Sylvia ERNST, Appellant in No. 93-1929, v. CHILD AND YOUTH SERVICES OF CHESTER COUNTY; Carol Schravazande; Arden Olson; Wayne Stevenson; Rita Borzillo; The Judiciary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Sylvia Ernst, Administrator of the Estate of Susanne Ernst, for Susanne Ernst. Rita K. Borzillo, Appellant in No. 93-1930.
Nos. 93-1929, 93-1930 and 94-1273
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
Argued June 12, 1996. Decided March 12, 1997.
108 F.3d 486
Robert B. Gidding (Argued), Bala Cynwyd, PA, for Sylvia Ernst, Cross Appellee in Nos. 93-1930 and 94-1273.
Thomas L. Whiteman (Argued), Office of County Solicitor, West Chester, PA, for Carol Schravazande, Appellee/Cross Appellant.
Joseph P. Green, Jr. (Argued), Duffy & Green, West Chester, PA, for Rita Borzillo, Appellee/Cross Appellant.
David M. Donaldson (Argued), Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Administrative Office of PA Courts, Philadelphia, PA, for Judiciary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Appellee/Cross Appellant.
Thomas W. Corbett, Jr., Attorney General, Gregory R. Neubauer (Argued), Senior Deputy Attorney General, Calvin R. Koons, Senior Deputy Attorney General, John G. Knorr, III, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Office of Attorney General of PA, Harrisburg, PA, for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Amicus Curiae/Appellee/Cross Appellant.
Before: STAPLETON, GREENBERG, and ALDISERT, Circuit Judges.
OPINION OF THE COURT
STAPLETON, Circuit Judge.
A grandmother alleges in this civil rights action that she was deprived of the custody of her granddaughter for five years in violation of rights secured by the Constitution. The defendants are Chester County Children & Youth Services (“CYS“), individual CYS caseworkers, and an attorney retained by CYS to represent it in the judicial proceedings that transferred custody to the state. We are called upon to decide whether and to what extent child welfare workers and attorneys who represent child welfare agencies are entitled to absolute immunity for actions taken in connection with dependency proceedings in state court. This is an issue of first impression in this circuit. Like the other courts of appeals that have addressed the issue, we hold that child welfare workers and attorneys who prosecute dependency proceedings on behalf of the state are enti
I. Facts1
Sylvia Ernst (“Ernst“) was the sole guardian of her minor granddaughter Susanne from infancy until the child was nine years old.2 At about that time, during the 1987-88 school year, a number of people in the Downingtown, Pennsylvania area where Ernst and Susanne lived became concerned about Susanne‘s well-being. A mover who had moved Ernst and Susanne into an apartment in Downingtown contacted police and expressed concern that there was something wrong in the relationship between Ernst and Susanne. He reported that Susanne looked unwell and appeared too young to be Ernst‘s daughter.
The Downingtown police conducted an investigation and learned that the Family Court of Nassau County, New York, had issued warrants for the arrest of Ernst and her daughter for child neglect and that a petition for custody of Susanne had been filed in 1981 but never served on Ernst. Nassau County officials informed the Downingtown police that the warrants had been vacated and the petition for custody of Susanne had been withdrawn. The police informed a CYS employee of its investigation and of the status of the warrants, but the CYS personnel responsible for the decision to seek custody of Susanne were apparently unaware at the time of their decision that the Nassau County warrants had been withdrawn.
School officials at several schools Susanne attended became concerned about Susanne‘s frequent tardiness, poor attendance, and inability to separate from Ernst at the start of the school day. The days would often begin with a scene outside Susanne‘s classroom during which Susanne would cry and scream and refuse to let go of her grandmother. On May 3, 1988, after another morning tantrum, officials at the East Ward School in Downingtown contacted CYS and requested immediate intervention. CYS believed Susanne‘s attachment to Ernst was sufficiently extreme to be unhealthy and filed a petition that same day seeking an adjudication of dependency3 and emergency custody of Susanne. After an immediate detention hearing, Judge Salvo-ly of the Chester County Court of Common Pleas found that a prima facie case of dependency had been presented, and ordered Susanne placed in a psychiatric institution for a complete evaluation.
At a subsequent hearing on May 18, 1988, the parties stipulated to an adjudication of dependency, which resulted in temporary legal custody remaining with CYS. The stipulation provided that CYS‘s goal was the reunification of the family and that Ernst could receive counseling and treatment at the institution at which Susanne was being treated.
CYS retained custody of Susanne for the next five years. During that time, Ernst and CYS waged an intense legal battle over Susanne‘s dependency status and custody. They also developed an extremely contentious relationship. CYS caseworkers found Ernst to be uncooperative, antagonizing, and unwilling to acknowledge her parenting problems. They also complained that she frequently made negative comments about CYS and Susanne‘s foster families during visits with Susanne. As CYS caseworkers became increasingly frustrated with Ernst, they sought and obtained restrictions on her visits with Susanne. Ultimately, with the approval of the Chester County Court of Common Pleas and the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, they changed CYS‘s goal for Susanne from family
Finally, in April 1993, a new judge assigned to review Susanne‘s placement recognized that “[t]he adversarial air of the proceeding [concerning Susanne‘s dependency] ... at times ... captured the focus of many of those involved in this case instead of focusing on Susanne.” Juvenile No. 83 CS 88, Order of April 26, 1993, Op. at 2. Concluding that “[w]e have come to the point where state intervention in Susanne‘s life is now doing more harm than good,” the court ordered that physical custody of Susanne be returned to Ernst, with legal custody remaining with CYS. Ernst was granted legal custody on November 17, 1993.
