Taha v. Bucks County Pennsylvania
Taha v. Bucks County Pennsylvania
Opinion of the Court
This certified class action arises from Defendants Bucks County Correctional Facility and Bucks County's decision in January 2011 to create an "Inmate Lookup Tool," (the "ILT") through which they published on the internet information about 66,799 individuals who had been held or incarcerated over the course of decades at the Bucks County Correctional Facility. One of the individuals whose information was published, Plaintiff, Daryoush Taha, filed this lawsuit on behalf of himself and all persons whose criminal history record information was made available on the ILT. He claimed that by publishing this information, Defendants Bucks County Correctional Facility and Bucks County violated Pennsylvania's Criminal History Record Information Act ("the CHRIA"), 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 9101 et seq. , in particular contravening the portion of the law that prohibits dissemination of "criminal history record information" except in defined circumstances, 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 9121(b)(2). Pending now are cross motions for summary judgment. Defendants maintain that punitive damages are not available to the class-or at the very least that such damages should be capped. Plaintiff argues that Defendants' violation of the CHRIA was willful, and therefore that punitive damages are proper.
I. Background
The facts in this case, which are largely undisputed, have already been recounted at length. See Taha v. Bucks County ,
In January of 2011, Defendants launched the ILT-a publicly accessible and searchable electronic database that included information about "individuals who had been held or incarcerated at the Bucks County Correctional Facility from 1938 onward, a total of 66,799 people." Taha v. County of Bucks ,
Ultimately, the information that Defendants made public about the various class members included "name, race, weight, hair and eye color, arrest dates, arrest charges, and where available the marital status and the FBI and State fingerprint identification numbers." In addition, the ILT included booking photographs for about 47,000 class members. As to Taha himself, the following information became publicly accessible: "a color photograph of Taha from the shoulders up, wearing a blue shirt and pictured against a gray background; sex; date of birth; height; weight; race; hair color; eye color; citizenship; incarceration location; date committed to incarceration; release date; case number for the crime charged; and 'DC, HARASS' listed under 'Charge Information.' " Taha II ,
Plaintiff sued on December 7, 2012. In the course of resolving various motions, the Court has determined that Defendants violated the CHRIA by disseminating "criminal history record information," 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 9102 (defining the term), in a manner prohibited by the Act, Taha v. Bucks County ,
*325II. Legal Standard
Summary judgment must be granted if "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) ; see also Radich v. Goode ,
When interpreting Pennsylvania statutes, such as the CHRIA, this Court must follow the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In re Energy Future Holdings Corp. ,
III. Discussion
A. Statute of Limitations
Defendants assert that either a one-or two-year statute of limitations applies to the CHRIA, and therefore Taha's claims must be barred because the Amended Complaint was filed on February 26, 2013-more than two years after Defendants' ILT uploaded Taha's criminal history record information onto the internet. This argument is unavailing both because it is waived and because the applicable statute of limitations is six years.
i. Defendants have Waived the Statute of Limitations Affirmative Defense
While Defendants did include a statute of limitations defense in their answer, they eschewed multiple opportunities-motions to dismiss, arguments for and against summary judgment, and in response to Plaintiff's class certification briefing-to raise the defense with the Court. Instead, they waited more than six years to do so-after the Court had determined that they were liable for CHRIA violations, after it had certified the class, and after class members had been notified of the Court's decision on liability.
The statute of limitations is an affirmative defense, Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(c), which "must be raised as early as practicable." Robinson v. Johnson ,
*326United Mine Workers of Am. 1974 Pension v. Pittston Co. ,
Defendants did not present the issue within a "pragmatically sufficient time."
The failure is not without consequence. On March 28, 2016, the Court entered an Opinion and Order on liability, finding that Defendants' public dissemination of the criminal record history of approximately 67,000 individuals violated the CHRIA. Accordingly, it granted Plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment on liability, Taha I ,
Having won on liability, Plaintiff sought, and the Court allowed, additional time for discovery on the issue of "willfulness." And, upon the Third Circuit affirming this Court's ruling on class certification, the Court approved a notice to class members that explained that the Court had concluded that Defendants were liable for a violation of the CHRIA, that it had dismissed Plaintiff's claims for actual and real damages, and that the issue of whether an award of punitive damages was yet to be decided.
