Gregory Baldwin v. City of Estherville, Iowa Matt Reineke, Individually and in His Official Capacity as an Officer of the Estherville Police Department and Matt Hellickson, Individually and in His Official Capacity as an Officer of the Estherville Police Department
Gregory Baldwin v. City of Estherville, Iowa Matt Reineke, Individually and in His Official Capacity as an Officer of the Estherville Police Department and Matt Hellickson, Individually and in His Official Capacity as an Officer of the Estherville Police Department
Opinion of the Court
After receiving citizen complaints about the operation of an ATV within city limits, police officers reviewed a video of the event, examined the city's ordinances, and concluded an ordinance had been violated. They sought and obtained an arrest warrant from a magistrate and arrested the ATV operator. An Iowa district court later dismissed the criminal case against the operator, however, finding that no ordinance actually prohibited his conduct.
Thereafter, the ATV operator brought damages claims against the city and the police officers for common-law false arrest, deprivation of civil rights under
We have now been asked by the federal district court to answer the following certified question of Iowa law relating to the Iowa constitutional claims: "Can a defendant raise a defense of qualified immunity to an individual's claim for damages for violation of article I, § 1 and § 8 of the Iowa Constitution ?"
For the reasons discussed herein, we answer this question as follows: A defendant who pleads and proves as an affirmative defense that he or she exercised all due care to conform with the requirements *261of the law is entitled to qualified immunity on an individual's claim for damages for violation of article I, sections 1 and 8 of the Iowa Constitution.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings.
When we answer a certified question, we rely upon the facts provided with the certified question. See Bd. of Water Works Trs. of Des Moines v. Sac Cty. Bd. of Supervisors ,
The incidents giving rise to Baldwin's claims began on Sunday, November 10, 2013. At approximately 2:30 p.m. that day, Officers Reineke and Hellickson were on patrol in the City when they received a dispatch to report to the Law Enforcement Center concerning a "4 wheeler complaint." They drove to the Law Enforcement Center. Upon their arrival, they spoke with Tenner and Patti Lilland, who live in the Estherville area. Mr. Lilland showed the officers a video of a 4-wheeler riding in the ditch on the south side of North 4th Street. The officers were able to identify the driver of the ATV as Greg Baldwin. They watched the ATV proceed along North 4th Street and turn into a ditch, using the north Joe Hoye Park entrance, after which it continued in the ditch until it reached West 14th Avenue North, where it returned to the roadway. Baldwin acknowledges that he was operating his ATV/UTV on that date in the south ditch of North 4th Street and on North 4th Street, and the parties agree that the ditch and street are within the City's limits. Baldwin does not recall using the north Joe Hoye Park entrance to enter the ditch.
Officers Reineke and Hellickson reviewed Iowa Code Ch. 321I, because the City did not reproduce Chapter 321 in printed form, only incorporated it by reference, when that chapter was adopted into the City Code of Ordinances. Officer Reineke then reviewed The Handbook of Iowa All-Terrain Vehicle and Off-Highway Motorcycle Regulations (Handbook ), which the defendants contend is a handbook frequently relied upon by police officers when determining whether off road vehicles are operating in compliance with applicable laws. Baldwin denies, for lack of knowledge, the assertion that police officers rely on the Handbook , and denies that it addresses the applicable laws of the City. Based upon their reading of the State Code and the information contained in the video provided by the Lillands, Officers Reineke and Hellickson concluded that there had been a violation of what they believed was City Ordinance E-321I.10 (operating on highways). Before issuing a citation, however, Officer Reineke conferred with his supervisor, Captain (now Chief) Brent Shatto, and (then) Chief Eric Milburn. Captain Shatto and Chief Milburn agreed that they believed that the activity shown on the video amounted to a violation of the local ordinance. The parties now agree, however, that City Ordinance E-321I.10 was not a valid ordinance in effect at the time that Baldwin operated his ATV/UTV on November 10, 2013, because it did not exist at that time, and it still is not part of the City's Code of Ordinances.
Officer Reineke prepared a citation (No. 131818 8) to Greg Baldwin, alleging that "on or about 11/10/2013 at 2:30 PM defendant did unlawfully Operate Motor Vehicle/Boat RED UTV ... upon a public highway at NORTH 4TH STREET
*262located in the county and state aforesaid and did then and there commit the following offense: Violation ATV OR OFF ROAD UTIL VEH/OPERATION ON HIGHWAYS AND [sic] ... Local Ord E-321I.10 ICIS E-S/321I.10." Defendants' Appendix at 17. The citation issued on November 11, 2013. Officer Reineke went to the Baldwin residence to serve the citation on November 11, 2013, but no one was home. Because Reineke was scheduled to be off work in the days that followed, he e-filed the citation with the notation: "Request Warrant." On November 12, 2013, David D. Forsyth, Magistrate, Third Judicial District of Iowa, entered an Order directing that a warrant issue. Defendants' Appendix at 18. On November 13, 2013, Officer Hellickson served the warrant on Baldwin, while he was in the parking lot at his grandchild's school, in front of his wife and a large number of people, arrested him, and took him to jail, where he was booked. Baldwin's wife came to the jail and posted bond, and Baldwin was released. Subsequently, Baldwin entered a written plea of not guilty to the charge, and trial was set for May 15, 2014.
The defendants allege that, in the days that followed, City Attorney Christopher Fuhrman discovered that the City had not included Iowa Code Ch. 321I when it incorporated Iowa Code Ch. 321 into the Code of Ordinances. They also allege that neither Shatto, Reineke, nor Hellickson knew this; rather, all were operating under the mistaken belief that the adoption and incorporation of Iowa Code Ch. 321 by the City Council included Iowa Code Chs. 321A through 321M. Baldwin disputes these contentions as inconsistent with the meeting that he had with City police officers in 2006 about operation of ATVs in the City; the express incorporation of "chapter 321," not any other chapter of the Iowa Code, into the Code of Ordinances; and the existence of Chapter 9 of the Code of Ordinances. Mr. Fuhrman was granted leave to amend the charge to allege a violation of a different ordinance, City Ordinance 219-2(2). Defendants' Appendix at 28-29. After Baldwin's counsel filed a Motion For Adjudication Of Law Points And To Dismiss, and the City filed its response, the court found "that the cited act is not in violation of the city code as written and the case is DISMISSED, costs assessed to the City of Estherville." Defendants' Appendix at 30-37.
Baldwin alleges that, because of his arrest, he suffered mental and emotional harm and anguish, anxiety, fear, degradation, disgrace, uncertainty, apprehensiveness, restlessness, dismay, tension, and unease. He contends that his wife confirmed the effect on him in her deposition. The defendants deny that Baldwin has produced any evidence to support these claims of harm.
Baldwin v. Estherville ,
The Estherville City Code incorporated Iowa Code chapter 321 via ordinance E-321.1, which stated,
All sections of the state statutory law, rules of the road, Chapter 321 of the Code of Iowa the offense of which constitutes a simple misdemeanor, are hereby adopted and incorporated by this reference the same as if set forth in full herein into the Code of Ordinances of the City of Estherville, Iowa, and the violation of such applicable state statutory laws of the road shall be a violation of this chapter if the offense occurs within the territorial city limits of the City of Estherville.
*263Estherville, Iowa, Code of Ordinances, tit. II, div. 1, ch. 7, § E-321.1
Iowa Code section 321.234A covers operation of ATVs and provides,
All-terrain vehicles shall not be operated on a highway unless one or more of the following conditions apply:
....
f. The all-terrain vehicle is operated on a county roadway in accordance with section 321I.10, subsection 2, or a city street in accordance with section 321I.10, subsection 3.
Iowa Code section 321I.10 also covers ATVs and provides,
1. A person shall not operate an all-terrain vehicle or off-road utility vehicle upon roadways or highways except as provided in section 321.234A and this section.
2. A registered all-terrain vehicle or off-road utility vehicle may be operated on the roadways of that portion of county highways designated by the county board of supervisors for such use during a specified period. The county board of supervisors shall evaluate the traffic conditions on all county highways and designate roadways on which all-terrain vehicles or off-road utility vehicles may be operated for the specified period without unduly interfering with or constituting an undue hazard to conventional motor vehicle traffic. In designating such roadways, the board may authorize all-terrain vehicles and off-road utility vehicles to stop at service stations or convenience stores along a designated roadway.
