaras, 86 F.3d 383, 390 (5th Cir.1996). Here, no defendant was able to testify that Menjivar affirmatively consented to let them into the house. Yet, Menjivar's statement that she told them that they could speak with the children might have indicated to a reasonable officer that he or she had permission to enter the house. These facts present a very close call; however, taken in the light most favorable to the Gateses, this raises a fact issue as to whether consent was actually given. [12]
The next legal theory relied upon by the individual defendants that would permit a warrantless entry into the Gateses' home is exigent circumstances. [L]aw enforcement officers may enter a home without a warrant to render emergency assistance to an injured occupant or to protect an occupant from imminent injury. Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398, 403, 126 S.Ct. 1943, 164 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006); see also Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. 499, 509, 98 S.Ct. 1942, 56 L.Ed.2d 486 (1978) (stating that a warrantless entry may be legal when there is compelling need for official action and no time to secure a warrant). Immediate safety risks to police officers and others are exigent circumstances that may excuse a warrantless entry into a residence. United States v. Jones, 239 F.3d 716, 720 (5th Cir.2001). The Tenth Circuit has used the exigent circumstances analysis to evaluate the legality of a warrantless entry into a home for the purposes of seizing a child who might have been abused. Roska ex rel. Roska v. Peterson, 328 F.3d 1230, 1240-41 (10th Cir.2003). In similar circumstances, the Third Circuit has required that the state actors making the search... have reason to believe that life or limb is in immediate jeopardy and that the intrusion is reasonably necessary to alleviate the threat. Good v. Dauphin County Soc. Servs. for Children & Youth, 891 F.2d 1087, 1094 (3d Cir.1989). Here, the individual defendants argue that exigent circumstances existed based on the report by LCISD regarding Travis and the interviews of Will, George, and Scott. The defendants further point out that they are commanded by statute to investigate allegations of child abuse. See TEX. FAM.CODE ANN. § 261.301(a) (stating that TDPRS and law enforcement shall make a prompt and thorough investigation of a report of child abuse). The Gateses counter that the allegations in the LCISD report and any subsequent comments by Will, George, and Scott do not suffice as exigent circumstances. The Gateses further point out that the defendants have never shown that there was insufficient time in the day to seek a court order that would have permitted the entry. We can first easily dispose of any contention that the Texas Family Code's requirement that TDPRS undertake a prompt investigation somehow exempts the defendants' actions from constitutional scrutiny. A statutory command to investigate allegations within twenty-four hours is not a license to ignore the Fourth Amendment, and it is unreasonable for the defendants to think otherwise. See Sibron v. New York, 392 U.S. 40, 60-61, 88 S.Ct. 1889, 20 L.Ed.2d 917 (1968) (holding that, although a state may develop its own search and seizure law, the state may not authorize police conduct that infringes Fourth Amendment rights). Regardless of what Texas law may authorize, entry into a house by the individual defendants must satisfy Fourth Amendment standards. Therefore, we next consider whether exigent circumstances existed that permitted the individual defendants to make a warrantless entry into the Gateses' house. [13] The individual defendants claim that exigent circumstances were present, based on information that Gary had pushed and kicked Travis that morning, had handcuffed Travis to his bed at some point, and used unusual discipline methods. There is no Fifth Circuit precedent directly on point regarding when a social worker may enter a home due to exigent circumstances. In Wooley, this court denied summary judgment on the issue of qualified immunity to officers who entered a home and seized a child pursuant to a court order when the order did not authorize the seizure. 211 F.3d at 925. There, we noted that there was no evidence of any danger to the child that would enable the state to act without a warrant. Id. That case, however, turned more on the validity of the court order, rather than on any danger to the child. Id. In Roska, government officials entered a house without a warrant and removed a child suspected of being abused. 328 F.3d at 1238. The Tenth Circuit determined that there were no exigent circumstances justifying the warrantless entry into the home. Id. at 1240-41. The court based its decision on the fact that the defendants were aware that various doctors had suspected for some time that the child was a victim of abuse, there was nothing particularly unusual about the child's condition at the time he was removed, and the child's attending physician told the defendants it would be a mistake to remove the child. Id. In that case, the removal took place two days after the school reported its suspicions to child protective services. Id. at 1238. Turning to the facts of this case, we agree with the Gateses that there were no exigent circumstances present at the time of the defendants' initial entry into the Gateses' house that would have permitted the warrantless intrusion. First, Gary, the alleged abuser, was not at home, so there was no immediate danger to the children. Also, at that time, TDPRS was not aware of any allegations that Gary had abused any of his children besides Travis, other than his unusual discipline methods. [14] We further note that none of the TDPRS employees treated these interviews as emergencies. The Gateses point to deposition testimony by Davis that the interviews conducted at the Gateses' home were routine, non-emergency interviews. In fact, the TDPRS employees went to lunch after interviewing Will, George, and Scott at school without taking any emergency measures. Carrillo also testified that he did not witness any exigent circumstances or emergency situation at the Gateses' home. Thus, at the time the individual defendants approached the house, the only evidence of danger to the Gates children was a one-time incident involving only Travis and the questionable discipline methods. These facts do not give rise to an immediate danger supporting a warrantless entry into the Gateses' house. Indeed, the stated purpose of entering the house was to interview the children, not to guard them against some sort of immediate danger. Consequently, we conclude that the individual defendants' entry into the Gateses' house was not justified by exigent circumstances.
