Opinion ID: 498211
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Quasi-Prosecutorial Immunity for Seeking and Obtaining Court Order in Child Dependency Proceeding

Text: 24 Our recent decision in Meyers v. Contra Costa County Dep't of Social Services, 812 F.2d 1154 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 98, 98 L.Ed.2d 59 (1987) addressed the issue of immunity for government employees whose duties include the initiation and pursuit of dependency petitions in cases of suspected child abuse or neglect. In Meyers, a CPS worker had been instrumental in the initiation and pursuit of court proceedings during which the court had deprived Meyers of custody over his children. Meyers later sued the CPS worker for damages under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, alleging facts similar to those before the court in this case. Meyers alleged that the CPS worker had engaged in a course of conduct designed to separate Meyers from his children by supervising an investigation and filing verified dependency petitions with the juvenile court ... requesting that the minor children be declared dependents of the juvenile court and removed from the custody of their father. Id. at 1156. 25 On appeal, this Court affirmed the district court's dismissal of the action, holding that social workers are entitled to absolute immunity in performing quasi-prosecutorial functions connected with the initiation and pursuit of child dependency proceedings. Id. at 1157. We explained that prosecutorial immunity is essential if prosecutors are to be able independently to perform their public duties free from fear that their actions might give rise to civil liability. Id. at 1156. The immunity must be absolute, rather than merely qualified, to permit prosecutors to perform their duties without fear of even the threat of section 1983 litigation. Id. (citing Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 424-26, 96 S.Ct. 984, 992-93, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976)). For the same reasons, child services workers must be protected by absolute immunity: 26 Although child services workers do not initiate criminal proceedings, their responsibility for bringing dependency proceedings, and their responsibility to exercise independent judgment in determining when to bring such proceedings, is not very different from the responsibility of a criminal prosecutor. The social worker must make a quick decision based on perhaps incomplete information as to whether to commence investigations and initiate proceedings against parents who may have abused their children. The social worker's independence, like that of a prosecutor, would be compromised were the social worker constantly in fear that a mistake could result in a time-consuming and financially devastating civil suit. We therefore hold that social workers are entitled to absolute immunity in performing quasi-prosecutorial functions connected with the initiation and pursuit of child dependency proceedings. 27 Id. at 1157. Accord Mazor v. Shelton, 637 F.Supp. 330, 334-35 (N.D.Cal.1986). 28 The holding in Meyers is consistent with the holdings of other courts. See, e.g., Kurzawa v. Mueller, 732 F.2d 1456, 1458 (6th Cir.1984) (employees of state department of social services who were instrumental in removing child from plaintiffs' home and in placing child in foster homes enjoyed absolute immunity from liability for damages under section 1983); Mazor, 637 F.Supp. at 334-35 (county social worker who took custody of plaintiff's son and arranged for his temporary placement in reliance on information that plaintiff was incapable of caring for him enjoyed absolute immunity from damages under section 1983) ([T]he role of a social worker in the care of minors is sufficiently analogous to the role of a prosecutor to warrant absolute immunity.); Hennessey v. State of Washington, Dep't of Social and Health Services, 627 F.Supp. 137, 140 (E.D.Wash.1985) (DSHS caseworker who allegedly divulged false and misleading information to county prosecutor, prompting initiation of child dependency proceedings, enjoyed absolute immunity from liability for damages under section 1983); Pepper v. Alexander, 599 F.Supp. 523, 526-27 (D.N.M.1984) (employees of state department of human services who allegedly acted in bad faith in instituting proceeding to deprive plaintiff of parental rights enjoyed absolute immunity from liability for damages under section 1983); Whelehan v. County of Monroe, 558 F.Supp. 1093, 1098 (W.D.N.Y.1983) (agents of county department of social services who, according to plaintiffs, negligently investigated charges of child abuse, instituted groundless court proceeding, and obtained ex parte orders by supplying court with false and misleading information enjoyed absolute immunity from liability for damages under section 1983) ([T]he roles of the employees of the Department are sufficiently like the role of a prosecutor to warrant coverage by absolute immunity....). 29 Coverdell relies principally on Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986), for the proposition that McLaughlin enjoys only qualified, rather than absolute, immunity. Coverdell's reliance is misplaced. The issue in Malley was the degree of immunity to be accorded a police officer in an action for damages under section 1983, when the officer allegedly caused plaintiff to be arrested unconstitutionally by presenting a warrant application that failed to establish probable cause. The officer argued that his action in seeking an arrest warrant was analogous to the action of a prosecutor in seeking an indictment. Accordingly, argued the officer, he enjoyed the same absolute immunity that is enjoyed by the prosecutor. 106 S.Ct. at 1096-97. 30 The Court rejected the analogy, explaining that the officer's act in applying for a warrant, while a vital part of the administration of criminal justice, is further removed from the judicial phase of criminal proceedings than the act of a prosecutor in seeking an indictment. Id. at 1097. The Court held that the officer was entitled to qualified, not absolute, immunity. 31 In Meyers, we determined that the functions of a CPS worker in initiating and pursuing child dependency proceedings are analogous to the functions of the prosecutor in initiating and prosecuting criminal cases. Because McLaughlin was performing a prosecutorial function, Malley's analysis concerning a police officer's immunity is inapplicable. 32 The record shows that McLaughlin sought and obtained a court order directing the immediate apprehension of Christina. In so doing, McLaughlin was performing quasi-prosecutorial functions connected with the initiation and pursuit of child dependency proceedings. Meyers, 812 F.2d at 1157. Her actions were not only within the scope of her authority under Washington law, they may well have been required. See Wash.Rev.Code Ann. Secs. 26.44.030-.050 (1986 & Supp.1987) (imposing duties on DSHS to investigate possible occurrences of child abuse or neglect, to report same to law enforcement agency and, where necessary, to refer such report to the court); In re Welfare of Frederiksen, 25 Wash.App. 726, 610 P.2d 371, 375 (1979), review denied, 94 Wash. 2d 1002 (1980) (where mother of newborn girl was incapable of understanding and meeting needs of her children and had already damaged her two older children by neglect and failure to meet their needs, DSHS performed its statutory duty of intervening to protect [the child's] right to conditions of minimal nurture, health and safety when DSHS removed the child from its mother at birth) (emphasis added). 33 Because McLaughlin's actions in seeking and obtaining a court order were within the scope of her statutory authority as a quasi-prosecutor, she is entitled to absolute immunity from civil liability for her quasi-prosecutorial conduct. 34