During the pendency of the state court proceedings, Ernst filed this action in federal court under
The district court granted summary judgment to the Downingtown School officials on statute of limitations grounds, and to all defendants on all claims alleging procedural due process violations before May 24, 1991 on the ground that those claims had been fully and fairly litigated in state court. The court granted partial summary judgment to the CYS defendants and Borzillo, ruling that they were entitled to absolute immunity “insofar as they acted in their prosecutorial capacity of filing petitions and making recommendations to the court.” The court held that the CYS defendants were not entitled to absolute immunity, however, for actions taken in their capacities as social workers formulating recommendations to be made to the court. The court further held that Borzillo was not entitled to absolute immunity for actions taken in an “extra-prosecutorial” capacity.
A bench trial ensued on the claims that survived summary judgment. After the trial, the court granted judgment to CYS, the CYS defendants, and the Judiciary of Pennsylvania. Although the court criticized the CYS defendants for flawed social work practice and inability “to submerge their personal views in dealing with a difficult woman” and focus on Susanne‘s welfare, Ernst v. Chester County Children & Youth Servs., No. CIV.A. 91-3735, 1993 WL 343375, at *23 (E.D.Pa. Sept. 3, 1993), it ultimately concluded that the CYS defendants’ actions “were not so devoid of professional judgment or so clearly outrageous as to impose liability for constitutional violations.” Id. The court held that CYS was not liable for any violations by the CYS defendants or Borzillo because Ernst had not shown that the actions were done by an official with policy-making authority or pursuant to a “policy” or “custom” of CYS. Finally, the district court held that Ernst lacked standing to bring her First Amendment challenge to Pennsylvania‘s juvenile court closure provision because she could not raise the right of the “third-party” public and press to access to the courts.
On the other hand, the court granted judgment in favor of Ernst against Borzillo. The court held that Borzillo, who was a state actor for purposes of
Ernst timely appealed the district court‘s judgments against her on the substantive due process and First Amendment claims, and Borzillo cross-appealed. We will affirm the judgments against Ernst in favor of the CYS defendants, albeit on the alternative ground that the CYS defendants are absolutely immune for all of their actions in preparing for and prosecuting Susanne‘s dependency proceedings. We will also affirm the judgments in favor of CYS and the Judiciary of Pennsylvania. However, we will reverse the judgment against Borzillo on the ground that she is entitled to absolute immunity for the actions for which she was held liable by the district court.
II. Jurisdiction
Because the federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, we must first satisfy ourselves that we have jurisdiction over this appeal and cross-appeal.
A. Rooker-Feldman Doctrine
The CYS defendants contend that the district court lacked jurisdiction to entertain Ernst‘s suit under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, which prohibits federal courts from exercising “subject matter jurisdiction to review final adjudications of a state‘s highest court or to evaluate constitutional claims that are ‘inextricably intertwined with the state court‘s [decision] in a judicial proceeding.‘” FOCUS v. Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, 75 F.3d 834, 840 (3d Cir.1996) (quoting Blake v. Papadakos, 953 F.2d 68, 71 (3d Cir.1992) (alteration in original); District of Columbia Ct. of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 483 n. 16, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 1315-16 n. 16, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983)). According to the CYS defendants, the Rooker-Feldman doctrine precluded the district court from hearing Ernst‘s
The Rooker-Feldman doctrine is based on the statutory provision that grants the Supreme Court jurisdiction to review the decisions of the highest state courts for compliance with the Constitution. See
When a plaintiff seeks to litigate a claim in a federal court, the existence of a state court judgment in another case bars the federal proceeding under Rooker-Feldman only when entertaining the federal court claim would be the equivalent of an appellate review of that order. For that reason, Rooker-Feldman applies only when in order to grant the federal plaintiff the relief sought, the federal court must determine that the state court judgment was erroneously entered or must take action that would render that judgment ineffectual.
FOCUS, 75 F.3d at 840 (citations omitted). Those circumstances are not present here.
Although Ernst‘s Third Amended Complaint sought her appointment as Susanne‘s legal guardian, which was the relief that she had been unable to obtain in the state courts, that portion of the complaint was mooted when the state court returned Susanne to Ernst‘s custody. Thus, the district court was left to decide only Ernst‘s
Moreover, it is clear that deciding the substantive due process claims did not involve federal court review of a state court decision because Ernst‘s substantive due process claims were never decided by the state court. Although Ernst mentioned her concerns about bias on the part of the CYS defendants during the dependency proceedings, she did not articulate those concerns in constitutional due process terms. Neither did—or could—the state court base any decision regarding Susanne‘s dependency on a determination that Ernst‘s claims of bias or improper motive were invalid. Cf. Valenti v. Mitchell, 962 F.2d 288, 296 (3d Cir.1992) (holding that a party cannot escape Rooker-Feldman by raising a new constitutional theory in federal court unless the party lacked a realistic opportunity to fully and fairly litigate the constitutional claim in the state court proceeding); Centifanti v. Nix, 865 F.2d 1422, 1433 (3d Cir.1989). A dependency adjudication involves a determination that a child is without proper parental care or control,
B. Cross-Appeal
Ernst argues that this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain Borzillo‘s cross-appeal because Borzillo did not file a timely notice of appeal from the district court‘s immediately appealable interlocutory denial of her motion for summary judgment on the ground of absolute immunity.5 Instead, she waited and appealed from the final judgment against her. We reject Ernst‘s argument because we hold that an interlocutory appeal from a denial of summary judgment on immunity grounds, although permitted, is not obligatory.
