Opinion ID: 490121
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Child Abuse Investigation Immunity

Text: 22 Nor are we persuaded that public officials are entitled to absolute immunity for the removal of children from the custody of their parents simply because they have received a complaint of child abuse. In determining whether a particular function is entitled to absolute immunity from suit under Sec. 1983, our role is to interpret Congress's intent in enacting that section in 1871, and in interpreting that intent, we are guided in large part by the common-law tradition. If the defendant official can point to a common-law counterpart to the privilege he asserts, we will normally uphold the privilege unless to do so would be incompatible with the history or purposes of Sec. 1983. See, e.g., Malley v. Briggs, 106 S.Ct. at 1095-96; City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc., 453 U.S. 247, 258-71, 101 S.Ct. 2748, 2755-62, 96 L.Ed.2d 616 (1981); Owen v. City of Independence, 445 U.S. 622, 637-38, 100 S.Ct. 1398, 1408-09, 63 L.Ed.2d 673 (1980), and cases cited therein. On the other hand, if the defendant cannot show that his actions would have been protected by absolute immunity at common law, he will have a most difficult task in seeking to persuade us that there are compelling policy considerations necessitating the grant of absolute immunity against a suit challenging those actions under Sec. 1983. See Malley v. Briggs, 106 S.Ct. at 1096-97; id. at 1097 (Since the statute on its face does not provide for any immunities, we would be going far to read into it an absolute immunity for conduct which was only accorded qualified immunity in 1871.) (emphasis in original). Absolute immunity would be accorded to such a defendant only if he were able to show that the function at issue is so sensitive as to require a total shield from liability, Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 812-13, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2735, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982), and that absolute immunity is essential if that function is to be properly performed, Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 506-07, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 2910-11, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978). The Court has rarely yielded to such entreaties and has denied absolute immunity to such important functions as the apprehension of felons, see Malley v. Briggs, 106 S.Ct. 1092, and the protection of national security, see Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). Since recognition of a qualified immunity, for reasons discussed in Part II.B. below, provides ample protection to all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law, Malley v. Briggs, 106 S.Ct. at 1096, qualified immunity has become the norm for the protection of official action, see Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. at 807, 102 S.Ct. at 2732, and we are unaware of any instance in which the Supreme Court or this Court has accorded absolute immunity in a Sec. 1983 action for the performance of a function that would have been granted a qualified immunity at common law. 23 Via and Harrison have not sustained their burden of showing that the seizure, without a court order, of children in order to pursue an investigation of alleged child abuse should be accorded absolute immunity. They have cited no authority--and we are aware of none--that such a seizure was accorded absolute immunity at common law. To the contrary, in general official action taken to prevent harm to another was protected only by a qualified privilege. See Restatement (Second) of Torts Sec. 156 (1965). 24 Nor have they succeeded in persuading us that the official investigation of alleged child abuse is a function so sensitive as to require a total shield from judicial review or that it cannot be performed properly unless all scrutiny is denied. While the investigation of such allegations is obviously vital to interests of the child and of society as a whole, it is not significantly more important a function in the overall scheme of things than the apprehension of felons or the protection of the nation's security, both of which have been denied absolute immunity. We also doubt that officials' fulfillment of their responsibility to investigate such complaints will be decreased by according them qualified rather than absolute immunity. 25 Further, we think the delicate nature of the circumstances surrounding such an investigation argues strongly for the granting of only a qualified immunity, in which the objective reasonableness of a removal of the child from the parents' custody would be subject to judicial review. The proper investigation of a child abuse complaint against a parent will normally require that the alleged victim be questioned outside the presence of the parents, and the inquiry into possible sexual abuse is often made difficult by the fact that the sexually abused child frequently will refuse at first to admit the fact of sexual molestation, see generally Myers v. Morris, 810 F.2d at 1459-61. The difficulty of pursuing the facts argues for leeway in the investigation; yet we cannot conclude that this justifies absolute immunity for any and every removal of children from their parents' custody following receipt of a complaint of such child abuse. Against the need for taking the children in order to pursue the investigation we must balance that most essential and basic aspect of familial privacy--the right of the family to remain together without the coercive interference of the awesome power of the state, Duchesne v. Sugarman, 566 F.2d 817, 825 (2d Cir.1977), and we think the strong emotional response provoked in anyone hearing an allegation of child abuse counsels against according an official absolute immunity for a taking in the wake of any and every such allegation, lest the official power itself become more likely to be abused. Nor could we rule that absolute immunity for taking the child is appropriate when done in response to a complaint that is credible or in circumstances that bespeak emergency, for the very introduction of such circumstantial qualifiers leads us out of the realm of absolute immunity, in which evaluation of motive and reasonableness is forbidden, and into the realm of qualified immunity. 