3. Cities may designate streets under the jurisdiction of cities within their respective corporate limits which may be used for the operation of registered all-terrain vehicles or registered off-road utility vehicles. In designating such streets, the city may authorize all-terrain vehicles and off-road utility vehicles to stop at service stations or convenience stores along a designated street.
The parties now agree that Iowa Code section 321.234A had been incorporated into the Estherville ordinances by ordinance E-321.1, but section 321I.10 had not been so incorporated.
As noted above, City Attorney Fuhrman later amended the charge against Baldwin to allege a violation of a different, free-standing city ordinance, 219.2(2). This ordinance reads,
ATV/UTVs may be operated upon the streets of the City of Estherville, Iowa, except as prohibited in Subsection 1 of this section, by persons possessing a valid Iowa Driver's License.
1. Prohibited Streets. ATV/UTVs shall not be operated upon any city street which is a primary road extension through the city, to wit: Iowa Highway No. 4 and Iowa Highway No. 9. However, ATV/UTVs may cross such primary road extensions.
2. Parks and Other Public Lands. ATV/UTVs shall not be operated off-road in city parks, playgrounds, or upon any publicly-owned property.
3. Private Property. ATV/UTVs may only be operated upon private property with express consent of the owner thereof or while engaged in snow removal, landscaping, or other maintenance activities.
4. Sidewalk or Parking. No ATV/UTV shall be operated upon sidewalks unless engaged in snow removal or maintenance activities (except along the south sidewalk from South First Street to West South First Street) nor shall they be operated upon that portion of the *264street located between the curb line and sidewalk or property line commonly referred to as the "parking" except for purposes of snow removal, maintenance, or landscaping activities.
Estherville, Iowa, Code of Ordinances, tit. II, div. 1, ch. 9, 219.2(2). Regardless, as noted above, the district court dismissed the criminal complaint on the ground that Baldwin's conduct was "not in violation of the city code as written."
On November 4, 2015, Baldwin filed a civil suit in the Iowa District Court for Emmet County against the City and Officers Reineke and Hellickson, individually and in their official capacities as officers of the Estherville Police Department. In addition to a common-law false arrest claim, Baldwin also alleged violations of his rights under article I, sections 1 and 8 of the Iowa Constitution and his rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution pursuant to
On November 20, the defendants removed the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa on the basis of federal question jurisdiction pursuant to
On July 19, 2016, the defendants moved for partial summary judgment on the federal constitutional claim and the common law false arrest claim, and Baldwin responded with his own motion for partial summary judgment on August 11. On November 18, the federal district court granted the defendants' motion as to Baldwin's § 1983 claim on two bases: that the officers did not lack probable cause for Baldwin's arrest and that they were entitled to qualified immunity.
On October 4, 2017, after we had issued our Godfrey decision, the district court certified this question of law to us: "Can a defendant raise a defense of qualified immunity to an individual's claim for damages for violation of article I, § 1 and § 8 of the Iowa Constitution ?"
II. Standard of Review and Criteria for Answering a Certified Question.
Iowa Code section 684A.1 provides,
The supreme court may answer questions of law certified to it by the supreme court of the United States, a court of appeals of the United States, a United States district court or the highest appellate court or the intermediate appellate court of another state, when requested by the certifying court, if there are involved in a proceeding before it questions of law of this state which may be determinative of the cause then pending in the certifying court and as to which it appears to the certifying court there is no controlling precedent in the decisions of the appellate courts of this state.
Iowa Code § 684A.1 (2017).
Accordingly, we have said,
It is within our discretion to answer certified questions from a United States district court. We may answer a question certified to us when (1) a proper court certified the question, (2) the question involves a matter of Iowa law, (3) the question "may be determinative of the cause ... pending in the certifying court," and (4) it appears to the certifying court that there is no controlling Iowa precedent.
Roth v. Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Soc'y ,
We conclude that these four criteria have been met here and we should answer the certified question. To do so, we will first briefly review our Godfrey decision and the status of governmental immunity in Iowa. We will then examine how other jurisdictions that allow constitutional tort damages claims have treated the question of qualified immunity. Finally, we will consider relevant Iowa precedent and answer the certified question.
III. Godfrey v. State .
Last year, in Godfrey , we held that the State of Iowa and state officials acting in their official capacities could be sued directly for violating article I, section 6 (the Iowa equal protection clause) and article I, section 9 (the Iowa due process clause), where state law does not provide an adequate compensatory damage remedy. See
We expressly deferred consideration of whether qualified immunity applied to these constitutional tort claims.
IV. Governmental Immunity in Iowa.
Tort claims against the government in Iowa are governed by chapter 669, for *266state tort claims, and chapter 670, for municipal tort claims. These chapters apply both to claims against the governmental entity itself and to claims against governmental employees acting in their official capacity.
Each chapter exempts certain claims from liability. These exemptions include the discretionary function exception.
[a]ny claim based upon an act or omission of an employee of the state, exercising due care, in the execution of a statute or regulation, whether or not such statute or regulation be valid, or based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty on the part of a state agency or an employee of the state, whether or not the discretion be abused.
[a]ny claim based upon an act or omission of an officer or employee of the municipality, exercising due care, in the execution of a statute, ordinance, or regulation whether the statute, ordinance or regulation is valid, or based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty on the part of the municipality or an officer or employee of the municipality, whether or not the discretion is abused.
In addition to this exemption, there are similar exemptions in both acts for tax claims, claims covered by workers' compensation, claims for negligent design or specification or failure to upgrade roads or public improvements, and punitive damages. See
V. Review of Other Jurisdictions.
As we noted in Godfrey , "The states that have considered the issue are nearly equally divided in whether to recognize implied constitutional actions for damages or whether to decline to recognize such actions."
We will now review these jurisdictions to determine what immunities, if any, they allow for constitutional tort claims. Our conclusion is that most of these jurisdictions either recognize a federal-type immunity, such as the district court applied to the federal constitutional claims here, or subject constitutional claims to the defenses otherwise available under the state's tort claims act (or similar statute).
A. States That Recognize Harlow v. Fitzgerald Immunity. Under federal law, officials are entitled to qualified immunity from constitutional claims. That is, they cannot be sued when "their conduct does not violate clearly established ... constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald ,
Two states that allow direct claims under their own state constitutions-Connecticut and Louisiana-also provide Harlow -type immunity.
In Binette v. Sabo , the Connecticut Supreme Court recognized a damages cause of action for a violation of the state constitution.
Later, in Fleming v. City of Bridgeport , the Connecticut Supreme Court found that a Harlow -style qualified immunity was available to municipal officers for damages actions following illegal searches when "it was objectively reasonable for them to believe that their actions would not violate a clearly established right of the plaintiff's under the circumstances."
Louisiana also utilizes the federal qualified immunity standard. In Moresi v. Department of Wildlife & Fisheries , the plaintiffs sought recovery under the Louisiana constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches, seizures, and invasions of privacy.
[t]he same factors that compelled the United States Supreme Court to recognize a qualified good faith immunity for state officers under § 1983 require us to recognize a similar immunity for them under any action arising from the state constitution.
Two other jurisdictions we cited in Godfrey as allowing direct constitutional damage claims actually authorize such claims through enabling statutes-Massachusetts and New Jersey. Both states have determined that Harlow immunity applies to such claims, in addition to defenses expressly written into the statutes themselves.
Thus, in Massachusetts, state constitutional tort claims may be pursued via the state civil rights act. See Martino v. Hogan ,
*268Rodriques v. Furtado ,
New Jersey has also authorized the bringing of state constitutional claims by statute through the New Jersey Civil Rights Act. See Gormley v. Wood-El ,
B. States That Limit Liability to That Authorized by the State Tort Claims Act. Other states rely on their tort claims acts to demarcate the outer scope of constitutional damages liability. Officials and the state, in other words, receive the immunities contained within the tort claims act and are liable only when the act would render them liable.
Illinois, one jurisdiction we cited in Godfrey , follows this approach. In Newell v. City of Elgin , the plaintiff sued over a violation of his right against unreasonable searches and seizures set forth in the Illinois Constitution.
So too Maryland. In Lee v. Cline , the Maryland Court of Appeals discussed the interplay between constitutional torts and the immunity provided by the state tort claims act.
