Opinion ID: 3065289
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the removal of s.g. and k.g. from sarah’s

Text: CUSTODY The Greenes also argue that their constitutional rights were violated because S.G. and K.G. were removed from Sarah’s custody pursuant to a Juvenile Court order triggered by an intentional misrepresentation by Camreta. In an affidavit provided to the Juvenile Court, Camreta stated that “[Sarah] indicated the family had no alternate resources for either the children or Nimrod to ensure there would be no contact.” The Greenes maintain that this representation was materially false, contending that (1) Sarah had agreed to Camreta’s proposed “safety plan,” under which Nimrod would not have any unsupervised contact with his daughters; and (2) Sarah told Camreta that, even though “it would be significantly detrimental to [the] family finances,” she had secured “a place where [Nimrod] could stay so that he would have no contact with [S.G. and K.G.].” Camreta argues that he is entitled to absolute quasi-judicial immunity for removing the children from the Greene home. 16332 GREENE v. CAMRETA A recent en banc decision of this court compels the opposite conclusion. [26] In Beltran v. Santa Clara County, 514 F.3d 906 (9th Cir. 2008) (en banc), we held: Parties to section 1983 suits are generally entitled only to immunities that existed at common law. We have therefore granted state actors absolute immunity only for those functions that were critical to the judicial process itself, such as initiating a prosecution. It follows that social workers have absolute immunity when they make discretionary, quasi- prosecutorial decisions to institute court dependency proceedings to take custody away from parents. But they are not entitled to absolute immunity from claims that they fabricated evidence during an investigation or made false statements in a dependency petition affidavit that they signed under penalty of perjury, because such actions aren’t similar to discretionary decisions about whether to prosecute. A prosecutor doesn’t have absolute immunity if he fabricates evidence during a preliminary investigation, before he could properly claim to be acting as an advocate, or makes false statements in a sworn affidavit in support of an application for an arrest warrant. Furthermore, as prosecutors and others investigating criminal matters have no absolute immunity for their investigatory conduct, a fortiori, social workers conducting investigations have no such immunity. Id. at 908-09 (internal citations and quotations omitted). According to the Greenes, Camreta falsely represented that he had been told the family lacked the financial resources to comply with the safety plan, even though Sarah in fact gave repeated assurances that her husband would live elsewhere GREENE v. CAMRETA 16333 and have no contact with her daughters. Assuming, as we must, that Sarah’s version of events is true, under Beltran such a misrepresentation falls outside the scope of the absolute immunity afforded caseworkers. Camreta relies on our pre-Beltran decision in Mabe v. San Bernardino County Department of Public Social Services, 237 F.3d 1101 (9th Cir. 2001), for the proposition that “social workers enjoy absolute, quasi-judicial immunity when making post-adjudication custody decisions pursuant to a valid court order.” Id. at 1109 (internal quotation omitted). Mabe provides no support for Camreta’s position in this case for two reasons. First, the quoted passage refers specifically to post-adjudication conduct, whereas the Greenes allege that Camreta misrepresented the fruits of his investigation before the Juvenile Court’s adjudication of the protective custody order. Second, Mabe itself distinguished the presentation of false evidence from other, discretionary decisions made by caseworkers during a child abuse investigation: Mabe held that “social workers are entitled to absolute immunity for the initiation and pursuit of dependency proceedings,” as well as any “post-adjudication custody decisions,” but noted that plaintiff’s allegations of false evidence in that case failed only “because [plaintiff] failed to offer any evidence of false or perjured testimony” by the caseworker. Id. [27] Camreta is not entitled to qualified immunity as to the false representation claim, as the Greenes’ right to be free from judicial deception in securing the removal order was clearly established at the time of Camreta’s alleged misrepresentations to the court. We have repeatedly held that “[a] seizure conducted pursuant to a warrant obtained by judicial deception violates the Fourth Amendment.” Whitaker v. Garcetti, 486 F.3d 572, 581 (9th Cir. 2007) (citing Butler v. Elle, 281 F.3d 1014, 1024 (9th Cir. 2002) (per curiam)). “To support a § 1983 claim of judicial deception, a plaintiff must show that the defendant deliberately or recklessly made false statements or omissions that were material to the