This court has not yet addressed the specific issue of whether a party that fails to file an appeal within 30 days after entry of an immediately appealable interlocutory order denying summary judgment on immunity grounds forfeits the right to challenge that denial on appeal from the final judgment. However, we have adopted the general rule that “[i]f matters are adjudged by an interlocutory decree that is subject to immediate appeal, and no appeal is taken, they are not foreclosed, but are subject to review on ap
Although a party has a right to take an immediate appeal, there is no obligation to do so.... A rule that required people to appeal from potentially “final” decisions not embodied in separate documents [within the meaning of Fed.R.Civ.P. 58] would lead to a blizzard of protective appeals as litigants tried to ensure their rights to review; many times the rule would lead to pointless forfeitures as litigants overlooked the possibility that a particular order might be characterized as a “final decision.”
Exchange Nat‘l Bank of Chicago v. Daniels, 763 F.2d 286, 290 (7th Cir.1985) (emphasis in original). Moreover, “[m]aking interlocutory appeals ... mandatory would turn the policy against piecemeal appeals on its head.” Hunter v. Department of Air Force Agency, 846 F.2d 1314, 1316 (11th Cir.1988) (quoting In re Chicken Antitrust Litigation, 669 F.2d 228, 236 (5th Cir.1982)).
We can see no meaningful distinction between interlocutory orders denying summary judgment on immunity grounds and other appealable interlocutory orders. Accordingly, we think it appropriate to extend the general rule to interlocutory orders denying summary judgment on immunity grounds. See McIntosh v. Weinberger, 810 F.2d 1411, 1431 n. 7 (8th Cir.1987) (applying general rule to orders denying summary judgment on immunity grounds because the interest in protecting public officials from monetary liability for official acts survives even after a trial has been held). Therefore, Borzillo did not forfeit her right to appeal the district court‘s denial of her motion for summary judgment on immunity grounds by waiting to file a notice of appeal until after entry of a final judgment against her. We thus have jurisdiction to consider the immunity issue raised in her cross-appeal.
III. Ernst‘s Appeal
A. CYS Defendants’ Absolute Immunity
Ernst challenges the district court‘s grant of partial summary judgment to the CYS defendants based on absolute immunity “insofar as they acted in their prosecutorial capacity of filing petitions and making recommendations to the court.” Order of Jan. 27, 1993. She contends that the CYS defendants cannot claim entitlement to immunity from suit under
Section 1983 provides that “every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State ... subjects ... any citizen of the United States ... to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws shall be liable to the party injured.”
[The] initial inquiry is whether [the] official claiming immunity under
§ 1983 can point to a common-law counterpart to the privilege he asserts. If “an official was accorded immunity from tort actions at common law when the Civil Rights Act was enacted in 1871, the Court next considers whether§ 1983 ‘s history or purposes nonetheless counsel against recognizing the same immunity in§ 1983 actions.”
Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 339-40, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 1095, 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986) (quoting Tower v. Glover, 467 U.S. 914, 920, 104 S.Ct. 2820, 2824-25, 81 L.Ed.2d 758 (1984)). Courts “look to the common law and other history for guidance because [their] role is ‘not to make a freewheeling policy choice,’ but rather to discern Congress’ likely intent in enacting
The fact that a particular public official did not enjoy absolute immunity at common law is not, however, determinative of the absolute immunity issue. Where the official claiming immunity occupies a governmental position that did not exist at common law, he may still be entitled to immunity if he performs official functions that are analogous to functions performed by those who were immune at common law. See Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 508, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978) (holding that officials who perform quasi-judicial and quasi-prosecutorial functions in administrative agency adjudications are entitled to the same immunities afforded to judges and prosecutors at common law); see also Forrester v. White, 484 U.S. 219, 224, 108 S.Ct. 538, 542-43, 98 L.Ed.2d 555 (1988) (“Running through our cases, with fair consistency, is a ‘functional’ approach to immunity questions other than those that have been decided by express constitutional or statutory enactment. Under that approach, we examine the nature of the functions with which a particular official or class of officials has been lawfully entrusted, and we seek to evaluate the effect that exposure to particular forms of liability would likely have on the appropriate exercise of those functions.“). It is therefore necessary for us to review the functions performed by officials to whom absolute immunity has been accorded in order to determine if child welfare workers perform analogous functions.
Under its historical and functional approach, the Supreme Court has held that certain officials “functioning as integral parts of the judicial process” are absolutely immune from civil suits under
In Imbler v. Pachtman, the Court held that prosecutors were absolutely immune at common law from civil liability for malicious prosecution and that public policy considerations countenanced a similar absolute immunity from suits under
[T]he honest prosecutor would face greater difficulty in meeting the standards of qualified immunity than other executive or administrative officials. Frequently acting under serious constraints of time and even information, a prosecutor inevitably makes many decisions that could engender colorable claims of constitutional deprivation. Defending these decisions, often years af
ter they were made, could impose unique and intolerable burdens upon a prosecutor responsible annually for hundreds of indictments and trials.