In Maryland, the state tort claims act also limits the state's liability for a constitutional tort. See Cooper v. Rodriguez ,
Claims against local governments are also limited. In Clea v. Mayor of Baltimore , the Maryland Court of Appeals originally said that "a public official who violates a plaintiff's rights under the Maryland Constitution is entitled to no immunity."
Based on Clea , Maryland is sometimes cited as a state that refuses to extend common law immunities to constitutional tort claims. See, e.g. , Gary S. Gildin, Redressing Deprivations of Rights Secured by State Constitutions Outside the Shadow of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Remedies Jurisprudence ,
Likewise Mississippi. In City of Jackson v. Sutton , the Mississippi Supreme Court found that the plaintiff's constitutional damage claims were barred by the immunity provisions of the Mississippi tort claims act, which contained the exclusive avenue for relief.
In addition, as already noted, it appears that constitutional damage actions in Massachusetts and New Jersey are subject to the limits in the relevant statute-although in those two states it is the civil rights act rather than the tort claims act.
New York also subjects constitutional tort claims to the statutory framework applicable to other tort claims against the state. In Brown v. State , the New York Court of Appeals held "that a cause of action to recover damages may be asserted against the State for violation of the Equal Protection and Search and Seizure Clauses of the State Constitution."
*270
The court acknowledged that "if we are to recognize a damage remedy it must be implied from the Constitution itself."
The court noted that injunctive or declaratory relief would not help the claimants, nor would exclusion, because the claimants were not charged with a crime.
Notably, New York has waived its sovereign immunity for damages actions against the State.
However, the majority pointed out that many of the legal defenses identified by the dissent can be raised by the state "to avoid paying damages for some tortious conduct because, as a matter of policy, the courts have foreclosed liability."
No New York decisions after Brown have considered whether a defendant can assert the defense of qualified immunity. Instead, the courts generally turn down constitutional tort claims because other remedies are available. In a 2001 case, the New York Court of Appeals rejected a constitutional tort claim arising out of an unlawful search, reasoning as follows:
Moreover, plaintiff fails to demonstrate how money damages are appropriate to ensure full realization of her asserted constitutional rights. Even after years of discovery, plaintiff has not distinguished her case from that of any criminal defendant who has been granted suppression, or reversal of a conviction, based on technical error at the trial level. Plaintiff has shown no grounds *271that would entitle her to a damage remedy in addition to the substantial benefit she already has received from dismissal of the indictment and release from incarceration.
Martinez v. City of Schenectady ,
C. States That Impose a Higher Burden on Bringing a Constitutional Tort. In two states referenced in Godfrey , i.e., Michigan and Wisconsin, courts have determined that constitutional tort damage claims are available but have subjected such claims to a more demanding legal standard. In Michigan, the violation must have resulted from a state custom or policy to hold the state liable. In Wisconsin, the court required an intentional violation of the state constitution.
Constitutional torts in Michigan have their genesis in Smith v. Department of Public Health ,
Subsequent cases, however, have limited the reach of Smith . See, e.g. , Lewis v. State ,
Recently in Mays v. Snyder , a case arising out of the lead contamination of the water supply of Flint, Michigan, the court found the allegations of plaintiffs' complaint sufficient to allege a statewide governmental policy and, thus, sufficient to state a claim for damages under the due process clause of the Michigan Constitution.
In Wisconsin, where the court of appeals has indicated that constitutional torts are *272permissible under the Wisconsin Constitution, the plaintiff must meet a high burden to recover. See Old Tuckaway Assocs. Ltd. P'ship v. City of Greenfield ,
D. States That Do Not Allow a Direct Constitutional Tort. Two states we cited in Godfrey for recognizing direct damage claims under state constitutions-California and Texas-no longer appear to do so.
In Godfrey , we referenced two California cases that date from 1979 and 1982 respectively.
In Hernandez v. Hillsides, Inc ., the California Supreme Court said it was "an open question whether the state constitutional privacy provision, which is otherwise self-executing and serves as the basis for injunctive relief, can also provide direct and sole support for a damages claim."
In Godfrey , we also cited Jones v. Memorial Hospital System , a Texas intermediate appellate decision. See
E. States Where Immunity Is an Open Issue. In two jurisdictions that permit direct constitutional claims for damages, Montana and North Carolina, immunity appears to be an open issue. Both jurisdictions allow constitutional damage claims only when there is no analogous statutory or common-law cause of action.
In Dorwart v. Caraway ,
North Carolina also falls into this wait-and-see category. In Corum v. University of North Carolina , the North Carolina Supreme Court decided that a plaintiff may recover damages for a violation of a state constitutional right when there is no common law or statutory remedy.
when public officials invade or threaten to invade the personal or property rights of a citizen in disregard of law, they are not relieved from responsibility by the doctrine of sovereign immunity even though they act or assume to act under the authority and pursuant to the directions of the State.
Later, that court addressed this issue again in Craig ex rel. Craig v. New Hanover County Board of Education when a plaintiff filed a damages action against the board of education and the principal of his middle school in her individual and official capacities after the plaintiff was sexually assaulted.
This holding does not predetermine the likelihood that plaintiff will win other pretrial motions, defeat affirmative defenses, or ultimately succeed on the merits of his case. Rather, it simply ensures that an adequate remedy must provide the possibility of relief under the circumstances.
Does being time-barred by a statute of repose preclude the possibility of relief? What about qualified immunity? In Craig , a direct constitutional claim was allowed because Craig's claim was precluded by governmental immunity, "regardless of his ability to prove his case." What was left unclear, however, is whether any other procedural bar or well-pled defense would be treated differently.
*275Matthew R. Gauthier, Kicking and Screaming: Dragging North Carolina's Direct Constitutional Claims into the Twenty-First Century ,
VI. The Proper Approach in Iowa.
A. Strict Liability Would Go Too Far. This leads us to Iowa law and the certified question.
To begin with, we are convinced that constitutional tort claims in Iowa should be subject to some limit . As we have already seen, the other states that allow such claims limit liability in some fashion, except for Montana and North Carolina. Those two states have not decided the issue yet.
Consider also the three Iowa precedents we singled out in Godfrey for having recognized constitutional torts. See
McClurg v. Brenton arose when a search party forced their way late at night into a house suspected of harboring stolen chickens, although the party lacked a warrant and although nighttime searches were illegal at the time in the absence of special authority.
There is testimony, also, that the search was conducted, by some of the party, at least, in a loud and boisterous manner, and with little regard for the sensibilities of the plaintiff and his family. One of the searchers candidly admits that he was a "little enthused," and did not pay much attention to the details; and it is said by one witness that another member of the party became somewhat confused as to the real object of the search, and demanded to know whether there was "any beer in the cellar." The discouraging answer that there "was no cellar" seems not to have been fully credited, for it is further testified that the knot holes in the floor were carefully probed with a pocket rule, to ascertain the amount of available space thereunder. Upon such a state of the record, we think it very clear that the jury should have been allowed to pass upon the issue of fact presented by the pleadings. If plaintiff's home was invaded in the manner claimed by him, he has suffered a wrong for which the law will afford him substantial remedy.
Id. at 371,
Krehbiel v. Henkle was another case involving egregious misconduct in connection with a search.
*276Lastly, in Girard v. Anderson , we held that when two private individuals broke into a locked home to forcibly repossess property, the homeowner had a cause of action against them for trespass and conversion.
In short, some limits are consistent with the Iowa precedent we invoked in Godfrey.
We further note that at the time our Constitution was adopted, public officials received the benefit of a form of qualified immunity. In Hetfield v. Towsley , we rejected a claim against a justice of the peace and constable for wrongly taking away the plaintiff's oxen.
The justice and constable, in what they did, were in the performance of official duty. Unless they exceeded their jurisdiction, or acted corruptly, or without authority of law, they are not liable. Although the justice might have acted erroneously, still he was not liable as a trespasser. The injured party had his remedy by certiorari or appeal. The demurrers admit the official character of the officers, and also that they acted in good faith, as stated by them in their special pleas.
In addition, our conclusion in Godfrey that the Iowa Constitution can sustain a damages remedy without prior action by the Iowa legislature does not mean the Iowa courts have no role in crafting that remedy. Nor does it mean that traditional tort rules are irrelevant. The Restatement (Second) of Torts section 874A makes both of these points. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 874A (Am. Law Inst. 1979). That particular section covers "Tort Liability for Violation of Legislative Provision," while including "constitutional provisions" within its scope. See
Section 874A contemplates that a court implying a constitutional (or statutory) cause of action will "us[e] a suitable existing tort action or a new cause of action analogous to an existing tort action." See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 874A. Comment f reiterates this point and states that a civil action to effectuate a constitutional provision "will ordinarily be assimilated to the most similar common law tort."
