HANNAH DAVID V. GINA KAULUKUKUI, No. 21-15731 (9th Cir. 2022)
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Plaintiff, individually and on behalf of her minor daughter, alleged that Defendant, an employee of the Kauai County Police Department, deceived the Hawaii family court when she assisted the non-custodial father of Plaintiff’s daughter in obtaining a temporary restraining order that prevented Plaintiff, the sole custodial parent, from having any contact with her daughter. Plaintiff further alleged that Defendant conspired with the noncustodial father and state officials to extract the daughter from her school and place her in the father’s custody without Plaintiff’s knowledge or court order.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to dismiss, on the basis of qualified immunity, an action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 alleging violations of Plaintiff’s right to familial association.
The court stated that although Defendant may ultimately prove that Plaintiff’s allegations were false, at the pleading stage, the court must accept all well-pleaded factual allegations as true. When the alleged events in this case occurred, the law clearly established that a parent and child’s constitutional right to familial association is violated when a state official interferes with a parent’s lawful custody through judicial deception. The law also clearly established that a state official cannot remove a child from a lawful custodial parent without consent or court order unless the official has reasonable cause to believe that the child is in imminent danger and, even then, the scope and duration of the removal must be reasonable. Here, Plaintiff plausibly alleged that Defendant violated these rights by deliberately failing to inform the family court of a custody order.
Court Description: Civil Rights The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of defendant’s motion to dismiss, on the basis of qualified immunity, an action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging violations of plaintiff’s right to familial association. Plaintiff, individually and on behalf of her minor daughter, alleged that defendant Gina Kaulukukui, an employee of the Kauai County Police Department, deceived the Hawaii family court when she assisted the non-custodial father of plaintiff’s daughter in obtaining a temporary restraining order that prevented plaintiff, the sole custodial parent, from having any contact with her daughter. Plaintiff further alleged that Kaulukukui conspired with the non- custodial father and state officials to extract the daughter from her school and place her in the father’s custody without plaintiff’s knowledge or a court order. DAVID V. KAULUKUKUI 3 The panel stated that although Kaulukukui may ultimately prove that plaintiff’s allegations were false, at the pleading stage, the panel must accept all well-pleaded factual allegations as true. When the alleged events in this case occurred, the law clearly established that a parent and child’s constitutional right to familial association is violated when a state official interferes with a parent’s lawful custody through judicial deception. The law also clearly established that a state official cannot remove a child from a lawful custodial parent without consent or a court order unless the official has reasonable cause to believe that the child is in imminent danger and, even then, the scope and duration of the removal must be reasonable. Here, plaintiff plausibly alleged that Kaulukukui violated these rights by deliberately failing to inform the family court of a custody order when assisting the non-custodial father in obtaining a temporary restraining order that prevented contact between plaintiff and her daughter, and by assisting the other defendants in removing plaintiff’s daughter from plaintiff’s custody and separating them for 21 days. As such, Kaulukukui was not entitled qualified immunity at this early stage.
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