Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Filed: Patrick Fisher
Filed: Patrick Fisher
Filed: Patrick Fisher
SEP 24 1998
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
JEANNIE JAMES,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
GRAND LAKE MENTAL HEALTH CENTER,
INC.; PAULA VELLA, individually and in her
capacity as employee of Grand Lake Mental Health
Center, Inc.; SIOUX GRENINGER, individually
and in her official capacity as a police officer of
the City of Pryor, Oklahoma; RONNIE BATT,
individually and in his official capacity as a police
officer of the City of Pryor, Oklahoma; TRENT
HUMPHREY, individually and in his official
capacity as a police officer of the City of Pryor,
Oklahoma; CITY OF PRYOR; BAPTIST
HEALTHCARE CORPORATION, d/b/a Mayes
County Medical Center; CHRISTOPHER
DELONG, Dr., sued as Dr. Christopher Delong,
D.O., individually and in his capacity as employee
of Mayes County Medical Center; K.W.
SOUTHERN, Dr., sued as Dr. K.W. Southern,
D.O., individually and in his capacity as employee
of Eastern State Hospital, Vinita, Oklahoma; JOE
FERMO, Dr., sued as Dr. Joe Fermo, M.D.,
individually and in his capacity as employee of
Eastern States Hospital, Vinita, Oklahoma,
Defendants-Appellees.
No. 97-5157
(N.D. Okla.)
(D.Ct. No. 96-CV-631-C)
Jeannie James appeals the district courts adverse rulings on her 28 U.S.C.
1983 claims against nine defendants stemming from her involuntary committal
to a state mental hospital. We exercise jurisdiction over her appeal pursuant to 28
U.S.C. 1291 and affirm.
This order and judgment is not binding precedent except under the doctrines of
law of the case, res judicata and collateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the
citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order and judgment may be cited under
the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
*
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Ms. Vella went to the hospital separately and dropped off a completed form
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doctor, defendant K.W. Southern. Dr. Southern also certified that Ms. James
should be admitted pursuant to the emergency detention statute. Dr. Southern
filled out a petition for an emergency detention order and had it filed in state
court on July 14, 1995.
Ms. James remained at Eastern State until July 18, 1995, when she was
discharged pursuant to a court order, following an examination by a courtappointed commissioner.
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On July 3, 1997, the district court dismissed the claims against Ms. Vella
and Grand Lake based on its finding that Ms. Vella and Grand Lake were not
state actors. In making its decision, the district court relied on Pino v. Higgs,
75 F.3d 1461, 1465 (10th Cir. 1996), in which this court held a private therapist
was not a state actor in circumstances similar to this case. The district court
acted in response to a Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction,
or in the Alternative, Motion for Summary Judgment. It is not clear from the
Ms. James says Ms. Vellas decision to commit her was intended as punishment.
Ms. Vella claims she was concerned because Ms. James appeared to be unable to take
precautions to protect herself from her abusive husband. Resolution of this question is
immaterial to our decision in this case because the motives underlying Ms. Vellas actions
are irrelevant to whether she was a state actor.
1
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order whether the district court based its decision on the motion to dismiss or the
motion for summary judgment. Because the district court discussed facts not in
the complaint, we will assume it was a grant of summary judgment.
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to
any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
U.S. Const. amend. XIV, 1. This Amendment embodies three protections:
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At the time of the incident in question, Ms. Vella was a private therapist
working for a private mental health facility; in other words, she was a private
individual. In order to hold a private individual liable under 1983 for a
constitutional violation requiring state action, a plaintiff must show ... that the
individuals conduct is fairly attributable to the State. Pino 75 F.3d at 1465
(quoting Lugar, 457 U.S. at 937).
In Pino, a private therapist notified the police that the plaintiff in that case
was acting irrationally and might need to be held for an emergency mental health
evaluation. Pino, 75 F.3d at 1463-64. The plaintiff in that case was taken by the
police to a hospital for evaluation and ultimately admitted against her will. Id.
After her release, the plaintiff filed a 1983 claim against the therapist, among
others, for violating her Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Id. at 146465. Finding the therapists conduct did not rise to the level of state action and the
therapist did not exercise some right or privilege or act under a rule of
conduct created by state law, this court ruled the therapist was not liable under
1983. Id. at 1465.
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We do not believe Ms. James can get past the first condition. As noted
above, this Circuit has found that a private therapist in a similar case did not
exercise some right or privilege or act under a rule of conduct created by state
law by calling the police and advising them to detain a woman for an emergency
detention evaluation. Pino, 75 F.3d at 1465. Although the police policy of
declining to exercise independent judgment adds a new element, it does not
change the result. Because the policy was created by the City, not the State, it
only implicates the aspect of the first condition involving a rule of conduct
imposed by a person for whom the State is responsible. Therefore, the question
we must resolve is whether the Citys policy created a rule of conduct,
distinguishing this case from our decision in Pino.