[w]hether the tort action provided by the court in furtherance of the policy of a legislative [or constitutional] provision *277is to be treated as an intentional tort, as negligence or as a form of strict liability, or perhaps as involving all three ..., depends primarily upon construction of the statute [or constitutional provision] itself.
Moreover, strict damages liability for any constitutional wrong would lead to untenable results. On this point, it is worth analyzing a few of the cases where we found state and local officials were entitled to various immunities when claims had been brought against them under the United States Constitution through
In Minor v. State , the plaintiff asserted that two employees of the Iowa Department of Human Services had improperly caused her child to be removed from her care and failed to protect that child once placed in foster care, in violation of her Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
In Teague v. Mosley , the plaintiff sued three of the five members of a county board of supervisors, alleging they had violated his constitutional rights by not providing a safe environment at the jail.
In Dickerson v. Mertz , the plaintiff sued after having been issued citations for hunting without a valid license and later for "taking deer by auto," and subsequently having been acquitted of both charges.
We believe the government officials in these cases would be reluctant to fully perform their jobs if they could be found strictly liable for actions that happened to violate someone's constitutional rights. There is a danger of overdeterrence. Search and seizure involves judgment calls. For example, in In re Pardee ,
*278And there would be no reason for anyone-including judges-to get special treatment. For example, in this particular case, the magistrate who issued the arrest warrant for Baldwin would be subject to a damages suit as well.
It is true we said in State v. Tonn that "[a] trespassing officer is liable for all wrong done in an illegal search or seizure."
More recently, in Cline , we rejected a good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule under article I, section 8, making essentially the opposite point from what we had said in Tonn :
In our early Tonn case, we observed that the exclusionary rule was unnecessary to enforce the constitutional right because other remedies were available. Whatever truth there may have been to this statement when it was made, it is not valid today. There is simply no meaningful remedy available to one who has suffered an illegal search other than prohibiting the State from benefiting from its constitutional violation. A civil remedy would probably be unsuccessful because the good faith that prevents exclusion would also preclude an action for damages.
Thus, the right to recover damages for a constitutional violation does not need to be congruent with the constitutional violation itself. Such an approach is not consistent with Iowa precedent or Restatement section 874A, and would result in too little play in the joints.
B. Qualified Immunity Based on the Exercise of Due Care Should Be Available for Damage Claims Under Article I, Sections 1 and 8 . If strict liability is not the correct standard, what is? For purposes of article I, sections 1 and 8, we are convinced that qualified immunity should be available to those defendants who plead and prove as an affirmative defense that they exercised all due care to conform to the requirements of the law.
As we have noted, a number of states allow Harlow immunity for direct constitutional claims. In those jurisdictions, there cannot be liability unless the defendant violated "clearly established ... constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow ,
Other jurisdictions that have opened the doors to direct constitutional damage claims have done so within the framework of their existing tort claims acts. Often, these laws shield defendants who act with due care or even who are guilty of ordinary negligence. See, e.g. , Martin v. Brady ,
Iowa's tort claims acts already protect government officials in some instances when they exercise due care. See, e.g. ,
A third set of jurisdictions simply impose higher fault standards as a prerequisite to liability. See Mays ,
We have decided not to follow any of these lines of authority exactly. We believe instead that qualified immunity should be shaped by the historical Iowa common law as appreciated by our framers and the principles discussed in Restatement (Second) of Torts section 874A.
This means due care as the benchmark. Proof of negligence, i.e., lack of due care, was required for comparable claims at common law at the time of adoption of Iowa's Constitution. See Hetfield ,
Because the question is one of immunity, the burden of proof should be on the defendant. See Anderson v. State ,
We find support for our approach in a recent and thoughtful critique of Harlow . See John C. Jeffries Jr., The Liability Rule for Constitutional Torts ,
*281In the end, Professor Jeffries condemns Harlow as "an overly legalistic and therefore overly protective shield," but advocates for a more straightforward "protection for reasonable error."
We agree. Constitutional torts are torts, not generally strict liability cases. Accordingly, with respect to a damage claim under article I, sections 1 and 8, a government official whose conduct is being challenged will not be subject to damages liability if she or he pleads and proves as an affirmative defense that she or he exercised all due care to conform to the requirements of the law.
We leave open a number of other issues. These include the possibility that constitutional claims other than unlawful search and seizure may have a higher mens rea requirement, such as intent, embedded within the constitutional provision itself. In other words, it may take more than negligence just to violate the Iowa Constitution. They also include the possibility that common law absolute immunities, such as judicial immunity or quasi-judicial immunity, could apply to state constitutional claims. And they include the potential applicability of provisions in chapters 669 and 670 other than sections 669.14 and 670.4. We do not address those issues today.
VII. Conclusion.
We have provided the answer to the certified question as set forth above. Costs shall be divided equally among the parties. Iowa Code § 684A.5.
CERTIFIED QUESTION ANSWERED.
All justices concur except Appel and Hecht, JJ., who dissent.
The district court reasoned in part as follows:
Baldwin argues that Ordinance 219-2, which was actually part of the City's Code of Ordinances, plainly establishes the lack of probable cause for his arrest. I believe that the opposite is true. While Ordinance 219-2 does provide that "ATV/UTVs may be operated upon the streets of the City," it also provides "ATV/UTVs shall not be operated off-road in city parks, playgrounds, or upon any publicly-owned property." The officers knew from the video that they reviewed that Baldwin had operated his ATV in the ditch of a City street and that ditch was publicly-owned property. Indeed, the amended charge against Baldwin, after the City Attorney discovered that Ordinance E321I.10 did not exist, was an alleged violation of Ordinance 219-2(2) for driving on "publicly-owned property," because the video showed Baldwin driving his ATV in the ditch of a City street, which was, at least arguably, publicly-owned property.
The Iowa District Court ultimately dismissed the amended charge against Baldwin, but only after making two key constructions of pertinent Ordinances. First, the Iowa District Court construed the plain meaning of "street" in City Ordinances to include the "ditch." This conclusion was based on the definition of "street" in City Ordinance 110-102(23) as "mean[ing] and includ[ing] any public way, highway, street, avenue, boulevard, parkway, or other public thoroughfare ... and unless otherwise indicated in the text, shall include the entire width between the property lines." The Iowa District Court also construed "publicly-owned property" in Ordinance 219-2(2), to the extent that it conflicted with Ordinance 110-102(23), as not including the "ditch" of a City street. ... The Iowa District Court's after-the-fact constructions do not establish that a prudent person could not have believed, at the time of Baldwin's alleged offense, that he had committed a violation of Ordinance 219-2(2).... The officers had probable cause to arrest Baldwin for a violation of Ordinance 219-2(2).
Baldwin ,
Other states not cited in Godfrey for recognizing independent constitutional torts also provide Harlow -type immunity. For example, Vermont permits constitutional tort claims if the provision is self-executing and the legislature has fashioned no other adequate remedial scheme. See Shields v. Gerhart ,
Two other jurisdictions that have not recognized direct constitutional damage claims are Florida and Minnesota.
Florida intermediate appellate courts have repeatedly found that monetary damages are unavailable for violations of state constitutional rights. See Bradsheer v. Fla. Dep't of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles ,
Twenty-four years ago, in a case involving a tax that violated the Federal Constitution, the Florida Supreme Court said, "Sovereign immunity does not exempt the State from a challenge based on violation of the federal or state constitutions, because any other rule self-evidently would make constitutional law subservient to the State's will." Dep't of Revenue v. Kuhnlein ,
To date, Minnesota similarly has not recognized an action for damages for alleged violations of the state constitution. See Laliberte v. State , No. A13-0907,
Thirty years ago, in Elwood v. Rice County , the Minnesota Supreme Court held that Harlow -style qualified immunity did not apply to state common law claims but that Minnesota's own official immunity doctrine applied.
In Godfrey , we characterized Krehbiel as a damages action for violation of article I, section 8, not as a malicious prosecution case.
The right of the citizen to security in person and property against wrongful seizures and searches is one which the law has ever zealously safeguarded and has express recognition in our state Constitution. Const. Iowa, art. 1, § 8. That a violation of this right without reasonable ground therefor gives the injured party a right of action is thoroughly well settled.