In short, the Plaintiffs have already made, over the course of years, considerable progress in this litigation-progress that would be reversed if Defendants had their druthers. In effect, a ruling that Plaintiff's CHRIA claims are barred by the statute of limitations would subvert this Court's decision that Defendants are liable under the CHRIA and evert the expectations of class members who have been informed of that decision in the class notice. As such, allowing Defendants to *327assert the statute of limitations argument would work prejudice on the class.
Certainly, judicial economy would not be served by allowing Defendants to assert the statute of limitations at this late stage in the proceedings. Defendants' failure to raise the issue earlier resulted in the Court ruling on the question of liability without benefit of any argument on whether Plaintiff was barred by the statute of limitations. Because a successful limitations defense would mean Defendants win on liability as well as on punitive damages, allowing Defendants to raise the issue now would require Plaintiff to relitigate a question-liability-that has long-since been decided, and would require the Court to "re-decide the motion based on arguments that could have been made earlier but were not," Milwaukee Ctr. for Indep., Inc. v. Milwaukee Health Care, LLC ,
Therefore, Defendants waived the statute of limitations defense.
ii. Plaintiff's Claims are Not Barred by the Statute of Limitations
Even if the statute of limitations defense were not waived, the statute of limitations does not bar Plaintiff's claims.
The CHRIA contains no explicit statute of limitations. 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 9183(b). Therefore, to determine the applicable limitations period, the Court must consider generally applicable statutes of limitations for Pennsylvania civil actions. The parties point to three potential limitations periods: One year for "[a]n action for libel, slander or invasion of privacy," 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 5523(1) ; two years for a variety of specific torts and "[a]ny other action ... to recover damages for injury ... which is founded on negligent, intentional, or otherwise tortious conduct,"
The six-year statute of limitations applies. The one-year statute of limitations is clearly inapplicable, and as between the remaining options of the two-and six-year statutes of limitations, persuasive case law in Pennsylvania leads to the conclusion that the six-year statute of limitation is the better fit with the CHRIA. Because Plaintiff brought his claim on December 7, 2012-well within the six-year period-Plaintiff's claims are not barred.
a. One-Year Statute of Limitations Does Not Apply
The Pennsylvania one-year statute of limitations for "libel, slander or invasion of privacy" actions does not govern here. Defendants have been found liable under Section 9121 of the CHRIA, which prohibits dissemination of certain criminal history record information to "an individual or non-criminal justice agency." Taha I ,
Defendants' argument to the contrary elides the difference between a cause of action and a type of harm. Just because a violation of a law implicates privacy interests does not transform the violation into an invasion of privacy tort and subject it to a one-year statute of limitations. See Burger v. Blair Med. Assocs., Inc. ,
b. The Six-Year Statute of Limitations Applies
With the inapt one-year statute of limitations eliminated, two options remain: the six-year statute of limitations for "[a]ny civil action ... which is neither subject to another limitation ... nor excluded from the application of a period of limitation," 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 5527(b), and the two-year statute of limitations, for various specific torts and "[a]ny other action ... to recover damages for injury ... which is founded on negligent, intentional, or otherwise tortious conduct,"
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court does not appear to have offered an analytical framework for addressing situations, as here, where two separate catchall statute of limitations provisions might each plausibly be implicated. However, the Pennsylvania Superior Court, in Gabriel v. O'Hara ,
Plaintiff argues the same reasoning applies to the CHRIA because application of a uniform six-year period is the only way to avoid "uncertainty and confusion." And indeed, the concerns motivating the Gabriel court apply to the CHRIA as well. Like the UTPCPL, the CHRIA both lacks an explicit statute of limitations and "encompasses an array of practices," Gabriel ,
Thus, both the UTPCPL and the CHRIA are statutes under which "multifarious claims" may be brought. Gabriel ,
For the reasons set forth above, this Court predicts that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would hold that the six-year statute of limitations applies to violations of the CHRIA and applies that time period here.
*330B. Punitive Damages Against Government Agencies
In the course of this lawsuit, both the Third Circuit and this Court-twice-have held that the CHRIA abrogates sovereign immunity such that state agencies may be held liable for punitive damages under the statute. Taha III ,
In Franklin County , the Pennsylvania Supreme Court explained that abrogation of sovereign immunity must be "expressly stated,"
C. Willful Violation
Section 9183 of the CHRIA provides for punitive damages where a violation was "willful." 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 9183. Defendants contend that punitive damages are unavailable because their conduct was not willful. The parties spar over both the definition of "willful" in the context of the CHRIA, and whether that definition encompasses Defendants' conduct.
i. Standard for Willfulness
To date, no court has set a standard for what rises to the level of a "willful" violation as used in Section 9183 of the CHRIA. In the absence of controlling authority, Plaintiff argues that it should be defined as amounting essentially to "reckless indifference," whereas Defendants argue it should be defined as requiring that they "actually knew their conduct was illegal."