The Supreme Court has made it clear that the rule of conduct must dictate
the result of the private individuals decision to elevate the individual to a state
actor. See Blum v. Yaretsky, 457 U.S. 991, 1009 (1982) (The decisions made by
the [defendant] ... were framed in accordance with professional canons of ethics,
rather than dictated by any rule of conduct imposed by the State.); Rendell-Baker
v. Kohn, 457 U.S. 830, 844 (1982) (White, J., concurring) (For me, the critical
factor is the absence of any allegation that the employment decision was itself
based upon some rule of conduct or policy put forth by the State.). There is no
suggestion here that Ms. Vellas decision to send Ms. James for an emergency
detention evaluation was dictated by or based on the Citys policy of not
questioning emergency detention requests by Grand Lake authorities. In fact, the
allegation is that the decision was based on a personal vindictiveness. The Citys
policy may have made it easier for Ms. Vella to subject Ms. James to detention,
but it certainly did not direct her decision in any way.
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Our decision in Pino controls this claim. Ms. Vella did not exercise some
right or privilege or act under a rule of conduct created by state law. Pino, 75
F.3d at 1465. We affirm the district courts dismissal of the claim against Ms.
Vella.
For the same reasons, Grand Lake is not a state actor for 1983 purposes.
We affirm the district courts dismissal of the claim against Grand Lake.
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The claims against Officers Greninger and Humphrey and the City of Pryor
On July 10, 1997, the district court granted a motion for summary judgment
filed by Officers Greninger and Humphrey and the City of Pryor. The court
determined the officers were entitled to summary judgment on their qualified
immunity defense because [Ms. James] has failed to allege facts sufficient to
show that the police officers violated any of plaintiffs constitutional rights. The
court found that while the officers actions may have constituted technical
violations of state law, they did not deny Ms. James due process of law. In
addition, the district court determined Ms. James failed to show the officers acted
with the necessary reckless intent or deliberate indifference to her liberty
interests.
actions. Id. (quoting Gehl Group v. Koby, 63 F.3d 1528, 1533 (10th Cir.
1995)). On review of grants of summary judgment, we apply the de novo standard
mentioned earlier.
Citing Pino, Ms. James argues the appropriate standard for determining
whether the officers have qualified immunity in this case is whether they had
probable cause to believe an emergency detention was necessary. Because
Officers Greninger and Humphrey did not have probable cause to detain her, Ms.
James argument goes, their conduct constituted deliberate indifference,
vitiating their qualified immunity protections. There is a problem with the
probable cause standard advanced by Ms. James: it applies to allegations of
Fourth Amendment violations, see Pino, 75 F.3d at 1467-68, whereas Ms. James
alleged Fourteenth Amendment violations. In her Reply Brief, Ms. James
provides five reason why this court should consider her Fourth Amendment claim.
All lack merit. 5 The district court made its decision based on Ms. James
First, Ms. James argues the Fourth Amendment claim was included in a Pretrial
Order. As this case never went to trial and no pretrial conference was held, the Pretrial
Order was never entered by the district court. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(e). Therefore, it
does not control. Second, Ms. James contends the allegations in her Complaint are
sufficient to support a Fourth Amendment violation. This is irrelevant; just because the
facts alleged in a complaint would support a claim does not mean the claim has been
made. Third, Ms. James argues she used the Pino case in her brief to the district court on
this issue. The case did not apply to her due process arguments then and does not apply
now. Fourth, Ms. James contends the defendants argue[d] the Fourth Amendment in
their Brief to the Trial Court. This is not true. In their brief, the defendants stated:
5
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Unlike the plaintiff in Pino, James has not asserted a Fourth Amendment claim.... Thus,
the probable cause analysis from Pino is not applicable to this case. Despite their
inclusion of an alternative argument, the defendants made it perfectly clear they did not
believe Fourth Amendment analysis applied to this case. And fifth, Ms. James argues this
court should consider her Fourth Amendment claim because it remains city policy to rely
on Grand Lake for a determination of whether an emergency detention is appropriate.
