Opinion ID: 62905
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Governmental Liability

Text: The Gateses have also sued TDPRS and Fort Bend as governmental entities that were allegedly responsible for the violation of the Gateses' rights. Although the individual defendants have been dismissed on the basis of qualified immunity, governmental entities are not entitled to qualified immunity. See Owen v. City of Independence, 445 U.S. 622, 657, 100 S.Ct. 1398, 63 L.Ed.2d 673 (1980). Therefore, we must determine whether TDPRS and Fort Bend violated the Gateses' constitutional rights. Because there was no constitutional violation in seizing the Gates children from their home, the only violations at issue are the entry into the Gateses' house and the seizure of Travis and Alexis from their schools. It is well established that governmental liability under § 1983 must be premised on a government policy or custom that causes the alleged constitutional deprivation. Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 694, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). A policy may be a policy statement, ordinance, regulation, or decision that is officially adopted and promulgated by the government's lawmaking officers or by an official to whom the lawmakers have delegated policy-making authority. Burge v. St. Tammany Parish, 336 F.3d 363, 369 (5th Cir.2003). A custom is shown by evidence of a persistent, widespread practice of government officials or employees, which, although not authorized by officially adopted and promulgated policy, is so common and well settled as to constitute a custom that fairly represents government policy. Id. The Gateses have not identified any officially adopted policy that they claim is unconstitutional; therefore, we look for a custom that is unconstitutional. The Gateses claim that TDPRS has an unconstitutional practice of calling Fort Bend deputies in order to force their way in to the homes of those they are investigating and that Fort Bend is a willing participant in these constitutional violations. As evidence, the Gateses point to the testimony of several TDPRS employees that it is a common practice to call the police to assist them in entering a house for purposes of investigating claims of child abuse. What is lacking, however, is any evidence that the Fort Bend deputies use unconstitutional methods to gain entry into the homes. While the presence of a police officer might encourage a parent to consent to entry, the presence of a police officer alone is not sufficient to invalidate any otherwise voluntary consent. Also, the failure to obtain a court order prior to entering the home is not actionable. Although there was testimony from several TDPRS employees that they never obtain court orders before removing children from their homes, there was a lack of corresponding evidence that those prior entries and removals were not made on the basis of parental consent or exigent circumstances. Therefore, the only case in which we can say with certainty that a constitutional violation may have occurred is the present one  when the TDPRS employees and Fort Bend deputies allegedly entered the Gateses' home without consent. However, [i]solated violations are not the persistent, often repeated constant violations that constitute custom and policy as required for municipal section 1983 liability. Campbell v. City of San Antonio, 43 F.3d 973, 977 (5th Cir.1995) (internal quotation marks omitted). Because it is permissible in some circumstances to remove a child from his home without a court order, the Gateses needed to present evidence that the prior removals were not based on consent or exigency before an unconstitutional custom can be shown. Therefore, the Gateses have failed to present evidence of a policy or custom that caused their alleged constitutional deprivation with respect to the entry into their home. The analysis regarding the seizure of Travis and Alexis from their schools is similar. The Gateses present no evidence that children were routinely or customarily removed from school in the absence of a court order or a reasonable belief of abuse. Thus, we are left with two instances of unconstitutional conduct. We conclude that this is not sufficient to support a finding that TDPRS customarily and unconstitutionally seized children from their schools in order to interview them at a central location. Therefore, the Gateses' claim fails on this count as well.