NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION
                               File Name: 25a0166n.06

                                        No. 24-5649

                         UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                              FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
                                                                                   FILED
                                                                                 Mar 26, 2025
                                        )                                KELLY L. STEPHENS, Clerk
    HOLLY LAWSON,
                                        )
          Plaintiff-Appellant,          )
                                                       ON APPEAL FROM THE
                                        )
                  v.                                   UNITED STATES DISTRICT
                                        )
                                                       COURT FOR THE EASTERN
                                        )
    KAYLA CREELY; LORI FRANKE; MARK )                  DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
    KOPP;     and     FRANKLIN  COUNTY, )
    KENTUCKY BOARD OF EDUCATION,                                               OPINION
                                        )
          Defendants-Appellees.         )
                                        )
                                        )

Before: COLE, WHITE, and MATHIS, Circuit Judges.

        HELENE N. WHITE, Circuit Judge. Plaintiff-Appellant Holly Lawson appeals the grant

of summary judgment to Defendants-Appellees in this 

 action asserting that

Lawson’s public-school coworkers, Defendants-Appellees Kayla Creely and Lori Franke, together

with Defendants-Appellees School Superintendent Mark Kopp and the Franklin County, Kentucky

Board of Education (the Board),1 violated her Fourth Amendment rights. We AFFIRM.

                                        I.   Facts

        Lawson began working as a guidance counselor at Franklin County High School in 2016.

Franke and Creely also worked at the school as a registrar and freshman guidance counselor,

respectively. Kopp was the superintendent of this school and others. Over the May 1, 2021,



1
 The Board noted below that by statute, its legal name is the “Board of Education of Franklin
County, Kentucky.” R. 51, PageID 1487 n.2.
No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


weekend, Lawson attended a party for the Kentucky Derby, to which she brought her handgun.

On the way back from the event on Sunday, May 2, she placed her handgun in a large purse or tote

bag. She did not unpack that bag Sunday night and took it with her from Monday, May 3, through

Wednesday, May 5, including to the school.

       Lawson was prescribed, and took, various medications for anxiety and back-and-knee

issues. On Monday, May 3, Creely observed Lawson taking medication and acting “in somewhat

of a manic state.” R. 38, PageID 714. Creely “was concerned for her behavior,” which Creely

viewed as “out of the ordinary.” 

. Specifically, Creely was “concerned for students” and

doubted whether Lawson could provide “whatever resources a student that needed to see her was

in need of.” 

 Franke testified that Lawson “seemed . . . overly excited” but that Franke “had

seen it before in Ms. Lawson’s actions.” R. 39, PageID 855. Lawson’s behavior nonetheless led

Franke to “wonder[] if she was feeling okay.” 

 The next day, May 4, Creely believed that

Lawson was now “sluggish” and “intoxicated” because she could not communicate complete

thoughts and was “babbl[ing]” in conversation. R. 38, PageID 717–18. Creely testified that

Lawson did not “smell of alcohol,” however, Creely confirmed that Lawson was “slurring her

words.” 

. At lunch on May 4, Creely again observed Lawson taking medication. 

. Similarly, Franke observed Lawson speaking “thick tongued”—i.e., “[h]er words smeared

[together].” R. 39, PageID 857.

       After lunch, around 1:30 p.m., Lawson left the guidance counselors’ suite of offices.

Franke asked Creely if Lawson had told Creely where she was going, to which Creely said, “No.”

R. 38, PageID 726. Creely attempted to see if Lawson’s car was still in the portion of the parking

lot visible from Creely’s office window. Creely and Franke then went to look at the lot from the

vantage of Lawson’s office window. According to Lawson, she had closed and locked her office


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No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


door, presumably requiring Creely and Franke to use their keys—which worked on every door in

the guidance counselors’ suite of offices—to access Lawson’s office. Lawson also testified that

her bag was not visible from the far side of her desk, suggesting that Creely and Franke must have

walked into her office and around her desk. Upon seeing Lawson’s bag, Creely told Franke that

she “wanted to know what [Lawson] was taking,” referring to Lawson’s medications. 

.