Id. at 425-26, 96 S.Ct. at 992-93. Fourth, failure to afford absolute immunity to prosecutors might undermine the functioning of the criminal justice system because it might lead prosecutors concerned about personal liability not to tender evidence that, while relevant, might conceivably turn out to be fabricated by the witness. Id. at 426, 96 S.Ct. at 993. Fifth, failure to afford absolute immunity might weaken the fairness of the criminal justice system by clouding post-conviction review with “the subconscious knowledge that a post-trial decision in favor of the accused might result in the prosecutor‘s being called upon to respond in damages for his error or mistaken judgment.” Id. at 427, 96 S.Ct. at 993. Finally, the court noted that absolute immunity for prosecutors would not leave the public without any means to punish or deter unconstitutional conduct because the availability of both judicial review and professional disciplinary procedures would protect the public and punish the errant prosecutor. Id. at 429, 96 S.Ct. at 994. Thus, the court concluded that “in initiating a prosecution and in presenting the State‘s case, the prosecutor is immune from a civil suit for damages under
In Burns v. Reed, 500 U.S. 478, 111 S.Ct. 1934, 114 L.Ed.2d 547 (1991), and Buckley v. Fitzsimmons, 509 U.S. 259, 113 S.Ct. 2606, 125 L.Ed.2d 209 (1993), the Court clarified the scope of a prosecutor‘s absolute immunity from suit under
In Buckley v. Fitzsimmons, the Court again declared that “the Imbler approach focuses on the conduct for which immunity is claimed,” 509 U.S. at 271-72, 113 S.Ct. at 2615 (emphasis added), and the “functional tie” between that conduct and the judicial process in a criminal case. Id. at 277-78, 113 S.Ct. at 2617-18. It distinguished between a prosecutor‘s functioning as an “advocate” in judicial proceedings on behalf of the State, which is entitled to immunity, and as an investigator searching for clues that might lead to an arrest, which is not entitled to absolute immunity.
Applying the principles set forth in Butz, Imbler and their progeny to the instant case, we hold that the CYS defendants are entitled to absolute immunity for their actions on behalf of the state in preparing for, initiating, and prosecuting dependency proceedings. Their immunity is broad enough to include the formulation and presentation of recommendations to the court in the course of such proceedings. We reach this conclusion because (1) the functions performed by the CYS defendants in dependency proceedings are closely analogous to the functions performed by prosecutors in criminal proceedings; (2) the public policy considerations that countenance immunity for prosecutors are applicable to child welfare workers performing these functions; and (3) dependency proceedings incorporate important safeguards that protect citizens from unconstitutional actions by child welfare workers. With this holding, we join the courts of appeals of the Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits. See, e.g., Millspaugh v. County Dep‘t of Pub. Welfare of Wabash County, 937 F.2d 1172, 1176 (7th Cir.1991); Vosburg v. Department of Soc. Servs., 884 F.2d 133, 135 (4th Cir.1989); Salyer v. Patrick, 874 F.2d 374, 378 (6th Cir.1989); Meyers v. Contra Costa County Dep‘t
The functions performed by child welfare workers like the CYS defendants in dependency proceedings are closely analogous to those performed by prosecutors. As the Ninth Circuit has explained,
[a]lthough 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.
In addition, child welfare workers involved in the prosecution of dependency proceedings clearly serve “as advocate for the State,” Imbler, 424 U.S. at 430-31 n. 33, 96 S.Ct. at 995 n. 33, in a capacity that is “intimately associated with the judicial phase of the [child protection] process.” Id. at 430, 96 S.Ct. at 995. A CYS court liaison officer and a case work supervisor testified that CYS caseworkers, after consultation with their supervisors and other professionals such as psychologists and school officials, determine what recommendations are made to the court in dependency proceedings. Even when they work with an attorney who represents CYS in the dependency proceeding, the attorney plays no role in formulating the recommendations made to the court; she merely “expresses [CYS‘s] recommendations on [its] behalf.” App. at 513a. Because CYS caseworkers are directly responsible for the recommendations made to the court in dependency proceedings, their actions in determining those recommendations and communicating them to the court are “intimately associated” with the judicial process in much the same way as are a prosecutor‘s actions in representing the state in criminal prosecutions.
Moreover, we conclude that the public policy considerations supporting absolute immunity for prosecutors are equally applicable to child welfare workers acting in a quasi-prosecutorial capacity in dependency proceedings. Like a prosecutor, a child welfare worker must exercise independent judgment in deciding whether or not to bring a child dependency proceeding, and such judgment would likely be compromised if the worker faced the threat of personal liability for every mistake in judgment. Certainly, we want our child welfare workers to exercise care in deciding to interfere in parent-child relationships. But we do not want them to be so overly cautious, out of fear of personal liability, that they fail to intervene in situations in which children are in danger. See Millspaugh, 937 F.2d at 1176-77; cf. DeShaney v. Winnebago County Dep‘t of Soc. Servs., 489 U.S. 189, 191-93, 109 S.Ct. 998, 1001-02, 103 L.Ed.2d 249 (1989).