finding of 16334 GREENE v. CAMRETA probable cause.” KRL v. Moore, 384 F.3d 1105, 1117 (9th Cir. 2004), citing Galbraith v. County of Santa Clara, 307 F.3d 1119, 1126 (9th Cir. 2002). Whether a false statement was “material” to the finding of probable cause is a question of law for the reviewing court. KRL, 384 F.3d at 1117; Butler, 281 F.3d at 1024. More specifically, the right to be free from deception in the presentation of evidence during a protective custody proceeding was clearly established at the time Camreta filed his affidavit with the Juvenile Court. In Devereaux v. Perez, 218 F.3d 1045 (9th Cir. 2000), for example, we held in the context of a child abuse proceeding that “the constitutional right to be free from the knowing presentation of false or perjured evidence” is clearly established. Id. at 1055-56. Even earlier, we stated emphatically that “if an officer submitted an affidavit that contained statements he knew to be false or would have known were false had he not recklessly disregarded the truth, . . . he cannot be said to have acted in an objectively reasonable manner, and the shield of qualified immunity is lost.” Hervey v. Estes, 65 F.3d 784, 788 (9th Cir. 1995) (internal quotations and citation omitted); see also Butler, 281 F.3d at 1024; Whitaker, 486 F.3d at 582 (concluding that “the contours of the Fourth Amendment right against judicial deception” were clearly established by 1996). See also Snell v. Tunnell, 920 F.2d 673 (10th Cir. 1990) (holding social workers who deliberately fabricated evidence of child sexual abuse to secure a removal order not entitled to qualified immunity). [28] The Greenes have presented proof, in the form of Sarah’s affidavit and deposition testimony, that Camreta included false statements in his affidavit requesting a protective custody order. According to Sarah, she told Camreta that there was a place for Nimrod to stay so that he would not have any contact with their daughters. Camreta’s sworn affidavit states precisely the opposite, claiming that Sarah indicated the family lacked the financial resources to secure alternate housing for Nimrod. These conflicting accounts of GREENE v. CAMRETA 16335 the same conversation create a genuine factual dispute as to whether Camreta intentionally or recklessly misrepresented his conversations with Sarah in an effort to persuade the court to remove the children from her custody.20 [29] The alleged misrepresentation was “material” to the granting of the removal order if the Juvenile Court would have declined to issue the order had Camreta been truthful. See Butler, 281 F.3d at 1026. The sole evidence presented against Sarah’s continued custody of her daughters consisted of Camreta’s contested assertion that she was unwilling or unable to prevent Nimrod from having contact with her daughters.21 There was no basis for the Juvenile Court to remove S.G. and K.G. from Sarah’s custody, unless Sarah was failing to take the requisite steps to protect her daughters from Nimrod. “The government may not, consistent with the Constitution, interpose itself between a fit parent and her children simply because of the conduct — real or imagined — of the other parent.” Wallis, 202 F.3d at 1142 n.14. Camreta’s alleged misrepresentation provided crucial evidence for determining whether the girls remained in sufficient danger in Sarah’s custody to warrant a protective custody order. In all likelihood, the Juvenile Court would not have issued its order absent Camreta’s allegation that Sarah was unable to provide alternate housing for Nimrod. 20 If Camreta did not misrepresent what Sarah told him, or if he negligently misrepresented her statements, his conduct did not violate the Constitution. But whether either is the case is a question for the trier of fact, not for this court. See Butler, 281 F.3d at 1024. 21 This issue is complicated by the fact that the record does not contain any evidence regarding Sarah’s response to Camreta’s claims at the Juvenile Court hearing. The record indicates that Sarah was present and represented by counsel, and she presumably had an opportunity to rebut Camreta’s assertions. Transcripts from the Juvenile Court hearing were not included in the district court record, so it is impossible to know whether or how Sarah responded to Camreta’s version of the events at issue. If Sarah essentially ratified Camreta’s account of their March 7 conversation at the hearing, Sarah’s claim that Camreta intentionally misrepresented her statements to the Juvenile Court would be refuted. 16336 GREENE v. CAMRETA [30] Because Camreta’s alleged misrepresentation in support of his request for a protective custody order — again, assuming it occurred — violated the Greenes’ clearly established rights, he is not entitled to qualified immunity. The district court’s grant of summary judgment to Camreta on the Greenes’ Fourteenth Amendment claims stemming from the removal order is therefore reversed.