Creely then unlatched the bag, saw a few amber-colored prescription bottles on top, and read the

bottles’ labels out loud. When Creely placed the last bottle back in the purse, she noticed what

appeared to be the handle of a handgun. After she told Franke, Franke leaned over the desk and

also saw “like the end of the handle or the butt of a handgun.” R. 39, PageID 865. Creely did not

touch the firearm, and the two left Lawson’s office. They did not immediately report their

discovery and returned to work.2

       Later that day, Creely met with Ashley Reid, a social worker, about an unrelated issue and

reported her concerns about Lawson’s behavior earlier that day. Reid invited Franke to join them

in Creely’s office, and Franke confirmed Creely’s account. Creely then added that they had found

a firearm in Lawson’s purse. At that point, the group saw Lawson return to her office before

leaving again a few minutes later. Reid said that she would have to report the firearm to the

authorities and did so that same day. She contacted her immediate supervisor as well as the law-

enforcement officer designated as the School Resource Officer, Marvin Kelly, who in turn

informed Jeff Abrams, an officer designated as the Safety Coordinator for the county’s schools.

As the May 4 school day came to an end, Reid’s supervisor and Abrams informed Superintendent



2
  Creely’s and Franke’s testimony differs from Lawson’s, though the factual disputes are
ultimately immaterial to our disposition of this case. Creely testified that Lawson had left her
office door ajar; that Creely could see Lawson’s bag from the hallway; and that Lawson left the
bag open, not latched. (Franke’s account did not differ materially from Creely’s.)
                                              -3-
No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


Kopp of the situation. By that time, Lawson had left for the day, and Kopp preferred to discuss

the situation with her in person.

       The next day, May 5, Lawson returned to the school with her bag (still containing the

firearm) and was met at the entrance by Kopp. Kopp asked Lawson if he could “talk to [her] for

a second,” and after she agreed, he walked her to Kelly’s office, where Kelly and Abrams waited.

R. 40, PageID 1019; R. 36, PageID 459; R. 36-40, PageID 613. Kelly and Abrams carried their

firearms and wore shirts with a sheriff’s crest. Kopp stood in front of the office door, advised

Lawson that he had received a report that she possessed a weapon on school grounds, and asked

her if that was true. In Lawson’s recollection of events, she stated that she was unsure; she asked

Kopp if she “need[ed] to look,” to which Kopp said, “Yes”; and she checked her bag and found

the firearm still in it. R. 40, PageID 1104. Kelly’s body-camera footage tells a materially different

story, however. The camera began recording halfway through a statement by Kopp: “—so, I need

to ask you if this is true,” to which Lawson replies, “I’m trying to think. I had one with me this

weekend.” Kopp–Board Br. 10; R. 37, Ex. 40, PageID 681 (body-camera footage); accord R. 36,

PageID 459 (Kopp’s witness statement). The footage then shows Lawson looking through her

purse without being directed to do so and stating, “It is in there in the bottom.” R. 37, Ex. 40,

PageID 681.

       Following this interaction, Kopp handed Lawson a letter stating that she was suspended

with pay pending an investigation. Kelly and Abrams photographed the firearm in the bag and

took custody of the bag and its contents. The meeting lasted approximately four minutes. Abrams

then transported Lawson to the sheriff’s office. Authorities charged Lawson with unlawful

possession of a weapon on school property. A Kentucky prosecutor eventually offered to

discontinue the prosecution if Lawson resigned, and she accepted.


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No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


                                   II.    Procedural History

       On May 1, 2022, Lawson filed a single-count complaint under 

 alleging

violations of her Fourth Amendment rights. She asserts that Defendants-Appellees conducted two

warrantless searches of her bag: First, when Creely and Franke entered her office in her absence

and searched her bag; and second, when Kopp allegedly directed her to look through her bag in

the presence of Kelly and Abrams. Lawson also claims that Kopp and the officers unlawfully

detained her during that May 5 interaction. Finally, she seeks to hold the Board responsible

pursuant to Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York, 

 (1978),

based on Kopp’s policymaking role, the Board policies that allegedly authorized Creely and

Franke to search Lawson’s bag, and Creely’s and Franke’s lack of training.