Furthermore, many lawful searches and seizures do not result in a criminal prosecution. Thus, when law enforcement chooses to perform a search or seizure, in many cases there will be no "benefit" to the government, only a risk of being subject to a damages action based on after-the-fact second-guessing. This may incentivize law enforcement not to go forward unless there is some protection for good-faith conduct.
An academic has raised some additional points about incentives:
Moreover, the incentives facing government officers are skewed by a cause-of-action problem. An individual hurt by government conduct usually knows exactly whom to blame. The causal connection between the plaintiff's injury and the defendant's conduct is typically clear, and the victim has no trouble stating a cause of action. A person injured by official inaction-by the officer who foregoes an arrest or the school principal who tolerates a troublemaker-often has difficulty identifying any officer responsible for subsequent injury and proving a causal connection. As a result, the risk of being sued for erroneous action is much higher than the risk of being sued for erroneous inaction, though the two may be equally costly. This disparity increases the incentive to protect oneself by doing less.
Even aside from the cause-of-action problem, the incentive structure of government officials encourages inaction. The idea is most plausible for civil servants, who face punishment or loss for demonstrable misconduct but who are rarely able to capture the gains of effective action.
John C. Jeffries Jr., The Liability Rule for Constitutional Torts ,
It is true that public officials are typically indemnified for damage actions against them. See Joanna C. Schwartz, Police Indemnification ,
According to Professor Jeffries,
some gap between constitutional rights and the damages remedy is a good thing. It is not a problem to be solved, but an asset to be preserved. Eliminating that gap entirely would have a baleful effect on the content and development of constitutional law. Jeffries, 99 Va. L. Rev. at 246. He goes on to explain that limitations on damages facilitate the evolution of constitutional law:
At each and every stage, from wholesale innovation to minor adjustment, these decisions found unconstitutional acts that previously could have been thought lawful. All these acts had victims, and all the victims had injuries. If awarding damages had been a necessary corollary of finding violations, the potential impact would have been staggering.
Id. at 248 (footnote omitted). Simply stated, "[u]nder current law, the prospect of awarding money damages does not constrain the definition of constitutional rights." Id.
For example, in Iowa, would it inhibit developments of article I, section 17 jurisprudence if every individual whose sentence was later determined to be unconstitutional could recover constitutional tort damages?
Of course, this does not mean constitutional violations would go unremedied. The issue is whether a direct damages remedy would be available.
We have in the past invalidated presumptions rendering one party responsible for another party's illegal conduct unless the first party proves he or she exercised due care. See Westco Agronomy Co. v. Wollesen ,
Professor Jeffries's stance here is similar to the one we took in Godfrey on the basic issue of whether constitutional torts should be allowed. Godfrey generally approved of direct damages actions under the Iowa Constitution but the special concurrence that provided the decisive vote determined that a damages remedy under article I, section 6 for discrimination based on sexual orientation was not needed in light of an existing, adequate remedy within the Iowa Civil Rights Act. See
Professor Jeffries acknowledges that "[o]n balance, academic opinion favors [strict liability for constitutional violations]." 99 Va. L. Rev. at 241. On the other hand, as we have discussed, no other state judiciary has opted for strict liability.
Dissenting Opinion
I dissent. The controversy in this case involves an allegation of a specific constitutional violation, namely, whether an allegedly unconstitutional seizure of a person by local law enforcement gives rise to a claim of damages. I would answer the certified question by stating that there is no immunity available to shield the defendants from liability for the alleged harm caused by their constitutional torts arising out of article I, section 1 and article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution.
I. Liability of the City for Money Damages.
There is a preliminary issue in the case. The City of Estherville (the City) is a defendant in this case. The State of Iowa, as an amicus, urges us to consider whether a local government entity may be sued for money damages for constitutional violations. The question of the City's liability for constitutional violations of its employees is a distinctly different question than whether individual officers employed by the City are entitled to some form of qualified immunity for their unconstitutional conduct.
The United States Supreme Court has addressed the question in *282Monell v. Department of Social Services ,
In an important subsequent case, Owen v. City of Independence , the United States Supreme Court determined that when a plaintiff successfully demonstrates that a municipality has a custom or policy that violated his or her constitutional rights, the municipality is strictly liable for the violation.
The Owen Court emphasized that the strict-liability approach to unconstitutional municipal policies and customs has sound policy footing.
How "uniquely amiss" it would be ... if the government itself-"the social organ to which all in our society look for the promotion of liberty, justice, fair and equal treatment, and the setting of worthy norms and goals for social conduct"-were permitted to disavow liability for the injury it has begotten.
The knowledge that a municipality will be liable for all of its injurious conduct, whether committed in good faith or not, should create an incentive for officials who may harbor doubts about the lawfulness of their intended actions to err on the side of protecting citizens' constitutional rights.
Id. at 651-52,
The Owen Court sharply distinguished between the liability of municipalities and liability of individual officials.
There are substantial reasons for following Owen but not Monell in determining municipalities' potential liability for the constitutional wrongs of their employees. Monell does not involve a constitutional issue, but only a statutory issue under federal law. See
However, the parties, in this case, do not directly address the Monell issue or the application of Monell in Owen but concentrate their advocacy on the question of whether individual city employees are entitled to qualified immunity with respect to damage claims arising from their unconstitutional conduct. Ordinarily, we do not consider issues raised only by amici and not by the parties themselves. See Press-Citizen Co. v. Univ. of Iowa ,
The majority in this case has now judicially created a type of immunity for individual officers. As explained below, I dissent from the majority's approach to individual liability for constitutional wrongs. The majority's approach, however, increases the pressure to reject the limitations in Monell and apply the strict-liability approach in Owen across the board to claims against municipalities.
Nevertheless, the issue of municipal liability for damages caused by the unconstitutional conduct of its employees was not presented by the parties in this case, is not addressed in the majority opinion, and is reserved for another day.
II. Qualified Immunity of Individual Officers.
A. Introduction. I next address the fighting issue joined by the parties, namely, whether Iowa should adopt a qualified immunity doctrine patterned after the one adopted by the United States Supreme Court in its cases under
B. Rejection of Federal Statutory Qualified Immunity as a Model for Iowa Constitutional Law.
1. Overview. I begin by emphasizing that the policy-oriented federal doctrine of statutory qualified immunity does not provide a model for determining whether individuals are entitled to qualified immunity for Iowa constitutional torts. The federal doctrine of statutory qualified immunity progressively dilutes legal norms, embraces numerous false assumptions, fails to recognize the important role of juries in restraining government, and is inconsistent with important tenants of Iowa law. We should not voluntarily drape our constitutional law with the heavy chains of indefensible doctrine. We should aim to eliminate *284fictions in our law and be honest and forthright on the important question of what happens when officers of the law commit constitutional wrongs that inflict serious reputational, emotional, and financial harms on our citizens.
2. It's not the tail of the dog; it's the dog. First, one must recognize what is at stake when a doctrine limits remedies available for a legal violation. The limitation of remedies is not a sideshow, collateral issue, or footnote in the development of the law. Remedial doctrine is at the heart of substantive law. As Karl Llewellyn wrote, a "[d]efect of remedy is [a] defect of right." Aaron Belzer, Comment, The Audacity of Ignoring Hope: How the Existing Qualified Immunity Analysis Leads to Unremedied Rights ,
A lack of remedy drives a stake in the heart of a substantive legal doctrine. In the words of Justice Harlan in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics , contemporary modes of thought at the time of the United States Constitutional Convention reflected "modes of jurisprudential thought which appeared to link 'rights' and 'remedies' in a 1:1 correlation."
The notion that judges may create a "gap" between constitutional rights and the remedies afforded is untenable. The consequence of such a gap is to effectively reduce the constitutional protections afforded to the public. To the extent they are not enforced, the nice words in the constitution do not mean what they seem to mean.