In the absence of absolute immunity, we would expect suits in retaliation for the initiation of dependency proceedings to occur with even greater frequency than suits against prosecutors. Parents involved in seemingly unjustified dependency proceedings are likely to be even more resentful of
Finally, as with prosecutors, there are alternative mechanisms other than the threat of
We emphasize that our holding concerns only actions taken by child welfare workers in the context of dependency proceedings. Like our sister courts in the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits, we would be unwilling to accord absolute immunity to “investigative or administrative” actions taken by child welfare workers outside the context of a judicial proceeding. See Snell v. Tunnell, 920 F.2d 673 (10th Cir.1990) (holding that pre-adjudicatory investigative activities by child welfare workers are entitled only to qualified immunity); Achterhof v. Selvaggio, 886 F.2d 826 (6th Cir.1989) (holding that opening and investigating child abuse case and placing parent‘s name on central registry of abusers are investigative and administrative activities entitled only to qualified immunity); Austin v. Borel, 830 F.2d 1356 (5th Cir.1987) (holding that filing of complaint that allowed child services to obtain custody but did not initiate adjudicative proceeding was analogous to police officer‘s complaint filed to obtain arrest warrant and was therefore entitled only to qualified immunity) (citing Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986)); Millspaugh v. County Dep‘t of Pub. Welfare of Wabash County, 937 F.2d 1172 (7th Cir.1991) (same).
Reviewing Ernst‘s Third Amended Complaint, it is clear that all of the claims against the CYS defendants concern actions taken by the defendants in connection with the formulation and presentation of recommendations to the state court regarding Susanne‘s dependency status and disposition. Because all of these actions are analogous to a prosecutor‘s preparation for and initiation and presentation of a criminal prosecution, we hold that the CYS defendants are entitled to absolute immunity for the conduct that Ernst challenges here.7
We cannot agree with the district court‘s conclusion that the CYS defendants’ actions in preparing and formulating recommendations to the state court were not within the scope of their absolute immunity. The Supreme Court has explicitly rejected the idea that absolute prosecutorial immunity “extends only to the act of initiation itself and to conduct occurring in the courtroom.” Buckley, 509 U.S. at 272-73, 113 S.Ct. at 2615. Moreover, the Court has expressly embraced the idea that immunity must be afforded to the evaluation of available data to determine whether and in what manner to seek judicial action:
We expressly stated in [Imbler] that “the duties of the prosecutor in his role as advocate for the State involve actions preliminary to the initiation of a prosecution and actions apart from the courtroom,” and are nonetheless entitled to absolute immunity.... We have not retreated ... from the principle that acts undertaken by a prosecutor in preparing for the initiation of judicial proceedings or for trial, and which occur in the course of his role as an advocate for the State, are entitled to the
protections of absolute immunity. These acts must include the professional evaluation of the evidence assembled by the police and appropriate preparation for its presentation at trial or before a grand jury after a decision to seek an indictment has been made.
Id. at 272-73, 113 S.Ct. at 2615.
Ernst here challenges the CYS defendants’ formulation of professional judgments that served as the basis for a series of recommendations they made to the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. To grant them absolute immunity for the recommendations they made to the court but deny them such immunity for the observations and judgments that were the necessary predicate for those recommendations would eviscerate the immunity they did receive and undermine the purposes sought to be advanced by the grant of absolute immunity. We therefore conclude that, like a prosecutor‘s evaluation of evidence in preparation for indictment or trial, the CYS defendants’ gathering and evaluation of information and professional opinions regarding the relationship between Ernst and Susanne in preparation for the dependency proceedings must be protected. Accordingly, we will affirm the grant of judgment for the CYS defendants for their actions in formulating recommendations concerning Susanne‘s dependency proceedings on the ground of absolute immunity rather than the substantive due process analysis relied on by the district court.
B. Liability of CYS
The district court granted judgment in favor of CYS because it found that Ernst had failed to prove at trial that CYS had a policy or custom of allowing its employees to violate substantive due process or of inadequate training, supervision, or discipline of its employees in that regard. See Monell v. Department of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 690-91, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 2035-36, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978) (holding that municipality cannot be held liable for constitutional violations committed by employees unless such violations occurred pursuant to a policy or custom promulgated by the municipality). Ernst does not argue on appeal that this finding was clearly erroneous. Instead, she contends that the district court erred when it failed to consider evidence that CYS was liable under
During the bench trial, Ernst attempted to prove that CYS had a policy or custom of violating the substantive due process rights of the families with which it was involved by calling several witnesses to testify about their dissatisfaction with CYS‘s handling of their cases. After the record had been closed and the parties had offered closing argument, Ernst‘s counsel, perhaps realizing that the testimony then in evidence would not suffice to prove a “policy or custom” of unconstitutional conduct by CYS, urged the court to also consider the possibility that CYS was liable under
Ernst argues on appeal that the district court erred in failing to take judicial notice of the affidavit as a judicial record in the case. See
We find no reversible error. The fact that the statements contained in the Stevenson affidavit may not be hearsay says nothing about whether the court erred in refusing to consider the substance of the statements when the contents of the affidavit were never offered into evidence during the trial. While the district court undoubtedly had the authority to reopen the record, it is apparent that it did not abuse its discretion in declining to do so. We hold, therefore, that the district court did not err in refusing to consider the Stevenson affidavit as evidence of CYS‘s liability under
C. The First Amendment Challenge to Juvenile Court Closure Provision
Pennsylvania‘s Juvenile Act provides in relevant part:
Except in hearings to declare a person in contempt of court and in [delinquency] hearings as specified in subsection (e), the general public shall be excluded from hearings under this chapter. Only the parties, their counsel, witnesses, the victim and counsel for the victim, other persons accompanying a party or a victim for his or her assistance, and any other person as the court finds have [sic] a proper interest in the proceedings or in the work of the court shall be admitted by the court....