26 In sum, we conclude that society as a whole will benefit more from according investigations of alleged child abuse only a qualified immunity and that the district court properly declined to uphold defendants' assertions of absolute immunity. B. Qualified Immunity 27 Both police officers and prosecutors enjoy a qualified immunity from suit under Sec. 1983 for investigative acts. See Malley v. Briggs, 106 S.Ct. at 1096; Taylor v. Kavanagh, 640 F.2d at 452. This immunity shields them both from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known, Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. at 818, 102 S.Ct. at 2738, and from suit, Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. at 526, 105 S.Ct. at 2816 (emphasis in original). In order to implement the protection from suit, the standard governing the availability of this defense has evolved into one of objective reasonableness, designed to permit the resolution of many insubstantial claims on summary judgment, Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. at 818, 102 S.Ct. at 2738. 28 There are a number of ways in which a defendant official may establish a defense of qualified immunity under Sec. 1983. First, purely as a matter of law the defense should be sustained if the court finds that it was not clear at the time of the official acts that the interest asserted by the plaintiff was protected by a federal statute or the Constitution. In Procunier v. Navarette, 434 U.S. 555, 98 S.Ct. 855, 55 L.Ed.2d 24 (1978), for example, prison officials were entitled to summary dismissals of claims that they violated a prisoner's rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments by interfering with his mail because the prisoner's mail rights under those amendments had not yet been declared. Id. at 565, 98 S.Ct. at 861. 29 Second, even if the interest asserted by the plaintiff was clearly of a type generally protected by federal law, the defendant is entitled to immunity as a matter of law if it was not clear at the time of the acts at issue that an exception did not permit those acts. Thus, in Mitchell v. Forsyth, the United States Attorney General was held entitled to qualified immunity from a suit seeking damages for a warrantless wiretap because, although an individual's right in general to be free of such warrantless intrusions was well established, there was, at the time of the challenged wiretap, a legitimate unresolved question as to the existence of a national-security exception permitting such a wiretap. See 472 U.S. at 531-35 & n. 12, 105 S.Ct. at 2518-20 & n. 12. 30 Third, even if the contours of the plaintiff's federal rights and the official's permissible actions were clearly delineated at the time of the acts complained of, the defendant may enjoy qualified immunity if it was objectively reasonable for him to believe that his acts did not violate those rights. See, e.g., Malley v. Briggs, 106 S.Ct. at 1096. Though this third route to exoneration, unlike the first two, has its principal focus on the particular facts of the case, it too may lead to summary judgment if the defendant adduce[s] sufficient facts [such] that no reasonable jury, looking at the evidence in the light most favorable to, and drawing all inferences most favorable to, the plaintiffs, could conclude that it was objectively unreasonable for the defendant[ ] to believe that he was acting in a fashion that did not clearly violate an established federally protected right. Halperin v. Kissinger, 807 F.2d 180, 189 (D.C.Cir.1986) (Scalia, J., sitting by designation). For example, it has long been clearly established that an arrest without probable cause is a constitutional violation. Nonetheless, the arresting officer is entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law if the undisputed facts and all permissible inferences favorable to the plaintiff show either (a) that it was objectively reasonable for the officer to believe that probable cause existed, or (b) that officers of reasonable competence could disagree on whether the probable cause test was met. See Malley v. Briggs, 106 S.Ct. at 1096; Myers v. Morris, 810 F.2d at 1454-57 (denial of summary judgment reversed when undisputed facts showed that the existence of probable cause for an arrest warrant was at least arguable); Floyd v. Farrell, 765 F.2d 1, 5-6 (1st Cir.1985) (same). 