3. Search and seizure: the wrong place for trenching on remedies for constitutional torts. Of all the places to engage in constitutional dilution through sharp remedial restriction, search and seizure law is the last place to do so. Constitutional protections related to search and seizure are fundamental to liberty. Under article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution, searches and seizures, subject to a few "jealously and carefully drawn exceptions" where a warrant cannot practicably be obtained, are subject to the warrant requirement. State v. Ochoa ,
The importance of effective enforcement of search and seizure restrictions on government was not lost on the generation of lawyers and judges who witnessed the collapse of the rule of law in central Europe in the 1930s. As Chief Nuremburg Prosecutor Justice Robert Jackson so eloquently opined after his return from his assignment in immediate postwar Germany, search and seizure rights
are not mere second-class rights but belong in the catalog of indispensable freedoms. Among deprivations of rights, none is so effective in cowing a population, crushing the spirit of the individual and putting terror in every heart. Uncontrolled search and seizure is one of the first and most effective weapons in the arsenal of every arbitrary government.
Brinegar v. United States ,
Regrettably, the United States Supreme Court has in recent decades announced a series of opinions that undercut search and seizure protections. See Silas J. Wasserstrom, The Incredible Shrinking Fourth Amendment ,
The importance of claims brought under article I, section 1 of the Iowa Constitution cannot be rendered a mere appendage either. Article I, section 1 was purposefully placed at the beginning of the Bill of Rights. See 1 The Debates of the Constitutional Convention of the State of Iowa 103-04 (W. Blair Lord rep. 1857), [hereinafter The Debates ], http://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/services/collections/law-library/iaconst. It makes the point of emphasizing "inalienable rights," which, I take it, includes rights that cannot be abrogated by the legislature, or this court. Further, the "free and equal" provision of article I, section 1 is at the heart of our government structure and provided the constitutional foundation to Coger v. Northwestern Union Packet Co. , an important and highly celebrated case prohibiting discrimination by a steamboat operator against a female passenger "partly of African descent."
In short, when citizens suffer potentially grievous harms from unconstitutional conduct in violation of article I, section 1 or article I, section 8, we should require the officials who engaged in the unconstitutional conduct to bear the burden of the loss. We should not allow the officials who engage in unconstitutional conduct to respond to the prayer of the harmed citizen with, "Aw, tough luck. Tut tut. Bye bye."
*2864. Sandy foundation: historical common law fiction in federal statutory immunity cases . In interpreting whether
It is true that at common law, judges and legislators acting within their appropriate authority were entitled to robust immunity. See Pierson v. Ray ,
For example, the outrage of lawless search and seizure by government officials was recognized at common law in the Wilkes cases, where very large money judgments were entered against officials who, at the direction of Lord Halifax, ransacked private premises looking for tell-tale signs of who authored a scurrilous broadside critical of the Crown. Wilkes v. Wood (1763) 98 Eng. Rep. 489, 489, 498-99; Huckle v. Money (1763) 95 Eng. Rep. 768, 768-69; Entick v. Carrington (1765) 95 Eng. Rep. 807, 807-08, 811, 818; see Godfrey v. State ,
Plainly, as Lord Halifax learned to his financial embarrassment in the Wilkes cases, common law absolute immunities for judges and legislators did not apply "across the board" to officers of the Crown. As Professor Jaffe pointed out many years ago, the claims of official immunity exclude "the historic liability of sheriffs and peace officers." Louis L. Jaffe, Suits Against Governments and Officers: Damage Actions ,
John Wilkes was a folk hero in the American colonies. As noted by a leading Wilkes biographer, his "every move was followed in the American press, and his victories over government celebrated in the colonies." Arthur H. Cash, John Wilkes: The Scandalous Father of Civil Liberty 2 (2006) [hereinafter Cash]. Wilkes corresponded with Samuel Adams and John Hancock, among others.
The interesting case of Little v. Barreme demonstrates recognition of the general common law approach to liability for unlawful searches and seizures. 6 U.S. (2 Cranch) 170,
Chief Justice Marshall observed that "[t]he first bias of my mind was very strong in favor of the opinion that though the instructions of the executive could not give a right, they might yet excuse from damages." Id. at 179. He questioned whether a distinction could be drawn between military officers and civil officers, and between proceedings "in the country and those on the high seas." Id. In the end, though, Chief Justice Marshall recognized that civil officers generally are liable for their wrongs. See id. He determined that while the ship was "seized with pure intention" as a "consequence of orders from the legitimate authority," nevertheless "the [executive] instructions cannot change the nature of the transaction, or legalize an act which without those instructions would have been a plain trespass." Id. As noted by Professor William Baude, the thrust of the case is that "good-faith reliance did not create a defense to liability-what mattered was legality." William Baude, Is Qualified Immunity Unlawful? ,
Further, the Supreme Court has, in its constitutional immunity cases, confused the role of good faith as an element of a specific offense with the different and much broader notion of good-faith immunity. For instance, in Pierson , the Supreme Court cited the elements of the tort of false arrest at common law.
Even among members of the Supreme Court, the fiction that broad statutory qualified immunity under
5. Square pegs in round holes. Using federal statutory qualified immunity doctrine to shape the immunity doctrine for state constitutional torts is forcing a square peg into a round hole. The federal law on qualified immunity has developed in the context of interpretation of
6. Missing the point: incorrect statutory interpretation of the Ku Klux Klan Act. In any event, there is reason to question the prevailing federal statutory interpretation. Congress enacted
Further, the Reconstruction Era Congress was determined, at least in 1871, to address the horrific intimidation, terror, and violence visited on African-Americans by white supremacists who gained control of state and local governments in the states of the former confederacy. See LeRoy, 29 Stan. L. & Pol'y Rev. at 121-23. We should never forget that while the Civil War ended in 1865 for most Iowans, a bitter and brutal battle continued against African-Americans in the former slave states. See Virginia v. Black ,
*289(quoting Stetson Kennedy, Southern Exposure 31 (1991))); Wadie E. Said, Humanitarian Law Project and the Supreme Court's Construction of Terrorism ,
The Civil Rights Act of 1866, which initiated the series of legislation that eventually included
7. Unbalanced policy analysis. Aside from erroneous appeals to common law and misconceptions about the contours of American history, qualified immunity for individual government officials is defended on policy grounds. It is suggested that without qualified immunity, the officials will be frozen because of fear of potential liability. This claim is unbalanced. If we are going to accept the premise that potential liability affects behavior, as advocates of immunities so fervently do, we need to look at the opposite side of the coin too, namely, if behavior is fundamentally affected by the imposition of tort liability, the removal of tort liability will also similarly impact behavior. If it is true that police conduct will be chilled by tort rules, then the granting of immunity will lead police to engage in more unconstitutional activities because they do not have to worry about potential liabilities. We must consider both halves of the deterrence walnut.
Indeed, at common law, an official's exposure to "being mulcted in damages was precisely the deterrent for errors of judgment." Wurman, 37 Seattle U. L. Rev. at 965. More recently, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund has explicitly called for a reexamination of the legal standards governing qualified immunity in light of police violence involving African-Americans. NAACP Legal Def. Fund, Statement on U.S. Supreme Court Decision Expanding Qualified Immunity for Police (Apr. 2, 2018), www.naacpldf.org/files/about-us/Kisela% 20Hughes% 20Decision% 20Statement.pdf [https://perma.cc/2ACT-QPP5]. According to the NAACP view, more deterrence is needed. Id. Judge Jon Newman agrees, calling upon Congress to abolish the defense of qualified immunity in order *290to better control police misconduct. Jon O. Newman, Here's a Better Way to Punish the Police: Sue Them for Money , Wash. Post (June 23, 2016), http://wapo.st/28R2Np4?tid=ss_mail& utm_term=.16d65eac7e49y [https://perma.cc/2CSG-2ERG]. The libertarian Cato Institute has joined the fray, noting "the deleterious effect [that qualified immunity] has on the ability of citizens to vindicate their constitutional rights, and the subsequent erosion of accountability among public officials that the doctrine encourages." Brief of the Cato Institute as Amicus Curiae Supporting Plaintiffs-Appellees and Affirmance at 1, Williams v. Cline ,
8. Stay in your own lane: judicial legislation. Further, the jeremiads about chilling official conduct ring hollow. Advocates of sharp restrictions on judicial protection of individual rights generally are also advocates of legislative supremacy. Well, then let's give the legislature the power to enact policy. To the extent that the legislature wishes to prevent lack of constitutional immunity from chilling police conduct, it may enact an indemnity statute. See Wurman, 37 Seattle U. L. Rev. at 965-66, 987. Indeed, in the antebellum years, the question of whether to indemnify public officers for their illegal conduct was assigned to the legislative branch. See James E. Pfander & Jonathan L. Hunt, Public Wrongs and Private Bills: Indemnification and Government Accountability in the Early Republic ,
The federal courts have deprived the legislature of this policy choice by an aggressive imposition of judicially created immunity. The handwringing of the United States Supreme Court in its qualified immunity cases shows a dissatisfaction with the common law and with the failure of the legislative branch to enact policy preferences that the majority of the Court seems to prefer. Qualified immunity is thus simply judicial legislation-it reflects dissatisfaction with the failure of the legislative process to relieve individual officers of liability through indemnification and the achievement of the desired policy result through judicially legislating a policy of qualified immunity.