Finally, the individual defendants argue that the special needs doctrine supports their warrantless entry into the Gateses' house. As we have described it, the special needs doctrine permits warrantless searches with respect to a special need that is divorced from the state's general interest in law enforcement. Roe, 299 F.3d at 404. Examples of recognized special needs are: a principal's search of a student's purse for drugs in school; a public employer's search of an employee's desk; a probation officer's warrantless search of a probationer's home; a Federal Railroad Administration regulation requiring employees to submit to blood and urine tests after major train accidents; drug testing of United States Customs Service employees applying for positions involving drug interdiction; schools' random testing of student athletes, and drug testing of all public school students participating in extracurricular activities. Id. (citing multiple Supreme Court cases). In cases involving a special need, the court judges the lawfulness of the search by the standard of reasonableness under all of the circumstances instead of a probable cause or reasonable suspicion standard. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Key to the special needs doctrine, however, is that the need must be divorced from the purpose of general law enforcement. Ferguson, 532 U.S. at 79, 121 S.Ct. 1281. As we stated in Roe, we view[ ] entanglement with law enforcement suspiciously, and [o]ther societal objectives cannot justify a program that would systematically collect information for the police. 299 F.3d at 406. In Roe, we held that the special needs doctrine did not permit a social worker to visually search a child's body cavities as part of an abuse investigation without a warrant or exigent circumstances. Id. at 406-07. In reaching that conclusion, we noted that Texas law requires TDPRS to notify law enforcement of all child abuse reports. See TEX. FAM.CODE ANN. § 261.105(b). Further, Texas law also requires TDPRS and local law enforcement to conduct a joint investigation when a report alleges that the child is at risk of immediate physical or sexual abuse. Id. § 261.301(f). Given that the social worker's search in Roe was intimately intertwined with law enforcement, we concluded that the special needs doctrine could not apply. Roe, 299 F.3d at 407. The Tenth Circuit has also held that the special needs doctrine will not permit a social worker to enter a home to remove a child absent a warrant or exigent circumstances. Roska, 328 F.3d at 1242. The Second Circuit, however, has refrained from setting forth a categorical rule that removal of a child from a home can never be pursuant to a special need. Tenenbaum v. Williams, 193 F.3d 581, 604 (2d Cir.1999) (noting that there may be circumstances in which the law of warrant and probable cause would not work effectively in the child removal or child examination context). Applying the reasoning of Roe, there was no special need in this case. The purpose of TDPRS's entry into the Gateses' home  the investigation of possible child abuse  was closely tied with law enforcement for the same reasons articulated in Roe. Indeed, law enforcement personnel accompanied the TDPRS employees into the home and were called back when TDPRS needed assistance. Therefore, because the need to enter the Gateses' home was not divorced from the state's general interest in law enforcement, there was no special need that justified the entry. In a related argument, the individual defendants, specifically the Fort Bend employees, contend that the Supreme Court in Wyman v. James, 400 U.S. 309, 91 S.Ct. 381, 27 L.Ed.2d 408 (1971), relaxed the requirement for entering homes when the welfare of children is involved. At issue in Wyman was whether an AFDC beneficiary could refuse a home visit by a caseworker without risking the termination of benefits. Id. at 310, 91 S.Ct. 381. In part of its analysis, the Court stated that the public's interest in the welfare of children was one factor that indicated the visits were not unreasonable. Id. at 318, 91 S.Ct. 381. However, the Court also noted that the visits concerned welfare programs, not alleged criminal activity. Id. at 322-23, 91 S.Ct. 381. More importantly, the portion of the Court's opinion regarding the welfare of children was dicta, as the Court first held that the visits did not implicate the Fourth Amendment in the first place. Id. at 317-18, 91 S.Ct. 381; see also Roe, 299 F.3d at 405 (finding that portion of Wyman to be dicta). Therefore, Wyman does not support lowering the Fourth Amendment standard for entering houses for the purpose of interviewing children about possible abuse. In conclusion, because the visit to the Gateses' home to investigate possible child abuse was not separate from general law enforcement, the special needs doctrine cannot be used to justify the warrantless entry. Therefore, the typical Fourth Amendment standards of a court order, consent, or exigent circumstances apply and, as discussed above, the individual defendants are not entitled to summary judgment with respect to any of those standards. Therefore, taken in the light most favorable to them, the Gateses have alleged a constitutional injury with respect to the individual defendants' initial entry into the Gateses' home.
