ORDER ON MOTIONS TO DISMISS
THIS MATTER comes before the Court on Defendant Merrick Bobb’s Motion to Dismiss on quasi-judicial immunity grounds (Dkt. No. 19) and Defendants City of Seattle, Mayor Ed Murray, and City Attorney Peter Holmes’s Motion to Dis-; miss for failure to state a claim (Dkt. No. 25). Certain represented Plaintiffs re-spondedlo the Motions, while the remaining pro se Plaintiffs failed to respond. Having reviewed the motions, the Represented Plaintiffs’ Responses (Dkt.Nos.36, 59), Defendant Bobb’s Reply (Dkt. No. 54), the City Defendants’ Reply (Dkt. No. 62), and all related papers, the Court hereby GRANTS both Motions and DISMISSES the case with prejudice.
Summary
In this case, certain officers with the Seattle Police Department are challenging a Use of Force Policy adopted in response to an earlier lawsuit filed against the City of Seattle by the United States Department of Justice. In the earlier lawsuit, the Department of Justice claimed that the Seattle Police Department engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive use of force. As a condition of settlement, the City of Seattle agreed to create new policies aimed at preventing this pattern from repeating. One of the key players in creating the Use of Force Policy was Merrick Bobb, a “Monitor” appointed as an agent of the court to assist in the policy-drafting process, among other tasks. Although many groups gave feedback as the Use of
The officers now argue the new Use of Force Policy violates their constitutional rights by constraining their options in defending themselves against potentially dangerous suspects. They also argue that the way the Use of Force Policy was drafted violates the Constitution. They ask the Court to stop the implementation of the Use of Force Policy, to declare the Use of Force Policy unconstitutional, and to award them money damages.
As the Court explains in greater detail below, .the officers’ constitutional arguments are not supported by the text of the Constitution or ease law interpreting the Constitution. In addition, the officers cannot sue the court-appointed Monitor Merrick Bobb because he has “absolute immunity” from lawsuits relating to his actions assisting in the resolution of the earlier lawsuit. This immunity is known as “quasi-judicial” because it is derived from the immunity given to judges, and Merrick Bobb is entitled to it both because he was appointed as an agent of a judge and be-' cause he was engaged in activities that parallel those of a judge. Because the officers’ case is not supported by the Constitution or case law, the Court dismisses the lawsuit.
Background
The Represented Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs representing themselves are police officers employed by the Seattle Police Department (“SPD”) who have filed suit to challenge the Use of Force Policy (“Policy”) adopted by the City of Seattle (“City”) pursuant to a consent decree and settlement with the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”). (Dkt. No. 13 at 3-4; see Case No. C12-1282-JLR, United States v. City of Seattle.) In the first lawsuit, the Department of Justice claimed that after “an extensive investigation of the Seattle Police Department [...], the United States [ ] determined that SPD engages in patterns or practices of using unlawful force that systematically deny the people of Seattle their constitutional rights.” (Case No. C12-1282-JLR, Compl. & DOJ Report, Dkt. No. 1 at 2, cited in Am. Compl., Dkt. No. 13 at 3.) The settlement agreement and its central components, including the use of force policy it pledged to produce, had the “goal of addressing the policies, procedures, training, and oversight that the United States alleges contributed to a pattern or practice of constitutional violations.” (See Case No. C12-1282-JLR, Joint Motion and Proposed Order for Approval of Settlement Agreement, Dkt. No. 3 at 2-3, cited in Am. Compl., Dkt. No. 13 at 3-4; see also Settlement Agreement, Ryan-Lang Deck, Dkt. No. 12-1 at 17-18, cited in Am. Compl. Dkt. No. 13 at 3-4; id., Memorandum Submitting Use of Force- Policy, Dkt. No. 12-2 at 57-58, cited in Am. Compl., Dkt. No. 13 at 4.) The agreement included a plan for a court-appointed Monitor. (Dkt. No. 12-1 at 52-70; Dkt. No. 12-2 at 5-6.) According to the court-appointed Monitor when he submitted the Policy to the court, the Policy was “calibrated to bring about Constitutional policing without sacrificing the safety and well-being of police officers or the general public.” (Dkt. No. 12-2 at 58.)