The court can discern no cogent point in this last argument.
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Procedural due process requires a two-step analysis. First, the court must
determine if the plaintiff has been deprived of an interest in life, liberty, or
property. Second, the court must determine how much process is due in light of
that deprivation. We do not get beyond the first step.
The Supreme Court has ruled that mere lack of due care by a state official
may [not] deprive an individual of life, liberty, or property under the Fourteenth
Amendment. Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 330-31 (1986). Section 1983
was not intended to replace state tort law actions. See Webber v. Mefford, 43
F.3d 1340, 1343 (10th Cir. 1994). For this reason, more than mere negligence is
required for liability. Reckless or deliberate intent on the part of the government
official is required to give rise to a Fourteenth Amendment violation actionable
under 1983. Id. [R]eckless intent is established if the actor was aware of a
known or obvious risk that was so great that it was highly probable that serious
harm would follow and he or she proceeded in conscious and unreasonable
disregard of the consequences. Medina v. City & County of Denver, 960 F.2d
1493, 1496 (10th Cir. 1992). Deliberate indifference requires a higher degree
of fault than negligence, or even gross negligence. Hovater v. Robinson, 1 F.3d
1063, 1066 (10th Cir. 1993) (quoting Berry v. City of Muskogee, 900 F.2d 1489,
1495 (10th Cir. 1990)).
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Ms. James contends the officers acted with deliberate indifference to her
constitutional rights by transporting her without making an independent
evaluation of her condition and without the proper paperwork. We disagree. The
district court was correct in finding the officers did not act with the requisite
intent. [A]n official or municipality acts with deliberate indifference if its
conduct (or adopted policy) disregards a known or obvious risk that is very likely
to result in the violation of [the plaintiffs] constitutional rights. Berry, 900
F.2d at 1496. Even assuming the actions of the officers were not in strict
compliance with all the requirements of the emergency detention statute, their
actions did not rise to the level of disregarding a known or obvious risk likely to
result in a violation of Ms. James constitutional rights. Both a mental health
professional and a doctor told the officers, directly or indirectly, Ms. James
needed to be held and transported pursuant to the emergency detention act. We
will not require officers to suspect the motives of health care professionals to
challenge professional medical determinations. The officers simply were not
disregarding a known or obvious risk by deferring to the judgment of the health
professionals. Therefore, their actions did not constitute a deprivation of Ms.
James Fourteenth Amendment right to due process.
Ms. James claim that the officers violated her substantive due process
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rights cannot stand. Because the Supreme Court is reluctant to expand the range
of substantive due process, [w]here a particular amendment provides an explicit
textual source of constitutional protection against a particular sort of government
behavior, that Amendment, not the more generalized notion of substantive due
process, must be the guide for analyzing these claims. Sacramento, ___ U.S. at
___, 118 S. Ct. at 1714 (quoting Albright v. Oliver, 510 U.S. 266, 273 (1994))
(alteration in original). Accordingly, this Circuit has ruled claims that an
individual has been unreasonably detained and transported in the involuntary
commitment context must be brought under the Fourth Amendment. Pino, 75
F.3d at 1469. Even if Ms. James had stated her claims properly, her allegations
would not rise to the shocks the conscience standard articulated by the Supreme
Court for substantive due process claims. See Sacramento, ___ U.S. at ___, 118
S. Ct. at 1716.
For these reasons, we affirm the district courts resolution of the claims
against Officers Greninger and Humphrey.
For the reasons above, the district court also correctly granted summary
judgment in favor of the City of Pryor.
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Ms. James argues the Pino rule does not protect Dr. Delong from liability
because of his particularly egregious actions (e.g., never examining Ms. James
and signing a document partially filled out by another person). Counsel for Ms.
James does not make it clear why the egregiousness of his actions should have
any effect on Dr. Delongs status or non-status as a state actor. Ms. James also
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argues Dr. Delong is a state actor because he was acting jointly with Ms. Vella.
As Ms. Vella was not a state actor, this makes no difference. Because we see no
reason why our decision in Pino should not control in this case, we affirm the
district courts summary judgment in favor of Dr. Delong.
On February 27, 1997, the district court granted a motion to dismiss filed
by the Medical Center based on its finding that the facts, as stated in the
complaint, failed to establish a basis for relief. We review de novo a dismissal
for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Chemical
Weapons Working Group, Inc. v. United States Dept of the Army, 111 F.3d 1485,
1490 (10th Cir. 1997).
