Opinion ID: 2632200
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Specific Involvement of Counselor Perry and Superintendent Derrick

Text: {20} Notwithstanding the amount of analysis devoted by the Court of Appeals to the question of whether a strip-to-undergarments search conducted without individualized suspicion violates clearly established law, its qualified immunity rulings actually depended on an analysis of the specific involvement of Superintendent Derrick and Counselor Perry in the two searches. According to the Court of Appeals, Counselor Perry was qualifiedly immune from liability for both searches because there was insufficient evidence linking his actions to the searches. See Kennedy, 1998-NMCA-051, ¶ 44, 124 N.M. 764, 955 P.2d 693. Superintendent Derrick's failure to train school employees that a strip-to-nude search could not be conducted without individualized reasonable suspicion subjected him to liability for the search of Crystal. See id. ¶ 42. He was qualifiedly immune from liability for the search of Randy, however, because Randy was not present when the ring was declared missing, and, the Court concluded, Superintendent Derrick had no duty to train school personnel not to search patently innocent students. Id. ¶ 46. We hold that in immunizing Counselor Perry and Superintendent Derrick for their involvement in the search of Randy Ford, the Court of Appeals improperly reweighed the evidence. {21} A reviewing court may not reweigh evidence or substitute its judgment for that of the factfinder. See State v. Clifford, 117 N.M. 508, 512, 873 P.2d 254, 258 (1994). In the present case, the jury heard evidence suggesting that Counselor Perry conferred with Principal Warren prior to the search, threatened the students with a strip search, and ignored the children's protests. Evidence also suggested that Superintendent Derrick failed to enunciate a policy that would protect the students from searches such as these. Based on this evidence the jury determined that both Counselor Perry and Superintendent Derrick had proximately caused a violation of the Plaintiffs' constitutional rights. The Court of Appeals analyzed the same evidence upon which the jury had relied, but came to opposite conclusions. The Court determined that the evidence against Counselor Perry is not sufficient to impose liability. See Kennedy, 1998-NMCA-051, ¶ 44, 124 N.M. 764, 955 P.2d 693. With regard to Superintendent Derrick, the Court held that he enjoys qualified immunity because he was out of town at the time of the search and had no direct involvement in it. See id. ¶ 46. We hold that in coming to these conclusions, the Court of Appeals improperly re-evaluated the evidence. {22} Qualified immunity requires an inquiry into the extent to which the right allegedly violated is clearly established in light of pre-existing law. See Romero, 119 N.M. at 692, 895 P.2d at 214; Harlow, 457 U.S. at 816, 102 S.Ct. 2727; Anderson, 483 U.S. at 639, 107 S.Ct. 3034. This inquiry is legal in nature. See Carrillo v. Rostro, 114 N.M. 607, 615, 845 P.2d 130, 138 (1992). Here, the Court of Appeals' qualified immunity holding rested upon its own interpretation of the facts, rather than upon legal analysis. Thus, apart from constituting an improper reweighing of the evidence, the Court's attempt to causally separate Counselor Perry and Superintendent Derrick from the searches has no bearing on the legal question of whether the right allegedly violated is clearly established. We reverse the Court of Appeals' holding that Counselor Perry and Superintendent Derrick are entitled to qualified immunity.