Opinion ID: 728114
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Qualified Immunity on the Constitutional Claims

Text: 16 We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, construing all inferences from the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587-88, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). On a motion based on qualified immunity, summary judgment is not appropriate if the plaintiff can present a version of the facts that is supported by the evidence and under which defendants would not be entitled to qualified immunity. Hall v. Ryan, 957 F.2d 402, 404 (7th Cir.1992). The plaintiff has a threshold pleading obligation of demonstrating that the infringed constitutional right was clearly established at the time of the violation. See Siegert v. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226, 232, 111 S.Ct. 1789, 1793, 114 L.Ed.2d 277 (1991). 17 On this record, the strongest version of the facts which Barichello could present is that the Elgin staff implemented a policy in May 1990 suspending further initiation of the court proceedings necessary to approve UST patients for passes. We conclude that even under this scenario, Barichello has not met his threshold obligation of demonstrating a violation of any clearly established constitutional right. 18 Count I alleges that the Elgin staff have treated UST patients and civil patients disparately with respect to their abilities to obtain passes, invoking the equal protection and due process holdings of Jackson v. Indiana, 406 U.S. 715, 92 S.Ct. 1845, 32 L.Ed.2d 435 (1972). Jackson concerned a UST patient who was involuntarily committed to a state mental hospital until sane. The equal protection portion of the case held that the state had not justified applying a more stringent standard of release [for UST patients] than those generally applicable to civil patients. Id. at 730, 92 S.Ct. at 1854. Jackson only concerns standards of release. There is no language in Jackson suggesting that UST patients have a right to the same treatment or conditions of confinement as civil patients. See Jackson, at 730-731 n. 9, 92 S.Ct. at 1854 n. 9 (stating that no disparity in treatment had been demonstrated and therefore was not at issue). 19 We found many cases following Jackson which discuss equal protection in the context of a patient's release. See, e.g., Foucha v. Louisiana, 504 U.S. 71, 85, 112 S.Ct. 1780, 1788, 118 L.Ed.2d 437 (1992). We have found no case, however, holding that the state is powerless to distinguish between criminal and civil patients in matters of treatment. While we do not doubt the state could justify many treatment distinctions including different grounds pass policies, see, e.g., Heller v. Doe by Doe, 509 U.S. 312, 318, 113 S.Ct. 2637, 2642, 125 L.Ed.2d 257 (1993), it is sufficient for the purposes of qualified immunity to conclude that no relevant constitutional right was clearly established. 20 Counts II through IV allege that Elgin staff deprived Barichello of a liberty interest without due process of law, in violation of Youngberg v. Romeo, 457 U.S. 307, 102 S.Ct. 2452, 73 L.Ed.2d 28 (1982). In balancing a mental patient's liberty interests against the relevant state interests, court review is limited to mak[ing] certain that professional judgment in fact was exercised. Youngberg, at 321, 102 S.Ct. at 2461. 21 Count II alleges that Barichello has a fundamental right to freedom of bodily movement, because Barichello has a liberty interest in rehabilitative treatment. Youngberg only held, however, that mental patients had liberty interests in safety and freedom from bodily restraint. Youngberg, at 319, 102 S.Ct. at 2460. In Youngberg, the Court expressly declined to address whether UST patients had a general liberty interest in their training, treatment, or rehabilitation, because a State necessarily has considerable discretion in determining the nature and scope of its responsibilities. Id. at 317, 102 S.Ct. at 2459; see also id. at 318, 102 S.Ct. at 2459 (this case does not present the difficult question whether ... [a mental patient] has some general constitutional right to training per se). In addressing a qualified immunity defense, we cannot expand liberty interests beyond their clear demarcations. 22 Barichello also contends that the defendants' actions violated his liberty interest against unreasonable restraints. We do not think that the elimination of the pass program is sufficiently analogous to Youngberg 's concept of restraint to conclude that a fundamental right to the passes was clearly established. The failure to provide a grounds pass does not impinge bodily integrity, nor has there been any argument that it endangers patient safety. Cf. Youngberg, at 310-311, 102 S.Ct. at 2455 (use of shackles ... for prolonged periods on a routine basis); Washington v. Harper, 494 U.S. 210, 221, 110 S.Ct. 1028, 1036, 108 L.Ed.2d 178 (unwanted administration of antipsychotic drugs); Lojuk v. Quandt, 706 F.2d 1456, 1465 (7th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1067, 106 S.Ct. 822, 88 L.Ed.2d 795 (1986) (involuntary electroshock therapy). We conclude that the denial of a pass is not in this class of restraint and does not violate a clearly established right. 23 Count III alleges that Barichello has a liberty interest in receiving care in the least restrictive environment pursuant to an individualized services plan under 405 ILCS 5/2-102(a). In 1992, a panel of this court held that an amendment to the UST provisions in the Illinois Criminal Code specifically abrogated the rights of UST patients to treatment in the least restrictive environment. Maust v. Headley, 959 F.2d 644, 648 (7th Cir.1992), overruling Johnson by Johnson v. Brelje, 701 F.2d 1201 (7th Cir.1983). Although Maust was not law at the time of the alleged infraction by the Elgin staff, the impact of the legislative amendments was sufficiently clear when enacted to place the continuing existence of the liberty interest in doubt. 24 Count IV alleges that Barichello has a liberty interest under 405 ILCS 5/2-100(b), which states [a] person with a known or suspected mental illness or developmental disability shall not be denied mental health or developmental services because of ... criminal record unrelated to present dangerousness. Citing Hewitt v. Helms, 459 U.S. 460, 471-472, 103 S.Ct. 864, 871-872, 74 L.Ed.2d 675 (1983), Barichello contends that the use of shall in the statute creates a liberty interest. It is no longer clear, however, that the presence of certain imperative words is sufficient to create a liberty interest. See Sandin v. Conner, --- U.S. ----, ----, 115 S.Ct. 2293, 2299, 132 L.Ed.2d 418 (replacing Hewitt test with an examination of the nature of the deprivation); see also Whitford v. Boglino, 63 F.3d 527, 531, n. 4 (7th Cir.1995) (suggesting that Sandin test may be limited to prisoners). Even looking at the explicitly mandatory language, the statute lacks the specified substantive predicates to limit discretion necessary to create a liberty interest. See Kentucky Dept. of Corrections v. Thompson, 490 U.S. 454, 463, 109 S.Ct. 1904, 1910, 104 L.Ed.2d 506 (1989) (internal punctuation omitted). 25 The final constitutional claim is that the elimination of the pass program constituted punishment without an adjudication of guilt, in violation of Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979). We do not think that it was clearly established in 1990 that elimination of the pass program would constitute punishment. See Shelby County Jail Inmates v. Westlake, 798 F.2d 1085, 1089 (7th Cir.1986) (reasonable restrictions on outdoor recreation do not constitute punishment). Barichello does not argue that elimination of the passes has traditionally been regarded as punishment, or that it served a punitive purpose. See Bell, at 537-538, 99 S.Ct. at 1873-1874, quoting Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez, 372 U.S. 144, 168-169, 83 S.Ct. 554, 567-568, 9 L.Ed.2d 644 (1963). Similarly, Barichello does not attribute a punitive scienter to the Elgin medical staff. Cf. Salazar v. City of Chicago, 940 F.2d 233, 239 (7th Cir.1991) (intent is the linchpin of punishment). 26 Barichello has failed to meet his threshold burden of demonstrating that any of the constitutional rights he has asserted were clearly established in 1990. Accordingly, the defendants were entitled to qualified immunity, and dismissal of the claims for monetary damages was proper.