Ms. James argues that the Medical Center can be held liable for the acts of
Dr. Delong based on its failure to supervise or train him. The Medical Center is a
private entity. For the reasons we gave in upholding the dismissal of the claim
against Dr. Delong, we affirm the district courts disposition of the claim against
the Medical Center. 6
In this section, counsel for Ms. James argues the Medical Center had a duty to
train Dr. Delong and that it was obligated to comply with the provisions of the emergency
detention statute because Dr. Delong and the hospital regularly conducted emergency
detention evaluations. Counsel supports this position with a claim that Dr. Delong had
performed 50-100 of these evaluations. Reference to the portion of Dr. Delongs
deposition, to which counsel cites in support of this statement, demonstrates this to be a
6
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gross misstatement:
Q. Since 1987, give me a ballpark idea of the number of emergency
detention orders that youve had dealings with.
A. I couldnt I couldnt put a number on it.
Q. 50, 100?
A. I couldnt say.
In other words, counsel is supporting his argument with reference to a number he made
up.
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which a reasonable person would have known. Harlow, 457 U.S. at 818. These
two doctors were working for the state and were acting in their official capacity
during their interactions with Ms. James, so there is no dispute that they are
public officials who are entitled to raise a qualified immunity defense. When
reviewing a grant of summary judgment based on a defense of qualified immunity,
we first look to see if the plaintiff has asserted the violation of a constitutional
right, and then determine if that right was clearly established at the time of the
defendants actions. Pino, 75 F.3d at 1467. We apply the summary judgment de
novo standard mentioned earlier.
It is unclear whether Ms. James intended her claims against the doctors to
be based on the procedural or substantive guarantees of the Fourteenth
Amendment, so we will look at each in turn.
As mentioned in the section dealing with the claims against the officers,
when considering whether a violation of an individuals procedural due process
rights occurred, the court must first determine if the plaintiff has been deprived of
an interest in life, liberty, or property, and then determine how much process is
due in light of that deprivation. As with our analysis concerning the officers, we
need not get beyond the first step.
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Ms. James argues there was nothing in Dr. Fermos evaluation notes to
justify his certification to a reasonable certainty that without treatment she would
be unable to protect herself from injury. The evaluation notes reveal Dr. Fermo
knew Ms. James had a lengthy history of depression, she was abused by her
husband (by putting a knife to her neck, putting a gun to her head, and kicking
her) and was fearful of further abuse, and she got panicky to the point where she
was unable to cope with being alone. In addition, Dr. Fermo had the Licensed
Mental Health Professionals Statement signed by Dr. Delong and the Grand Lake
Referral to Eastern State Hospital filled out by Ms. Vella. We are not qualified to
determine whether Dr. Fermos certification was supportable professionally given
the results of his evaluation, but in light of the items mentioned above, we are
confident his actions did not rise to the level of reckless intent or deliberate
indifference.
On appeal, Ms. James argues that because Dr. Southern certified Ms. James
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for emergency detention despite the favorable results of his evaluation, filed a
Petition for Protective Custody and Treatment containing false statements, and
intentionally delayed before filing the Petition, he is not entitled to qualified
immunity. We agree with the district court that such allegations do not rise to the
level of a constitutional deprivation. The delay in filing the Petition was
approved by a judicial officer. The alleged false statements stem from a form
statement signed by Dr. Southern. Counsel does not identify these false statement
in his brief, but a review of the complaint shows they stem from Ms. James
contention that she did not meet the requirements for detention. Dr. Southerns
certification that Ms. James met the standard for emergency detention, even if not
properly supported by documentation, does not rise to the level of reckless or
outrageous conduct. A disagreement over the basis of a medical evaluation does
not suffice to support an allegation of reckless or outrageous conduct.
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For the reasons above, the district courts dispositions of the claims against
Dr. Fermo and Dr. Southern are affirmed.
shall not exceed ten pages and shall be filed with the Clerk of this court within
fourteen days of the issuance of this order.
Section 1983 was never intended to create a federal tort scheme to right all
wrongs. If the facts alleged by Ms. James are true, this is a truly disturbing case.
However, this decision concerns only whether these defendants are liable pursuant
to 1983, which is a wholly separate question from whether there are any state
law remedies available or whether the defendants deserve to be liable. If these
allegations are true, we can only hope the wrongs against Ms. James will be
redressed in an appropriate forum. The decisions of the district court are
AFFIRMED.
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