Plaintiff contends that willfulness in the context of the CHRIA amounts to "reckless indifference" because that is the definition for willfulness at common law, see, e.g., Brand Mktg. Grp. LLC v. Intertek Testing Servs., N.A., Inc. ,
Defendants, on the other hand, contend that the presumption that "willful" means "reckless disregard" is defeated by the CHRIA's relationship to another statute: Pennsylvania's Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act (the "Tort Claims Act"), 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 8541 et seq. Defendants argue that the CHRIA and the Tort Claims Act are in pari materia -or, "upon the same matter or subject"-and as a result must be construed together as one law. Thus, according to Defendants, because "willfulness" under the Tort Claims Act requires "a showing of intention to do what is known to be wrong," In re City of Phila. Litig. ,
In support of this theory, Defendants primarily point to Kilgore v. City of Philadelphia ,
This Court predicts that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would conclude that the CHRIA and the Tort Claims Act are not in pari materia , and therefore would define "willful" in the CHRIA as requiring a showing of reckless disregard or indifference.
• The only statutes that Kilgore affirmatively addressed were the Tort Claims Act and the Sovereign Immunity Act.
• The cases on which Kilgore relied each hold specifically that the Tort Claims Act and the Sovereign Immunity Act are to be interpreted consistent with one another-not that all statutes that touch on governmental immunity of any type must be interpreted in pari materia. See Finn v. City of Philadelphia ,
• The cases relied on by Kilgore each post-date enactment of the CHRIA, but several of them refer to "the two statutes dealing with immunities," which they explain are the Tort Claims Act and the Sovereign Immunity Act. The cases make no mention of the CHRIA. See Finn ,
• While the Tort Claims Act and the Sovereign Immunity Act are nearly structurally identical, the CHRIA is distinct. The Tort Claims Act and Sovereign Immunity Act each state as a general rule that there will be no waiver of immunity (the Tort Claims Act for local agencies and the Sovereign Immunity Act for the Commonwealth), see 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 8541 ; 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 8521, and then lay out a set of exceptions to that general rule, see 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 8542 ; 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 8522. Indeed, many of the exceptions are substantively identical. On the other hand, the CHRIA functions entirely differently, laying out rules for the collection and dissemination of criminal history information, and defining damages recoverable from governmental agencies that violate the rules. In other words, the CHRIA does not deal in "indistinguishable subject matter." Kilgore ,
• Because the CHRIA is far from the only Pennsylvania statute "dealing with governmental and sovereign immunity" by contemplating monetary redress against government entities, see , e.g. , 44 Pa. C.S.A. § 2333, 62 Pa. C.S.A. § 3935, application of Defendants' proposed interpretation of Kilgore would reach significantly further than the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appeared to have intended.
*333In sum, there is nothing to suggest that the Kilgore court had the CHRIA in mind, nor anything to suggest that the doctrine of in pari materia should nevertheless apply. For the reasons set forth supra , the Court predicts that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would define "willful" in the CHRIA to mean "realized the risk and acted in conscious disregard or indifference to it," or "reckless disregard," and applies that standard here.
ii. Application
Whether or not the Defendants' conduct in this instance was "willful" is a question of fact and, thus, a jury question unless "there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for" the non-moving party. Souryavong v. Lackawanna County ,
D. Single Violation Versus Multiple Violations
The CHRIA provides that "[e]xemplary and punitive damages of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 shall be imposed for any violation ... found to be willful." 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 9183(b)(2). The parties dispute the meaning of the word "violation." Defendants contend that even though they violated the statute, they only violated it once-when the ILT first was published-and therefore punitive damages must be capped at $10,000. Plaintiff, on the other hand, contends that each release of criminal history record information-that is, the releases as to each of the 66,799 class members-constituted a violation of the statute.