Ernst argued before the district court that this closure provision violated the First Amendment right of access to judicial proceedings enjoyed by the public and press. The district court declined to address Ernst‘s First Amendment claim because it found that Ernst lacked standing to raise the constitutional rights of the public and press. On appeal, Ernst argues that the court further erred in refusing to permit her to raise the right of access of the public because she is a member of the public entitled to raise the right on her own behalf.
Although we agree that Ernst shares the public‘s right of access to the courts, we nonetheless hold that the district court was correct in concluding that Ernst lacked standing to bring her First Amendment claim. We reach this conclusion because even though Ernst, along with the rest of the public, possesses a general right of access to the courts, she has not alleged or shown that she suffered the injury-in-fact necessary to create a justiciable “case or controversy” under Article III of the Constitution.
The doctrine of standing is “an essential and unchanging part of the case-or-controversy requirement of Article III” of the Constitution. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 2136, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). To satisfy the standing requirement, a plaintiff must demonstrate (1) an “injury in fact” which is both “concrete and particularized” and “actual or imminent“; (2) a causal connection between the injury and the challenged conduct; and (3) a likelihood that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision. Id. at 560-61, 112 S.Ct. at 2136-37. The “injury in fact” component requires that the plaintiff “allege a distinct and palpable injury to himself.” Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 501, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 2206, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975). The injury must “affect the plaintiff in a personal and individual way.” Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560 n. 1, 112 S.Ct. at 2136 n. 1.
[S]tanding to sue may not be predicated upon an interest of the kind ... which is held in common by all members of the public, because of the necessarily abstract nature of the injury all citizens share. Concrete injury, whether actual or threatened, is that indispensable element of a dispute which serves in part to cast it in a form traditionally capable of judicial resolution. It adds the essential dimension of specificity to the dispute by requiring that the complaining party have suffered a particular injury caused by the action challenged as unlawful. This personal stake is what the Court has consistently held enables a complainant authoritatively to present to a court a complete perspective upon the adverse consequences flowing from the specific set of facts underlying the grievance.... Only concrete injury presents the factual context within which a court, aided by parties who argue within the context, is capable of making decisions.... [T]he requirement of concrete injury further serves the function of insuring that [constitutional] adjudication does not take place unnecessarily.
Id. at 220-21, 94 S.Ct. at 2932.
Here, Ernst failed to allege the kind of concrete and particularized injury necessary to establish standing to assert a First Amendment challenge to Pennsylvania‘s juvenile court closure provision. She has not alleged that she has ever been excluded under the closure provision from a proceeding to which she sought access. The only First Amendment allegation in her Third Amended Complaint asserts that “Sylvia Ernst‘s first amendment rights are being violated by not opening up the record of this case; courts are closed to press.” Compl. ¶ 61. During argument before the district court on the First Amendment issue, Ernst‘s counsel agreed with the court that Ernst was “not complaining about her exclusion from a particular hearing but ... about the unconstitutionality of the statute because all the proceedings are closed to the press and public.” App. at 872a (emphasis added).
Because Ernst has alleged only a generalized harm to the public at large from the closure provision, we hold that she lacks standing to assert a First Amendment challenge to the provision.
IV. Borzillo‘s Cross-Appeal
Ernst‘s only success at trial was against CYS attorney Borzillo, against whom she was awarded nominal damages and attorneys’ fees. The district court found that Borzillo violated Ernst‘s right to substantive due process when she filed a petition for rehearing en banc with the President Judge of the Chester County Court of Common Pleas and obtained a stay of a court order granting Ernst an unsupervised visit with Susanne. Borzillo cross-appeals the district court‘s grant of judgment against her, arguing, inter alia, that she is entitled to absolute immunity for her activity in connection with the petition.
In its pre-trial grant of partial summary judgment for the defendants, the district court held that Borzillo was entitled to absolute quasi-prosecutorial immunity for her actions in representing CYS in connection with Susanne‘s dependency proceedings.8 However, the court held that Borzillo was not immune for actions she took on CYS‘s behalf
Borzillo‘s removal from Susanne‘s case arose from an exchange she had with the court during a November 20, 1991 hearing before Judge Melody, who was then newly assigned to the case. During the hearing, but outside the presence of CYS or its attorney, Judge Melody spoke with Susanne about her desire to have an unmonitored weekend home visit with her grandmother. Upon learning that the court was considering granting a home visit, Borzillo returned to the courtroom to “object strenuously.” In the apparent belief that Judge Melody was on the verge of granting the home visit, Borzillo commented, “Your Honor, I find it interesting that you are making a decision without reading the file of this case.” App. at 2075a-76a. The following exchange ensued:
THE COURT: I didn‘t make any decision. I‘m disturbed with you, Ms. Borzillo. You are saying that I‘m making decisions and I haven‘t made any decision. I am talking to people and I resent the fact that you are saying that I am making decisions. I haven‘t made any decision yet.—
MS. BORZILLO: I am sorry, Your Honor.
