T.S.H. v. Green, No. 19-3280 (8th Cir. 2021)
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Plaintiffs, high school students, filed suit against two Northwest Missouri State police officers for allegedly violating certain statutory and constitutional rights during the investigation of misconduct by plaintiffs attending a summer camp on the university campus. Plaintiffs' claims arose from an incident where the officers directed the high school coach to gather students in a room to hold them there "for interrogation" following a report that someone was photographing a female coach in one of the dormitory rooms.
The Eighth Circuit reversed the district court's denial of the officers' motion to dismiss the claims against them based on qualified immunity. The court concluded that, given the state of the law, a reasonable officer could have proceeded on the understanding that a student seizure is permissible if it is reasonable under the standard of New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 341 (1985). In this case, a reasonable officer could have believed that the seizure was reasonable where a reasonable officer could have believed that they were authorized to investigate the incident to comply with both Title IX and Missouri law regarding invasion of privacy. Furthermore, the seizure was reasonable in scope and duration. Finally, 18 U.S.C. 5033 and 5038 are inapplicable here, and thus the officers are entitled to dismissal on these claims. Finally, the officers are entitled to qualified immunity on the conspiracy claim. The court remanded with directions to dismiss the claims against the officers.
Court Description: [Colloton, Author, with Melloy and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Civil rights. In action alleging the plaintiff high school students were seized in violation of their constitutional rights when defendants, Northwest Missouri State police officers, instructed the students' high school coach to assemble them in a room for questioning about a "peeping tom" incident that occurred during a summer football camp, the district court denied the officers' motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. Held: reasonable officers could have believed that probable cause was not required to to ask the students' coach to seize the students and detain them in a room for questioning and investigation; in light of this court's decisions, the students had no clearly established right to be free from a seizure instigated by the defendants if it passed muster under a standard of reasonableness; further, the officers could reasonably believe that they were authorized to investigate the incident to comply with their obligations under both Title IX and Missouri law regarding invasion of privacy; the seizure was reasonable in scope and duration;the officers were entitled to dismissal of the students' claims under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 5033 and 5038 as the statutes are inapplicable, Judge Kelly, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
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