Plaintiffs now allege the Policy is too solicitous of the rights of those being policed and insufficiently concerned with the rights of those employed as police officers. (See Am. Compl., Dkt. No. 13 at 2.) Plaintiffs bring their claims under § 1983 and Bivens, alleging the creation and implementation of the Policy violates their own Second and Fourth Amendment rights, their “right of self-defense as embedded in
In addition to the City, Mayor Ed Murray, and City Attorney Peter Holmes, Plaintiffs filed suit against federal actors involved in the settlement agreement and formulation of the Policy. One of those Defendants is Merrick Bobb, the court-appointed Monitor in the underlying litigation. Plaintiffs allege that Mr. Bobb is liable for the constitutional errors they identify in the Policy because he allegedly seized control over the drafting process and refused input from the Seattle Police Department and its officers. (See Dkt. No. 13 at 5.)
The City Defendants now move to dismiss the Amended Complaint, arguing Plaintiffs’ allegations fail to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (Dkt. No. 25.) Defendant Bobb also moves to dismiss on the grounds of quasi-judicial immunity. (Dkt. No. 19.)
Analysis
I. Legal Standards
A. Motion to Dismiss
To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6); Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
B. Evidence and Related Proceedings at the Motion to Dismiss Stage
Federal Rule of Evidence 201(b) provides that the Court “may judicially notice a fact that is not subject to reasonable dispute because it ... can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.” Thus, the Court may take notice of “documents [that] are not physically attached to the complaint ... if the documents’ ‘authenticity ... is not contested’ and ‘the plaintiffs complaint necessarily relies’ on them.” Lee v. City of Los Angeles,
II. The Monitor and Quasi-Judicial Function
Defendant Bobb argues the claims against him must be dismissed because he has absolute quasi-judicial immunity from suit in his role as Monitor. (Dkt. No. 19.) “Absolute judicial immunity insulates judges from charges of erroneous acts or irregular action.” Burton v. Infinity Capital Management,
Plaintiffs acknowledge Mr. Bobb was appointed by the Court in the underlying litigation to “oversee implementation of the Consent Agreement.” (Dkt. No. 13 at 4.) According to the Order Approving Consensus Use of Force Policies, a document cited by Plaintiffs (Dkt. No. 13 at 3), “[t]he role of the court, and the Monitor who serves as an agent of the court, [was] not to dictate policies to the SPD, but rather to insure that the Proposed Policies conform to the requirements of the Consent Decree, the United States Constitution, and judicial decisions interpreting the City’s constitutional obligations.” (Dkt. No. 12-2 at Ex. 8, p. 65.) Plaintiffs allege that while Mr. Bobb agreed it was not his role to write the Policy (Dkt. No. 13 at 4, citing the Memorandum, Dkt. No. 12-2 at Ex. 7), the Policy was “altered almost in its entirety and replaced with specific language provided, and required, by the Monitor.” (Dkt. No. 13 at 5.) According to Plaintiffs, this “language” was the outcome preferred by the DOJ as opposed to the City. (See id. at 5, 27.) The Court must accept for the purpose of this motion that Mr. Bobb seized control over the drafting process, implemented the DOJ’s preferred solutions, and refused input from other stakeholders such as officers of the Seattle Police Department. The question remains whether these alleged acts deprived him of quasi-judicial immunity for his role in the process.
Plaintiffs argue that because the Consent Decree did not grant the Monitor the power to draft the Policy unilaterally, his actions were not “judicial.” (See Dkt. No. 36 at 6.) Plaintiffs concede “judicial” acts have been defined by the Supreme Court to encompass “the function of resolving disputes between parties, or of authoritatively adjudicating private rights.” (Id. at 5, citing Antoine,
Because Defendant Bobb exercised discretion in resolving a dispute at the request of a district judge, he is entitled to absolute quasi-judicial immunity from suit and . the charges against him must be dismissed.
III. City’s Substantive Motion to'Dismiss
The City Defendants move to dismiss on the basis that Plaintiffs’ allegations fail to state a claim under the Second or Fourth Amendments, the Equal Protection Clause, or the Due Process Clause. (Dkt. No. 25.)
A. Second Amendment
The City Defendants argue the Policy does not violate Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights because while the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to bear arms, the Second Amendment does not provide that individuals have a right to use a firearm in any particular way. (Dkt. No. 25 at 7.) Plaintiffs contend that the Second Amendment codified a preexisting right to self-defense, and the Policy burdens that right. (Dkt. No. 59 at 4.)
