Kottmyer v. MaasKottmyer v. Maas
Before: MERRITT, MARTIN, and COLE, Circuit Judges.
OPINION
BOYCE F. MARTIN, Circuit Judge.
Marlena and Robert Kottmyer appeal the district court‘s order denying their motion for leave to amend their complaint and granting the defendants‘s motions to dismiss in this section 1983 case. For the reasons stated below, we AFFIRM the district court‘s decision.
I.
On May 15, 2001, Marlena gave birth to the Kottmyers‘s daughter, Arianna Marie Kottmyer, at Bethesda Hospital. Arianna was born with significant brain damage, and on May 17, 2001 she was admitted to Cincinnati Children‘s Hospital Medical Center. Due to Arianna‘s severe brain damage, a hospital social worker, Aimee Maas, was assigned to Arianna‘s case. The Kottmyers had several meetings with hospital staff regarding the seriousness of Arianna‘s brain damage. Following one of these meeting, Maas decided that Marlena was a danger to Arianna and that Marlena should not be permitted to take Arianna home. Maas informed Marlena that if she took Arianna home and anything happened to Arianna, Marlena would be accused of murder. Maas then contacted the Hamilton County Department of Jobs and Family Services which assigned social worker Debbie Ayer to initiate an investigation of the Kottmyers.
During the investigation, Arianna was transferred to another medical facility, St. Joseph‘s Home. Hamilton County continued its investigation of the Kottmyers despite receiving information from the medical staff treating Arianna
The Kottmyers then filed suit against Maas, Cincinnati Children‘s Hospital, Hamilton County, and Ayer under
On December 8, 2004, the district court issued an order denying the Kottmyers‘s motion for leave to file an amended complaint and granting Ayer‘s and Hamilton County‘s motion to dismiss. The district court denied the Kottmyers leave to file an amended complaint on the grounds that the Kottmyers‘s “proposed amended complaint does nothing to remedy the original failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” The district court granted Ayer‘s and Hamilton County‘s motion to dismiss for the reasons stated in its earlier order granting Maas‘s and Cincinnati Children‘s Hospital‘s motion to dismiss. The Kottmyers then filed this appeal.
II.
The Kottmyers‘s appeal alleges three errors by the district court. First, the Kottmyers allege that the district court erred in dismissing the complaint against Maas and Cincinnati Children‘s Hospital based on
A.
The Kottmyers allege that the district court erred in granting Maas‘s and Cincinnati Children‘s Hospital‘s motion to dismiss based on
After reviewing the Kottmyers‘s complaint we agree with the district court that it failed to state a claim against Maas and Cincinnati Children‘s Hospital. In order to state a claim under section 1983, it must be established that (1) the conduct in controversy was committed by a person acting under color of law, and (2) the conduct deprived the plaintiff of a federal right, either constitutional or statutory. Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922, 930, 102 S.Ct. 2744, 73 L.Ed.2d 482 (1982). The Kottmyers‘s complaint failed to allege facts indicating that Maas and Cincinnati Children‘s Hospital were acting under color of law when the alleged violation of the Kottmyers‘s federal rights occurred.
B.
The Kottmyers second allegation of error is that the district court erred in dismissing their complaint against Ayer and Hamilton County for failure to state a claim. The standard of review applicable to motions for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to
As noted above, in order to allege a section 1983 claim, the Kottmyers‘s complaint must assert that (1) Ayer and Hamilton County were acting under color of law and (2) that they violated the Kottmyers‘s constitutional or statutory rights. There is no question that Ayer and Hamilton County were acting under color of law. Thus, we must determine whether Ayer or Hamilton County violated the Kottmyers‘s rights. Given that the complaint and the Kottmyers‘s brief provide only sketchy outlines of their claims at best, it is difficult to determine the exact rights that the Kottmyers claim to be at issue. However, viewing the complaint and the brief in the light most favorable to the Kottmyers, we suspect that the complaint asserts that Ayer and Hamilton County infringed upon the Kottmyers‘s right to familial association without due process of the law.
Proceeding under that assumption, we construe the Kottmyers‘s argument to be that Maas and Cincinnati Children‘s Hospital violated their right to familial association in violation of procedural due process. There is no doubt that under the constitution, the parent-child relation gives rise to a liberty interest that a parent may not be deprived of absent due process of law. See, e.g. Bell v. Milwaukee, 746 F.2d 1205, 1243 (7th Cir.1984); Morrison v. Jones, 607 F.2d 1269, 1276 (9th Cir.1979). Moreover, the Supreme Court has repeatedly reaffirmed the existence of a constitutional right to the maintenance of a parent-child relationship. In
Although it has recognized this abstract fundamental liberty interest in family integrity, however, the Supreme Court has yet to articulate the parameters of this right. Nonetheless, what is clear is that the right to family integrity, while critically important, is neither absolute nor unqualified. Martinez v. Mafchir, 35 F.3d 1486, 1490 (10th Cir.1994). The right is limited by an equaling compelling governmental interest in the protection of children, particularly where the children need to be protected from their own parents. Myers v. Morris, 810 F.2d 1437, 1462 (8th Cir.1987). Governmental entities have a “traditional and transcendent interest” in protecting children within their jurisdiction from abuse. Maryland v. Craig, 497 U.S. 836, 855, 110 S.Ct. 3157, 111 L.Ed.2d 666 (1990); see also, New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747, 757, 102 S.Ct. 3348, 73 L.Ed.2d 1113 (1982) (stating that “the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse of children constitutes a government objective of surpassing importance“). Thus, “although parents enjoy a constitutionally protected interest in their family integrity, this interest is counterbalanced by the compelling governmental interest in the protection of minor children, particularly in circumstances where the protection is necessary as against the parents themselves.” Wilkinson, 182 F.3d at 104.