Defendants' argument relies on a key assumption: that a "violation" is synonymous with an "act." Thus, because they only implemented the ILT once, there was only one violation of the CHRIA. But this assumption is mistaken. Comparison to traditional torts illustrates the point. If a tortfeasor breaks into a single computer, obtains private information relating to five different people, and publishes that information, the tortfeasor has violated five different peoples' rights and could give rise to five different causes of action, despite only engaging in one act. Plaintiff offers a similarly apt analogy: The Telephone Consumer Protection Act allows recovery of $500 for "each" violation of the statute,
Defendants argue that rejecting their definition would require the imposition of unreasonable statutory damages-at a minimum, a figure of about $67 million, but theoretically as much as about $670 million-which would contravene the intent of Pennsylvania's General Assembly. At a superficial level, Defendants may be right: In Pennsylvania, it is presumed "[t]hat the General Assembly does not intend a result that is absurd, impossible of execution or unreasonable," 1 Pa. C.S.A. § 1922, and minimum punitive damages of $67 million could conceivably fit that bill. Nevertheless, in Section 9183(b)(2) the General Assembly clearly expressed its purpose of imposing punitive damages on a per-violation basis. Regardless of how the provision plays out in litigation, it is not within the purview of this Court to circumvent the legislature's clearly expressed language.
Neither do the cases cited by Defendants support their position. In United States v. Gregg ,
E. Damages Cap
Finally, Defendants argue that any punitive damages under the CHRIA must be capped at $500,000 under the Tort Claims Act. See 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 8553(b). The only reason Defendants offer for applying the damages cap from an entirely different statute to the CHRIA is based on policy concerns about the potential scope of liability.
*335But, real though those concerns may be, that is not a reason to arbitrarily import an unrelated damages cap from a separate statute. Moreover, doing so would directly contravene the Tort Claims Act itself, which specifically limits the damage cap to "[a]ctions for which damages are limited by reference to this subchapter ,"
For the foregoing reasons, both parties' motions for summary judgment will be denied. An appropriate order follows.
Because Defendants also argue the willfulness issue in their motion-simply urging the opposite conclusion-Plaintiff's motion will be discussed in tandem with Defendants' argument as to willfulness.
Defendants argue that because the parties stipulated that each could file a second motion for summary judgment, the statute of limitations argument is not waived. This conclusion does not follow in this instance: whether Plaintiffs agreed that Defendants could file a second motion does not bear on whether any particular argument asserted in that second motion would be proper. Absent any specific reference in the stipulation anticipating that Defendants would argue the statute of limitations in their second summary judgment motion, the question of waiver turns on an analysis of legal precedent rather than the parties' intentions.
Defendants argue that the issue is preserved because they raised it in their answer. True enough, but raising an issue in an answer does not preserve the issue indefinitely-it still must be argued at a "pragmatically sufficient time," and within a timeframe that does not cause Plaintiff "prejudice." See Robinson ,
Defendants also argue that Plaintiff himself waived the argument that Defendants waived the statute of limitations defense. These argument ignores that the Court can, and did in this case, raise the issue sua sponte. See Harper v. Del. Valley Broadcasters, Inc. ,
In fact, Defendants litigation position serves as a proof of concept. Defendants argued that the one-year statute of limitations applies because Plaintiff's claim under the CHRIA is comparable to defamation and invasion of privacy claims, and then in the very same brief went on to argue that the two-year statute of limitations is proper because "CHRIA is a statutorily-created tort action" that caused Plaintiff to suffer emotional distress. That Defendants can purport to make plausible arguments for both statutes of limitations only underscores the degree to which ex ante plaintiffs would be required to guess as to the applicable limitations period.
Even if the statutes were in pari materia , Defendants proposed definition of what "willfulness" entails under the Tort Claims Act is incorrect. The "intention to do what is known to be wrong" or "intending to commit an intentional tort" standard derives from Renk v. City of Pittsburgh ,
Although Defendants do not point to these cases, it is worth noting that in a few instances Pennsylvania courts do apply the in pari materia canon of construction between the Sovereign Immunity Act and some other statute that merely allows for monetary redress against state actors. See Goryeb v. Com. Dep't of Pub. Welfare ,
Moreover, there has been no finding of "absurd" liability in this case, and if a jury ultimately does return a verdict along those lines, Defendants will no doubt take the opportunity to argue against imposition of that verdict Cf. BMW of N.Am. Inc. v. Gore ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Daryoush TAHA v. BUCKS COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA, Bucks County Correctional Facility, and Unpublish LLC, Unpublish LLC, Cross Bensalem Township, Cross v. Bucks County Correctional Facility Records/ Records Custodian Employees Jane and/or John Doe 1-6, Bucks County Pennsylvania, Terrance P. Moore, Frank Noonan and William F. Plantier, Cross
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- 8 cases
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- Published