The Ninth Circuit has adopted a two-step test for analysis of Second Amendment claims: (1) the court asks whether the challenged law burdens conduct protected by the Second Amendment, and (2) if so, the court determines whether the law meets the appropriate level of scrutiny. See Jackson v. City & Cnty. of San Francisco,
Plaintiffs can point to no case establishing that the Second Amendment codified a freestanding right to self-defense, as opposed to case law interpreting the textual Second Amendment rights to “keep and bear arms” in light of their purposes (which the Supreme Court has held include the facilitation of self-defense). See, e.g., District of Columbia v. Heller,
Instead, the Supreme Court has been clear that “the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited” and is “not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.” Heller,
Here, the Policy represents an effort by an employer, the Seattle Police Department, to regulate the use not only of (employer-issued) weapons but of the force its employees are specially sanctioned to wield on behalf of the city government. This scenario has no relation to the Second Amendment guarantees for individuals recognized in Heller, McDonald, and Per-uta.
Because the Policy does not burden conduct protected by the Second Amendment, the Court need not proceed to the second step of the analysis. Plaintiffs fail to state a plausible Second Amendment claim.
B. Fourth Amendment
Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment argument rests on two grounds: the notion that the Policy itself effects a metaphorical “seizure” (Dkt. No. 59 at 9-11) and the notion that the case law analyzing the limits of citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights against the government can be flipped inside out to describe the positive rights of government actors (such as police officers) against citizens (id. at 11-12). Both grounds grossly misconstrue Fourth Amendment law.
Fourth Amendment seizures of persons are neither figurative nor hypothetical. The definition requires that a government actor “by means of physical
Plaintiffs further argue that cases analyzing the Fourth Amendment rights of citizens have recognized a “countervailing governmental interest[ ]”—thus purportedly endowing police officers with a Fourth Amendment right to use force. (See Dkt. No. 59 at 11, citing Graham v. Connor,
Plaintiffs fail to state a claim under the Fourth Amendment.
C. Equal Protection Clause
Plaintiffs base their Equal Protection Clause claim on the idea that the Policy burdens “fundamental rights” embedded in the Second and Fourth Amendments. (See Dkt. No. 59 at 12-13 (citing Tucson Woman’s Clinic v. Eden,
Plaintiffs also fail to make even the most rudimentary showing in an equal protection claim: they fail to describe themselves as members of an affected class similarly situated to those outside the class. See City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr.,
Plaintiffs fail to state a claim under the Equal Protection Clause.
D. Substantive Due Process
Plaintiffs allege substantive due process claims “for both their rights enumerated in the Second Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and Equal Protection Clause” and “for their independent constitutional right to self-defense.” (Dkt. No. 59 at 13-14.) As Plaintiffs acknowledge, substantive due process claims that relate to other constitutional provisions must be analyzed under the legal standards established for those provisions. See Graham v. Connor,
As for the “independent constitutional right to self-defense,” Plaintiffs concede that “no case has expressly considered whether a police officer’s right to self-defense is protected by the Constitution” but ask the Court to locate it in the penumbrae of other constitutional provisions. (Dkt. No. 59 at 14-17.) Courts are “reluctant to expand the concept of substantive
Plaintiffs characterize the Policy as excessively rigid and complicated. (Dkt. No. 59 at 17.) They assert that delay and injury will result from the Policy’s checks on officers’ responses to violent suspects. (Id.) But substantive due process does not guarantee a reasonably safe workplace. Collins,
E. Procedural Due Process
Plaintiffs complain that they were not included in the process by which the Policies were adopted, but they cite to no case imposing such a requirement on government employers. (See Dkt. No. 59 at 20.) Furthermore, Plaintiffs locate the liberty interests of which Plaintiffs were allegedly deprived in the Second and Fourth Amendments, and the Court has already held that Plaintiffs’ rights in these areas were not violated. (See id.) Plaintiffs were not due any particular process in the adoption of use-of-force standards by their employer; to the extent they were invited to participate, that participation was a privilege rather than a right.
F. City’s Other Arguments
The City also argues that Plaintiffs lack standing, fail to state a claim against the Seattle mayor and city attorney, and do not merit injunctive relief. (Dkt. No. 25 at 20-23.) Because the Court concludes Plaintiffs fail to state plausible claims for
Conclusion
Because Defendant Bobb is an agent of the court entitled to quasi-judicial immunity, the Court GRANTS his Motion to Dismiss. (Dkt. No. 19.) In addition, because Plaintiffs’ Complaint fails to state a claim for relief under § 1983 or Bivens for violation of their Second or Fourth Amendment rights, the Equal Protection Clause, or substantive or procedural due process, the Court GRANTS the City Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. (Dkt. No. 25.) The case is therefore DISMISSED for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Because the Complaint has already been amended once and further amendment would be futile, the dismissal is with prejudice.
The clerk is ordered to provide copies of this order to all counsel.