Having concluded that the Gateses have alleged a constitutional violation with respect to the initial entry into their home by the TDPRS employees and Fort Bend deputies, we proceed to the next step in the qualified immunity analysis  whether the Gateses' constitutional rights were clearly established at the time of the alleged violation. See Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151. Although the law regarding consent and exigent circumstances has been clearly established for some time, we conclude that the law regarding the special needs exception, as arguably applied to the facts of this case, was not clearly established. We first consider whether it was reasonable for the individual defendants to believe that the state's interest in investigating child abuse allegations presented a special need that would relax the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement. See Anderson, 483 U.S. at 640, 107 S.Ct. 3034 (holding that a clearly established right depends on what a reasonable official would understand the law to be). Special needs that have been recognized by the Supreme Court include the need of teachers and administrators to maintain order in the schools, the need to adequately supervise individuals on probation, and the need to deter drug use among students. Vernonia Sch. Dist. 47J v. Acton, 515 U.S. 646, 661, 115 S.Ct. 2386, 132 L.Ed.2d 564 (1995) (permitting drug testing of certain students); Griffin v. Wisconsin, 483 U.S. 868, 875, 107 S.Ct. 3164, 97 L.Ed.2d 709 (1987) (permitting search of probationer's home); New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 341, 105 S.Ct. 733, 83 L.Ed.2d 720 (1985) (permitting search of student's purse). In each of those circumstances, the Court explained that the doctrine allowed some invasions of privacy when there was a special need beyond the normal need for law enforcement that made the warrant and probable cause requirement impracticable. See, e.g., Vernonia Sch. Dist., 515 U.S. at 653, 115 S.Ct. 2386. Turning to the need to investigate allegations of child abuse, we note that this court has recognized that the state has an interest in protecting the health, safety, and welfare of children. Wooley, 211 F.3d at 924; see also Wyman, 400 U.S. at 318, 91 S.Ct. 381 (referring to a dependent child's needs with respect to AFDC benefits as paramount and stating that [t]here is no more worthy object of the public's concern). Considering the state's interest in the welfare of children, it was not unreasonable for the individual defendants to conclude that the need to protect children from abuse went beyond a general interest in law enforcement. Further, it was not until after the February 2000 events in this case that the Supreme Court began to state that the special need must be divorced from the state's general interest in law enforcement. See Ferguson, 532 U.S. at 79, 121 S.Ct. 1281. Although it is not clear that the Supreme Court intended a change in the special needs standard by using the divorced language, it is more reasonable to conclude that the state's interest in preventing child abuse goes beyond the need for law enforcement, as opposed to being divorced from it, thereby bringing it within the realm of the special needs doctrine. See Roe, 299 F.3d at 409 (referring to the Supreme Court's pre- Ferguson special needs test as vague). Additionally, this court in Roe noted that we had not yet fleshed out the relevant Fourth Amendment standards with respect to entering a house in order to investigate allegations of child abuse, as previous cases had not required us to choose between traditional Fourth Amendment standards and the special needs doctrine. Id. at 401. We further stated that [s]electing the applicable test for a social worker's investigative home visit would be a question of first impression in this circuit  an issue over which other courts of appeals have divided. Id. (citing Wildauer v. Frederick County, 993 F.2d 369, 372 (4th Cir.1993) (applying a standard that was lower than the traditional Fourth Amendment standard), Good, 891 F.2d at 1094-95 (applying the traditional Fourth Amendment standard), and Calabretta v. Floyd, 189 F.3d 808, 813 (9th Cir.1999) (applying the traditional Fourth Amendment standard)). Ultimately, though, we did not reach the issue of whether the special needs test applied to a social worker's entry into a house for investigative purposes because we concluded that the homeowner had given her consent to the entry. Id. We did conclude, however, that the application of the special needs doctrine to a social worker's visual search of a child's body cavities was not clearly established in 1999, in light of the lack of precedent concerning