9. The chewing and choking of constitutional rights. The federal approach to statutory qualified immunity embraces a dynamic that has progressively chewed and choked potential remedies for constitutional violations. The federal approach requires a plaintiff to overcome qualified immunity by demonstrating that the officials involved engaged in violations of "clearly established rights." Harlow , 457 U.S. at 819, 102 S.Ct. at 2739. A key question, of course, is at what level of generality is this test imposed? The federal caselaw suggests that the level of generality has become increasingly specific-namely, that unless there is an authoritative, reported case that is nearly factually identical to the case in question, the constitutional right is not clearly established. See Kerns v. Bader ,
Further, in determining whether there has been a violation of constitutional rights, the federal courts jettisoned any subjective test in favor of a "reasonableness" test in determining whether the actions of the officers qualify for immunity. See Harlow , 457 U.S. at 819, 102 S.Ct. at 2739. The objective reasonableness test is, of course, so amorphous that some liability might have emerged for officials, so the federal caselaw has now tightened the screw another turn by replacing or supplementing the objectively reasonable standard with the new formulation of "entirely unreasonable." Messerschmidt v. Millender ,
And, there is more. By now allowing, if not encouraging, courts not to reach the question of whether a constitutional violation actually occurred, but only whether the right involved was "clearly established," the constitutional immunity doctrine has prevented the development of substantive constitutional law by reducing the number of cases that address claims on the constitutional merits. See Camreta v. Greene ,
C. Iowa Code Chapters 669 and 670. Iowa Code chapters 669 and 670 are the Iowa Tort Claims Act and the Municipal Tort Claims Act. The Acts begin with the premise that state and local governments are generally liable for tortious acts as are ordinary citizens. The Acts, however, have sweeping exceptions.
The Iowa Tort Claims Act broadly exempts the state from liability for claims "arising out of assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander, misrepresentation, deceit, or interference with contract rights."
The Municipal Tort Claims Act also provides for liability of local government, subject to enumerated exceptions.
*292Compare
These statutory provisions are not of much value in determining whether there is qualified immunity for officers who commit constitutional torts. The very purpose of the Bill of Rights is to restrain the majoritarian branches of government. These provisions are distinctly antimajoritarian. It would be a fox-in-the-henhouse problem to permit the legislature to define the scope of protection available to citizens for violation of constitutional rights. As noted by Professor Amar, "When governments act ultra vires and transgress the boundaries of their charter, ... their sovereign power to immunize themselves is strictly limited by the remedial imperative." Amar, 96 Yale L.J. at 1490.
III. No Immunity Under Iowa Constitutional Law for Search and Seizure Claims.
A. Introduction. Having rejected the federal model, I now turn to consider whether there is a basis for some kind of constitutionally based immunity for officers who violate state constitutional rights. In doing so, it is important to emphasize that we are not engaging in an act of statutory interpretation but instead an act of constitutional interpretation.
B. First and Foremost: Emphasis in the Iowa Constitution on Bill of Rights. As noted in Godfrey , the Iowa constitutional founders placed strong emphasis on the Bill of Rights provisions of the Iowa Constitution.
C. "Thoroughly Well-Settled": Iowa Caselaw Imposing Damages on Officials for Unconstitutional Searches and Seizures. As we noted in Godfrey , the Iowa founding generation was well aware of the English cases where officers of the Crown were liable for substantial damages for unlawful searches and seizures.
The majority cites Krehbiel I in support of its view that in Iowa, malice or want of probable cause must be shown to support a damage action for unconstitutional search and seizure.
The majority also cites the cases of Hetfield v. Towsley ,
The majority also miscites Plummer v. Harbut ,
Finally, the majority dismisses language in Girard v. Anderson that directly and plainly states, "A violation of the state and federal constitutional provisions against the unreasonable invasion of a person's home gives the injured party a right of action for damages for unlawful breaking and entering."
Recently in Godfrey , we stressed the need for effective enforcement of constitutional norms through private causes of action to recover for harms caused by unconstitutional conduct.
D. Constitutional Caselaw from Other Jurisdictions on the Question of Qualified Immunity Under State Constitutional Provisions. The state courts are divided on the question of whether there should be some kind of immunity doctrine that relieves individual officers of potential liability for constitutional wrongs.
Some cases follow the United States Supreme Court approach to statutory qualified immunity in the interpretation of their state constitutions. A good example of an unreflective "me too" case is Moresi v. Department of Wildlife & Fisheries ,
The same factors that compelled the United States Supreme Court to recognize a qualified good faith immunity for state officers under § 1983 require us to recognize a similar immunity for them under any action arising from the state constitution.
Id . at 1093. Needless to say, this uncritical analysis, for all the reasons expressed above, is unpersuasive.
On the other hand, the Maryland Court of Appeals, in Clea v. Mayor of Baltimore , held that city officials were not entitled to immunity for violations of individuals' rights under the Maryland Declaration of Rights.
The Clea court held that while the police officer was immune from the ordinary tort claims because he did not act with malice, the immunity statute could not be lawful as applied against claims under the Maryland Declaration of Rights. Id. at 1311, 1312. The court stated that "there are sound reasons to distinguish actions to remedy constitutional violations from ordinary tort suits." Id. at 1314. The court emphasized "[t]he purpose of a negligence *295or other ordinary tort action is not specifically to protect individuals against government officials or to restrain government officials," but only "to protect one individual against another individual." Id.
On the other hand, the Clea court noted that the constitutional provisions in the Declaration of Rights of the Maryland Constitution were "specifically designed to protect citizens against certain types of unlawful acts by government officials." Id. According to the Clea court,
To accord immunity to the responsible government officials, and leave an individual remediless when his constitutional rights are violated, would be inconsistent with the purpose of the constitutional provisions. It would also ... largely render nugatory the cause of action for violation of constitutional rights recognized [in Maryland's Godfrey -type cases].
The Montana Supreme Court has adopted an approach similar to that in Clea . In Dorwart v. Caraway , the Montana Supreme Court rejected qualified immunity for state constitutional torts.
Also instructive is Corum v. University of North Carolina ex rel. Board of Governors ,
The Corum court also considered the question of whether the doctrine of sovereign immunity had any application in the case.
It would indeed be a fanciful gesture to say on the one hand that citizens have constitutional individual civil rights that are protected from encroachment actions by the State, while on the other hand saying that individuals whose constitutional rights have been violated by the State cannot sue because of the doctrine of sovereign immunity.
E. Impact of Godfrey on the Enforcement of Constitutional Provisions. In Godfrey , we held that the due process and equal protection provisions of the Iowa Constitution are self-executing and that citizens have a direct action for damages caused by unconstitutional conduct under *296the Iowa Constitution.
In Godfrey , we emphasized that "[i]f the[ ] individual rights in the very first article of the Iowa Constitution are to be meaningful, they must be effectively enforced."
In Godfrey , we also discussed the availability of punitive damages for constitutional wrongs. Id. at 875-79 (plurality opinion). Three members of the court concluded that because the Iowa Civil Rights Act (ICRA) did not include punitive damages, it did not preempt a direct constitution claim alleging that the defendants acted unconstitutionally in violation of the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution. Id. at 879. In a separate opinion, Chief Justice Cady came to the conclusion that while lack of punitive damages could lead to a finding that a statutory remedy is inadequate, it was not under the specific facts of Godfrey's case. Id. at 880-81 (Cady, C.J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).
There is substantial authority to support the position that, in a search and seizure case, punitive damages should be allowed. The damages awarded in the Wilkes cases exceeded the injury. See Godfrey ,
I think they have done right in giving exemplary damages. To enter a man's house by virtue of a nameless warrant, in order to procure evidence, is worse than the Spanish Inquisition; a law under which no Englishman would wish to live an hour; it was a most daring public *297attack made upon the liberty of the subject.