Having concluded that the right to familial association is circumscribed by the government‘s interest in protecting children from potential abuse, we must determine the right‘s applicability to this case. Namely, we must determine whether the right to familial association includes the right to be free from governmental investigation based on a potential risk of harm to the child. We conclude that the right to familial association is not implicated merely by governmental investigation into allegations of child abuse.
Applying the general right, numerous courts have recognized that the right to familial association is implicated by the killing of a child by a state agent. See, e.g., Kelson v. City of Springfield, 76 F.2d 651 (9th Cir.1985); Bell v. City of Milwaukee, 746 F.2d 1205, 1242-45 (7th Cir.1984); Mattis v. Schnarr, 502 F.2d 588, 593-95 (8th Cir.1984). These decisions rely on the notion that parents have a constitutionally protected liberty interest in the companionship and society of their children, which parents are permanently deprived of when their children are killed by a state actor. Thus, courts have concluded that under such circumstance a due process claim is cognizable under section 1983.
Similarly, courts have concluded that a parent‘s liberty interest in familial association is implicated where a child is removed from his or her parent‘s care and custody. Thus, a state agent must provide sufficient due process before terminating parental rights, see Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 753 (1982), or before removing a child from his or her parent‘s custody, see Ram v. Rubin, 118 F.3d 1306, 1310 (9th Cir.1997) (stating that a parent cannot be summarily deprived of custody of his or her child without notice and a hearing, except when the child is in imminent danger). These courts rely on the proposition that the constitution guarantees “that parents will not be separated from their children without due process of law except in emergencies.” Mabe v. San Bernardino County, Department of Public Social Services, 237 F.3d 1101, 1107 (9th Cir.2001) (citing Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 651, 92 S.Ct. 1208, 31 L.Ed.2d 551 (1972)).
When discussing the constitutionally protected right to familial association, courts focus on the parental right of custody and control over their children. A parent is necessarily deprived of his or her right to custody and control of their child, either permanently or temporarily, when a child is removed from the home. A parent is permanently deprived of these rights where the child is killed by a state actor or parental rights are extinguished. Mere investigation by authorities into child abuse allegations without more, however, does not infringe upon a parent‘s right to custody or control of a child in the same manner. Thus, none of the relevant cases suggest that mere investigation by the government of potential harm to a child infringes upon the familial association. On the contrary, the First Circuit has explicitly stated that “[t]he right to family integrity clearly does not include a constitutional right to be free from child abuse investigations.” Watterson v. Page, 987 F.2d 1 (1st Cir.1993); see also Doe v. Heck, 327 F.3d 492, 520 (7th Cir.2003).1
C.
The Kottmyers‘s final claim is that the district court erred in denying their motion to file an amended complaint. We generally review a district court‘s denial of a motion to amend for abuse of discretion. Moore v. City of Paducah, 790 F.2d 557, 559 (6th Cir.1986). Where the district court based its denial of a motion to amend on the legal conclusion that a proposed amendment would not survive a motion to dismiss, however, this Court reviews the district court‘s decision de novo. LRL Properties v. Portage Metro Housing Auth., 55 F.3d 1097, 1104 (6th Cir.1995). Given that the district court‘s reason for denying the Kottmyers leave to amend their complaint was that the proposed amended complaint failed to cure any legal insufficiencies with regard to the Kottmyers‘s section 1983 claim, we apply a de novo standard of review.
Under
The Kottmyers proposed amended complaint did add numerous factual allegations not contained in their original complaint. The proposed amended complaint alleged that Ayer was aware that the Kottmyers were good parents based not only upon her own observation of the Kottmyers‘s interactions with Arianna but also information provided by Arianna‘s pediatrician, who told the social worker that “there was no basis to assume that [Marlena] was anything but a loving and caring mother.” These allegations, however, do nothing to further the Kottmyers‘s constitutional claims.
The only fact of even arguable legal significance was the complaint‘s clarification of its claim that the Kottmyers were informed that they were not permitted to take Arianna home without Ayer approval. As discussed above, however, the Kottmyers do not assert that they attempted to take Arianna home from the hospital much less that Ayer ever actually barred them from removing Arianna from the hospital. Based upon these factual allegations, we cannot conclude that the Kottmyers‘s proposed amendments to their complaint are sufficient to state a claim against any of the defendants. We therefore conclude that the district court properly denied the Kottmyers motion to amend.
III.
For the reasons stated above, we AFFIRM the district court‘s judgment.