that area of law. Id. at 409-11. Given the statements in Roe that the court had not yet established the constitutional standard for entering a home for purposes of investigating child abuse, it is clear that the law in this area was not clearly established in February 2000. See id. at 409-10 (It is difficult to argue that a matter of law is clearly established for state actors in this circuit where this court has not opined on the issue in question and the other circuits are in disagreement as to whether the challenged acts constitute a constitutional violation.). Further, although we have held that the special needs doctrine was inapplicable in this situation, it was not unreasonable for the individual defendants to believe in February 2000 that their need to enter the Gateses' home in order to investigate allegations of child abuse went beyond the normal need for law enforcement in light of the state's avowed interest in the health and safety of children. Consequently, because the constitutional standard for entry into the Gateses' house was not clearly established in February 2000 and it was reasonable for the individual defendants to believe that the special needs doctrine applied, the individual defendants are entitled to summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity.
The next issue before us is whether the individual defendants violated the Fourth Amendment after Gary returned home and ordered the defendants out of his house. [15] We again consider the doctrines of consent, exigent circumstances, and special needs in determining the constitutionality of the defendants' actions. The district court held that once consent is given to enter a house, it cannot be revoked. If that was the basis for the district court's holding, it erred, as it is clearly established that [a] consent which waives Fourth Amendment rights may be limited, qualified, or withdrawn. United States v. Ho, 94 F.3d 932, 936 n. 5 (5th Cir.1996); see also Mason v. Pulliam, 557 F.2d 426, 428-29 (5th Cir.1977). It makes no difference in our analysis that it was Gary who was revoking Menjivar's alleged consent. The Supreme Court recently held that when a physically present co-occupant of a home objects to a warrantless search, the search may not take place, even if another occupant has given consent. Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S. 103, 106, 126 S.Ct. 1515, 164 L.Ed.2d 208 (2006). It is only a small step to conclude that a physically present co-occupant may revoke or withdraw the consent given by another occupant. Therefore, if the individual defendants' entry was based on Menjivar's consent and Gary revoked that consent upon his return home, the defendants violated the Gateses' Fourth Amendment rights by remaining in the house, absent a court order or exigent circumstances. As for exigent circumstances, the exigency remained the same as when the defendants first entered the house, with the exception of Gary's return. There is no evidence that the TDPRS employees learned new damaging information from the children in the few minutes that they had been present. Further, there is no evidence that Gary displayed any anger towards his children or gave any indication that he might abuse them in the immediate future. As noted by the Second Circuit in a due process context, [e]mergency circumstances mean circumstances in which the child is immediately threatened with harm .... [T]he mere possibility of danger is not enough. Tenenbaum, 193 F.3d at 594 (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). Here, there was no immediate threat that required the individual defendants to remain and continue the interviews in the absence of a court order. Therefore, the individual defendants cannot rely on exigent circumstances to justify their decision to remain in the home. Finally, for the reasons noted above, the special needs doctrine will not support the decision to remain in the home in the absence of a court order, consent, or exigent circumstances. Therefore, the Gateses have alleged that the individual defendants violated the Fourth Amendment when the defendants did not leave the Gateses' house upon the request of Gary. Moving to the second step in the qualified immunity analysis, however, we note that the law in this area, particularly with respect to the special needs doctrine, was not clearly established in 2000, as described in the previous section. If the law was not clearly established at the time of the alleged constitutional violation, the individual defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. See Aucoin, 306 F.3d at 272. Thus, although the Gateses' rights may have been violated, summary judgment on this issue was appropriate.