Godfrey ,
Chief Justice Cady's concurring opinion in Godfrey provided the deciding vote on the question of whether the lack of a punitive damages remedy in the ICRA prevented the Act from preempting a direct constitutional claim.
when the claimed harm is largely monetary in nature and does not involve any infringement of physical security, privacy, bodily integrity, or the right to participate in government, and instead is against the State in its capacity as an employer,
punitive damages are not a necessary remedy. Id . This search and seizure case, of course, does involve infringement of physical security and bodily integrity. Under Chief Justice Cady's concurring opinion, punitive damages may well be necessary to vindicate the plaintiff's constitutional rights, just as it was in Krehbiel . See
F. Discussion. The mere lifting of federal statutory qualified immunity doctrine and supplanting it into analysis of constitutional claims under the Iowa Constitution is a nonstarter. The question is whether we should independently develop a judge-made doctrine of qualified immunity to relieve public officials from liability for damages arising from their unlawful conduct as a supplement to the constitutional text contained in article I of the Iowa Constitution.
I conclude that we should not manufacture a qualified immunity doctrine for constitutional wrongs of public officials. Our state constitutional tradition places strong emphasis on the Bill of Rights. See Godfrey ,
There can be little doubt that the Bill of Rights in the Iowa Constitution was intentionally placed in article I to emphasize its primacy in the constitutional scheme. It precedes articles establishing executive and legislative powers. The notion that legislative powers in article III of the Iowa Constitution could eviscerate the Bill of Rights in article I is a topsy-turvy approach to our state constitutional structure. Further, the prominent English common law cases where government officials *298were found liable for search and seizure violations were well known in the colonies and to lawyers and judges at the time of the Iowa constitutional convention, as demonstrated by a citation to Entick by the Iowa Supreme Court in 1855. See, e.g. , Godfrey ,
This is especially true when it comes to search and seizure issues. In State v. Tonn , we noted that "[a] trespassing officer is liable for all wrong done in an illegal search or seizure."
The "rigid enforcement" of search and seizure law was reflected in Cline . In Cline , we considered whether we should adopt a good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule for search and seizure violations under article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution. Id. at 288. We refused to do so. Id. at 292-93. If we adopted such a rule, we pointed out, the standard would be "close enough is good enough." Id. at 290 (quoting State v. Marsala ,
This case is the civil counterpart of Cline . If we disallowed a good-faith defense in a criminal case on the question of admission of evidence, we certainly ought to allow a wronged citizen to seek damages for harm caused by the unconstitutional conduct of state or local government officials. And we should not lightly glide over the cautions of Justice Jackson that "[u]ncontrolled search and seizure is one of the first and most effective weapons in the arsenal of every arbitrary government." Brinegar ,
Further, it is critically important that state officials are not above the law or even perceived to be above the law when it comes to enforcement of provisions of article I against state and local governments. As noted by the New York Court of Appeals in Brown v. State ,
no government can sustain itself, much less flourish, unless it affirms and reinforces the fundamental values that define it by placing the moral and coercive powers of the State behind those values. When the law immunizes official violations of substantive rules because the *299cost or bother of doing otherwise is too great, thereby leaving victims without any realistic remedy, the integrity of the rules and their underlying public values are called into serious question.
As noted above, the claim that local officials will be deterred by the possibility of tort liability, is unbalanced. The opposite view-that without tort liability there will be less incentive to follow constitutional dictates-must be considered as well.
In any event, the basic premise that qualified immunity is needed to prevent overdeterrence of official conduct has little support. A recent study by Professor Joanna Schwartz confirms what one might suspect, namely, that at least with respect to police officers, local governments almost always indemnify for settlements and judgments arising out of misconduct lawsuits. See Joanna C. Schwartz, Police Indemnification ,
Whether or not to indemnify local officials for their unconstitutional conduct is a policy matter that the Iowa legislature has already decided. Iowa Code section 669.21 indemnifies state officials against claims, including constitutional claims, subject to a few exceptions.
The majority has created a "negligence" immunity to violations of search and seizure prohibitions under article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution, largely based on the work of Professor John Jeffries. As Professor Jeffries himself has noted, his approach "is opposed by the weight of academic opinion, which favors strict liability for all constitutional violations." See John C. Jeffries Jr., Disaggregating Constitutional Torts ,
Rather than follow the state's motto, "Our Liberties We Prize and Our Rights We Will Maintain," the majority follows an approach that suggests "Our Liberties Are Transient and Our Rights Are Expendable." There is no sound policy basis to adopt such a negligence exception under article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution, particularly when individual municipal officers are indemnified for most claims that arise out of their official acts. See
In addition, the negligence standard could be applied in an unsound fashion to chew and choke potential liability. The search and seizure provision of article I, section 8 uses the term "unreasonable." We have observed that the term cannot be regarded as an open-ended, stand-alone "reasonableness" test shorn from its linguistic and historical context. See Ochoa ,
Further, although the majority eschews Harlow , it will be interesting to see whether the concept of "clearly established rights" creeps back in under the banner of negligence on an as-needed basis to defeat claims of compensation. See 457 U.S. at 818, 102 S.Ct. at 2738. If it does, of course, the claim in the majority rejecting Harlow as having no place in Iowa law will be overstated.
In any event, for search and seizure cases in Iowa individual officers will now have a judge-created immunity based upon a due-care or negligence standard. The judge-created negligence standard is an amorphous one but presumably follows the law of torts. If so, whether immunity is available will, in many cases, depend upon the fact finder's evaluation of the reasonableness of police compliance with constitutional *301requirements under all the facts and circumstances.
In the future, it will be interesting to see if the majority fashions additional judge-made rules in the application of its negligence standard to further prevent persons from obtaining remedies for constitutional harms inflicted by government officials. Specifically, we must wait and see if under the rubric of negligence, the court allows the return of either "clearly established rights" approach of Harlow , or applies the reasonableness-on-reasonableness approach to undercut constitutional claims, as I have described above. If so, the substantial harm caused by this majority opinion will be worse than advertised and liability for serious article I, section 1 and article I, section 8 violations may be more fictitious than real.
There is also some ominous language in the majority opinion suggesting that various provisions of Iowa Code chapters 669 and 670 might be used to ensure that Iowa citizens cannot recover for the constitutional harms caused by government officials. As indicated above, application of legislative restrictions on the ability of private citizens to recover for constitutional harms imposed on them by the government has a fox-in-the-henhouse quality. The very suggestion, for instance, that Iowa Code section 669.14(4), which prohibits "[a]ny claim [for damages] arising out of assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander, misrepresentation, deceit, or interference with contract rights," is a legislatively created vehicle to prevent citizens from recovering from grievous constitutional harm is astounding. The idea that the government might be immune from liability for an unconstitutional beating using excessive force, for example, is what one might expect in an authoritarian state, not a democracy. Further, the suggestion that punitive damages may not be awarded for constitutional torts, as suggested in Iowa Code section 670.4(1)(e ), would be absolutely astounding to the founding and antebellum generations so familiar with the Wilkes cases. If there are to be any cases where private citizens who are harmed by unconstitutional conduct are to be prevented from being compensated by the officers who caused the harm, that decision should be determined by the court and not the legislature.
IV. Conclusion.
The majority opinion is misguided. It does not mention the role of the historic Wilkes cases and the dramatic impact these cases had on American law-a part of history, apparently, that is best forgotten. It embraces a constitutional "gap" theory and fails to recognize that rights and remedies, as Justice Harlan so eloquently pointed out in Bivens , have a 1:1 correlation and that the reduction in the scope of remedies necessarily involves a reduction in the scope of the constitutional protections for citizens. See
The majority states that it has thrown Harlow overboard. Whether the ghost of Harlow will reemerge in another form remains to be seen. And just how great a barrier the negligence immunity standard will be to prevent injured citizens attempting to recover from the unconstitutional conduct of government officers will depend on future caselaw.
For the above reasons and the other reasons expressed in this opinion, I dissent.
Hecht, J., joins this dissent.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Gregory BALDWIN, Appellee, v. CITY OF ESTHERVILLE, Iowa ; Matt Reineke, Individually and in His Official Capacity as an Officer of the Estherville Police Department; And Matt Hellickson, Individually and in His Official Capacity as an Officer of the Estherville Police Department, Appellant.
- Cited By
- 36 cases
- Status
- Published