* * * * *
THE COURT: Ms. Borzillo, I observed the way you acted. You did not act as a professional attorney. You came in with an obvious bent and chip on your shoulder with your face ... red as a beet, red as a tomato, mad, distraught, upset. You did not act as a responsible attorney, in my humble opinion. I do not think that you can possibly be objective with regard to this case and the attorney involved for CYS has to be objective and because you cannot be objective and because of what you demonstrated to me, you cannot help us with regard to this case, and by that I mean, you cannot help the Court and I don‘t believe that you can help in the best interest of this child. So in the best interest of this child, you are going to be removed from this case and someone else is going to have to become involved in the case.
In the meantime, all matters are continued until that is done.
* * * * *
MR. WILSON [Susanne‘s court-appointed attorney]: Your Honor, may I ask that she remain in the case.
THE COURT: We will not have a meeting at this time until CYS is represented. So, we will have CYS represented by someone and then I would be happy to have a meeting with you and other counsel.
MR. WILSON: I would ask that you reconsider Ms. Borzillo‘s removal from the case.
THE COURT: I am not going to reconsider it. It was so obvious in the way that she stormed into this room, that she cannot be objective. I have been a lawyer since 1960, I have been a Judge since May of 1981, I know people, I know lawyers, and it‘s obvious to me that the way that she stormed in here with her face as red as a beet or red as a tomato, that she cannot be objective with regard to this case and she cannot, in my humble opinion, to aid me as a Judge and in my humble opinion, she cannot be objective, which would be in the best interest of the child and that‘s why in my opinion she should no longer remain in the case. Because of the way that she acted, it‘s too obvious to me that new blood, by way of a new attorney for CYS, has to be infused in this case.
MR. WILSON: Your Honor will not reconsider?
THE COURT: I will not reconsider. It‘s too obvious to me that she is too personally involved in this case to the extent—well, you saw the way she acted and I don‘t have to say anymore, so that will take care of things for today.
Transcript of November 21, 1991 Hearing, at 34-37, App. at 2076a-78a & Supp. App. at 1.
Judge Melody did not immediately issue an order implementing his declared intention to remove Borzillo and to require CYS to retain new counsel. Moreover, contrary to his statement that all matters would be continued until a new attorney was appointed by
Borzillo contacted Judge Melody‘s chambers at 11:05 A.M. to challenge the issuance of the order and was informed that the judge would not be available to entertain a motion for reconsideration until December 23rd. Judge Melody did, however, send Borzillo a letter, dated December 18, 1991, threatening contempt proceedings if CYS did not comply with the visitation order, and further stating, “As of this moment, you are not counsel for Children & Youth Services in this case. However, you may be reinstated in the future for Children & Youth Services in this case.” In his letter, Judge Melody acknowledged that he had “handed down the order sua sponte without input from Children & Youth Services or anyone else because [he] believed it was in the best interest of the child to do so.” The letter indicated that a copy had been dispatched to President Judge Lawrence Wood of the Chester County Court of Common Pleas.
Continuing her efforts to prevent the unmonitored visit from taking place, Borzillo, on December 18, 1991, filed with President Judge Wood a motion for argument en banc and a motion to stay Judge Melody‘s visitation order. Judge Wood granted a stay at 9:21 A.M. the next day, and Ernst‘s visit with Susanne that afternoon was supervised. Shortly thereafter, Judge Melody withdrew from the case, it was reassigned, and the new judge allowed Borzillo to continue representing CYS.
The district court held that Borzillo was not entitled to immunity for actions taken during the time that she was “removed” from the case because those actions were “in breach of a court order” and as such were “not within the prosecutorial function.” Ernst v. Children & Youth Servs. of Chester County, No. CIV.A. 91-3735, 1993 WL 343375, at *24 (E.D.Pa. Sept. 3, 1993) (citing Chrissy F. by Medley v. Mississippi Dep‘t of Pub. Welfare, 925 F.2d 844 (5th Cir.1991)). On the merits, the court found that Borzillo‘s efforts to prevent Ernst from enjoying a single unsupervised visit with Susanne were “motivated by animosity and anger at Ernst‘s small victory” and “exceeded the bounds of zealous advocacy.” Id. at *25. Because we conclude that Borzillo was not acting completely outside her authority as CYS‘s attorney, we reject the district court‘s conclusion and hold that Borzillo is entitled to absolute immunity for her actions taken on CYS‘s behalf on December 18-19, 1991.
As we explained in Part III-A, a prosecutor or other official performing a quasi-prosecutorial function for the state is entitled to absolute immunity for official actions taken on behalf of the State that are integrally related to the judicial process. If absolute immunity is to serve its purpose, the line between official conduct, as to which there is immunity, and extra-official conduct, as to which there is not, must be drawn without reference to the official‘s subjective state of mind. It must also be drawn in a manner that leaves officials room for good faith mistakes about the extent of their authority. Thus, if the circumstances in a particular case were such that a reasonable prosecutor in the defendant‘s position could have had a good faith belief that he was authorized by his office to act as he did, immunity will be recognized. In such a case, an allegation that the official acted in bad faith, knowing his conduct to be unauthorized, will not strip the official of absolute immunity. Similarly, absolute immunity will be available, in such a case, even if the authority in fact was lacking under the law. Stated conversely, immunity will be denied only for those acts which a reasonable prosecutor would recognize as being “clearly outside his jurisdiction” to represent the state before the court. Bauers v. Heisel, 361 F.2d 581, 591 (3d Cir.1966).