31 In the present case, we conclude that the record established the qualified immunity of Via and Harrison because it was objectively reasonable for them to believe they violated no federal rights when they seized the children. To be sure, in 1981, when the Robison children were taken into custody, it was clearly established that a parent's interest in the custody of his or her children was a constitutionally protected liberty of which he or she could not be deprived without due process, which would generally require a predeprivation hearing. See Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 649-58, 92 S.Ct. 1208, 1211-16, 31 L.Ed.2d 551 (1972). However, it was, and remains, equally well established that officials may temporarily deprive a parent of custody in emergency circumstances without parental consent or a prior court order. Duchesne v. Sugarman, 566 F.2d at 826 (emphasis in original); see also Lossman v. Pekarske, 707 F.2d 288, 291 (7th Cir.1983) (When a child's safety is threatened, that is justification enough for action first and hearing afterward.); Sims v. State Department of Public Welfare, 438 F.Supp. 1179, 1192 (S.D.Tex.1977) (three-judge court) (child can be taken into custody without a hearing if there exists an immediate threat to the safety of the child), rev'd on other issues sub nom. Moore v. Sims, 442 U.S. 415, 99 S.Ct. 2371, 60 L.Ed.2d 994 (1979); Newton v. Burgin, 363 F.Supp. 782 (W.D.N.C.1973) (three-judge court) (upholding statute providing that child may be taken into custody without a hearing if child is in danger or subject to serious neglect, or if it is in child's best interest), aff'd, 414 U.S. 1139, 94 S.Ct. 889, 39 L.Ed.2d 96 (1974). 32 In addition, it was and is clear that there is a sufficient emergency to warrant officials' taking custody without a prior hearing if a child is immediately threatened with harm or is bereft of adequate care or supervision. See Duchesne v. Sugarman, 566 F.2d at 825-26 (parent was in psychiatric ward and there was no one to take care of children). It is not necessary, for emergency circumstances to exist, that the child be harmed in the presence of the officials or that the alleged abuser be present at the time of the taking. Rather, it is sufficient if the officials have been presented with evidence of serious ongoing abuse and therefore have reason to fear imminent recurrence. See Lossman v. Pekarske, 707 F.2d at 291-92 (due process not violated by taking of custody without a prior hearing when witnesses had told officials that parent constantly beat and threatened to kill the children, and kept loaded guns in the house); cf. Myers v. Morris, 810 F.2d at 1461-63 (no clearly established violation of due process in summarily removing children when officials arguably had probable cause for arresting one or both parents for molestation of other children). Further, the officials need not defer action merely on account of a parent's protestations of innocence or promises of future protection if they have evidence that that parent has been unwilling or unable to assure the children's safety and well-being in the past. See Lossman v. Pekarske, 707 F.2d at 292 (It would have been irresponsible for [the officials] to have left the children in [the father's] custody whatever he might have told them.). 33 Within this framework, we think the record establishes beyond any doubt that there was an objectively reasonable basis for Via and Harrison to believe there existed a threat to the health and safety of the Robison children. Two of Julia's schoolmates had reported Julia's descriptions of ongoing sexual abuse by her father; at least one had reported physical abuse of Michael at the hands of his stepfather. The Robison children's own reactions when first approached by the defendants tended to confirm these allegations, as Julia instantly began to cry and Michael spontaneously made a statement strongly implicating his stepfather and expressing fear of receiving a beating. 34 The belief that the danger was of emergency proportions was likewise objectively reasonable. The spontaneous reactions of the children suggested that they feared immediate reprisal. Further, Robison's own reaction to defendants' inquiries, defending her husband and taking the position that defendants must be mistaken, seriously diminished any confidence that Robison would protect the children from Mr. Robison until a court order could be obtained. And, indeed, Michael's cry that he would be beaten if his stepfather were taken away may have suggested that he feared violence from Robison herself. 35 Given the undisputed evidence of record, and even drawing all permissible inferences from it in favor of Robison, we conclude that no rational juror could find it not objectively reasonable for Via and Harrison to believe that Julia was the object of ongoing sexual abuse, that Michael was the object of beatings, and that Robison could not be relied on to protect the children from further harm during the time it would take to procure a court order. Accordingly, Via and Harrison enjoyed qualified immunity from Robison's due process claims for the deprivation of custody of her children. 36 We reject the district court's view that Via and Harrison were not entitled to qualified immunity because their taking of the children violated state statutes--i.e., because the children assertedly were not in immediate danger within the meaning of 33 V.S.A. Sec. 639(3) and were not taken directly to the juvenile court as required under 33 V.S.A. Sec. 640. First, even if the phrase immediate danger in the Vermont statute sets a standard different from the emergency standard under the due process clause as we have described it, a violation of state law neither gives Robison a Sec. 1983 claim nor deprives defendants of the defense of qualified immunity to a proper Sec. 1983 claim. See, e.g., Davis v. Scherer, 468 U.S. 183, 194-96, 104 S.Ct. 3012, 3019-20, 82 L.Ed.2d 139 (1984); Deane v. Dunbar, 777 F.2d 871, 876 (2d Cir.1985); Pollnow v. Glennon, 757 F.2d 496, 501 (2d Cir.1985). Federal constitutional standards rather than state statutes define the requirements of procedural due process. See Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 540-41, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 1492-93, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985). Since the taking of the children was undeniably objectively reasonable under the pertinent federal standards, Via and Harrison were entitled to summary judgment dismissing Robison's Sec. 1983 claim based on that taking. 37