Bauers illustrates the governing principles. It was a civil rights action in which the defendant prosecutor had instituted and prosecuted a criminal proceeding against a plaintiff in a New Jersey court of general jurisdiction. A higher New Jersey court subsequently held that because the defendant had been under 18 years of age at the
We have already indicated that the primary responsibility of a prosecutor is to vindicate the wrongs which have been committed against society. This is precisely what appellee was doing when the denial of appellant‘s liberty occurred. The mere fact that the New Jersey Legislature had excised from his responsibility the prosecution of individuals who were under the age of eighteen when they committed acts which would otherwise be punishable offenses does not indicate that he was acting clearly outside his jurisdiction.
Bauers, 361 F.2d at 591; see also Snell v. Tunnell, 920 F.2d 673, 694 (10th Cir.1990) (“[W]hile a prosecutor might lose absolute immunity when he acts with a complete and clear absence of authority, such a condition does not occur when a prosecutor has an arguable basis of authority.“).
With this background, we turn to the facts of this case. Borzillo was an attorney in private practice who was engaged by CYS from time to time to represent it in dependency proceedings. By December 18, 1991, her representation of CYS in Susanne‘s dependency matters was entering its 43rd month. During that representation, there had been countless appearances before the court and, by December 18, 1991, the relevant factual background of the matter could fairly be characterized as extensive.
As we have noted, the act which the district court found to be beyond the scope of Borzillo‘s absolute immunity was the filing in court on December 18th of a petition seeking review of an order entered without notice to her client. The petition was filed at her client‘s request and did nothing more than present to the court the views and position of her client with respect to that order. Thus, like the challenged conduct of the prosecutor in Bauers, the conduct Ernst challenged here was precisely the kind of activity in which one occupying Borzillo‘s office would be expected to engage.
It is true that Ernst alleged, and the court found, that Borzillo and her client filed this petition because of hostility to Ernst rather than for the purpose of serving the best interest of Susanne. As we have explained, however, the subjective motivation behind the challenged action cannot deprive Borzillo of immunity if a reasonable person in her position could have believed she was acting within the scope of her authority.
The district court also concluded that the filing of the petition was “in breach of a court order.” Ernst, 1993 WL 343375, at *24. While we agree that the existence of a court order directing that the challenged act not be done is highly relevant to, and will ordinarily be determinative of, whether a prosecuting attorney has acted in a “clear absence of authority,” there were extenuating circumstances here.
At the November 20, 1991, hearing before the court, Judge Melody, after an emotionally charged exchange, concluded that Borzillo could not be “objective” about the case. The judge then announced that Borzillo would be removed and that someone else would have to become involved in the case. He assured the parties that “in the meantime, all matters [would be] continued until that was done.” No order followed directing CYS to secure new counsel. Given the nature, length and frequency of the proceedings in this matter, a change of counsel was not something that CYS could easily accomplish. In light of this fact and the emotional character of the November 20th hearing, we believe CYS cannot be faulted for waiting to see if an order requiring a change of counsel would actually ensue.
From CYS‘s perspective, matters remained in a holding pattern until the morning of December 18th when it received from Ernst‘s counsel a copy of an order directing
The “order” removing Borzillo to which the district court referred in its ruling may have been the letter apparently written by Judge Melody during the afternoon of December 18th in which he informed Borzillo that she was removed from the case “as of this moment.” The district court made no express finding, however, that this letter was received by Borzillo prior to the filing of the challenged petition, and we have found no record evidence that would support such a finding. Nonetheless, even if we were to assume that Judge Melody‘s letter was hand-delivered to Borzillo prior to the filing of the petition, we could not say that the petition she filed was clearly in excess of her authority.
Borzillo‘s client had no previous opportunity to express its views on Ernst‘s application. Nor had it previously had the opportunity to challenge Judge Melody‘s December 18th letter order removing its counsel from the case, presumably for lack of objectivity. There was clearly no time to secure substitute counsel; the order that CYS wished to challenge would become moot before new counsel could review the matter and file a petition.
Judge Melody‘s December 18th letter order “removing” Borzillo was not entered for the benefit or protection of an opposing party. Nor was it entered as a sanction for conduct the judge had found to be disruptive of the judicial process. Rather, it was entered presumably because the judge believed Borzillo would not, at least for the moment, be able to assist him in determining what was in Susanne‘s best interest.
In this context, we believe a reasonable attorney in Borzillo‘s position could have concluded that she owed a duty to her client to seek judicial review at its behest and that petitioning for that review before the court en banc was not what Judge Melody intended to preclude by writing his December 18th letter. It necessarily follows that Borzillo did not act in a clear absence of authority.9
Because we hold that Borzillo is entitled to absolute immunity for all of her quasi-prosecutorial activities while representing CYS in connection with Susanne‘s dependency proceedings, we will reverse the district court‘s grant of judgment against her and remand for entry of judgment in her favor.
V.
The district court found it “disappointing that [the CYS] professionals were unable to submerge their personal views in dealing with a difficult woman or to give her sufficient credit for fighting placements out of genuine concern for [Susanne‘s] welfare.” Ernst, 1993 WL 343375, at *23. There is ample evidence in the record to support this view, as well as the view that their inability to do so had unfortunate consequences for Susanne and her grandmother. Nevertheless, we must acknowledge, as did the district court, the interest of the state in ensuring the independent and effective operation of the agency charged with protecting the state‘s children. That overriding interest precludes this court from affording Ernst compensation for whatever injuries she may