       Lawson sued the individual defendants in their official and personal capacities. The parties

agreed to dismiss the official-capacity portion of this claim as to Creely and Franke, and the district

court approved the dismissal. After discovery, the parties filed cross-motions for summary

judgment. The district court granted judgment in favor of Defendants-Appellees, and this appeal

followed.

                                         III.   Analysis

       We review a grant of summary judgment de novo. Levine v. DeJoy, 

, 796 (6th

Cir. 2023). “Summary judgment is appropriate where the evidence presents no genuine dispute of

material fact such that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Gammons

v. Adroit Med. Sys., 

, 825 (6th Cir. 2024) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a)). In evaluating

a motion for summary judgment, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-

moving party and “must draw all reasonable inferences in [its] favor.” 

. “[W]e may

affirm on any grounds supported by the record, even if they are different from the grounds the


                                                 -5-
No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


district court relied upon in reaching its summary judgment decision below.” 

 (citing City Mgmt.

Corp. v. U.S. Chem. Co., 

 (6th Cir. 1994)).

       A. Creely and Franke Lacked State Authority for the Search of Lawson’s Bag

       The Fourth Amendment protects individuals from “unreasonable searches and seizures.”

U.S. Const. amend. IV. A plaintiff invoking § 1983 must establish that the defendant was acting

“under the color of state law” and deprived the plaintiff of “rights secured by federal law.” League

of Women Voters v. Brunner, 

 (6th Cir. 2008) (internal citations omitted). An

individual acts under color of state law, as required by § 1983, when he has “exercised power

possessed by virtue of state law and made possible only because the wrongdoer is clothed with the

authority of state law.” Dean v. Byerley, 

 (6th Cir. 2004) (cleaned up) (quoting

West v. Atkins, 

 (1988)). Framed another way, “[i]f an individual is possessed of

state authority and purports to act under that authority, his action is state action.” Id. at 552

(alteration in original) (quoting Griffin v. Maryland, 

 (1964)).

       The district court determined that Creely’s and Franke’s conduct was “fairly attributable

to the State” because their status as school employees granted them access to Lawson’s office and

bag, regardless of whether Lawson locked her office door or whether her purse was visible to

passersby; put differently, the court “doubt[ed] whether Creely and Franke could have acted as

they did ‘without the authority of [their] office.’” Lawson v. Creely, 

, 495–96

(E.D. Ky. 2024) (second alteration in original) (first quoting Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 

 (1982); and then quoting Waters v. City of Morristown, 

 (6th Cir.

2001)). The district court ultimately entered summary judgment in their favor, however, on the

basis that they were entitled to qualified immunity. 

 at 502–03. We affirm the district court on




                                               -6-
No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


different grounds: Creely and Franke lacked state authority for their conduct and did not act under

color of state law, as required for a claim under § 1983.

        The Supreme Court recently addressed state action by public employees in a case arising

from this circuit, Lindke v. Freed, 

 (2024). There, a municipal official maintained a

Facebook page on which he posted both personal updates and information relating to his

government job. 

 at 191–93. After a constituent posted negative comments, the official deleted

the negative comments and blocked the constituent from commenting on the official’s Facebook

page. 

 at 190–91, 193. The constituent sued, alleging a violation of his First Amendment rights.

. Lindke provides some guidance here. First, a claimant under § 1983 cannot “hang his

hat on [the defendant’s] status as a state employee. The distinction between private conduct and

state action turns on substance, not labels: Private parties can act with the authority of the State,

and state officials have private lives and their own constitutional rights.” Id. at 197. Second, there

is a “bedrock requirement that ‘the conduct allegedly causing the deprivation of a federal right be

fairly attributable to the State,’” which is only the case if the act “is traceable to the State’s power

or authority.” Id. at 198 (quoting Lugar, 

) (gathering cases). “By contrast, when

the challenged conduct ‘entail[s] functions and obligations in no way dependent on state authority,’

state action does not exist.” 

 at 198–99 (quoting Polk County v. Dodson, 

, 318–19

(1981)). As the Lindke Court summarized, “the ‘[m]isuse of power, possessed by virtue of state

law,’ constitutes state action”; but “[t]o misuse power, . . . one must possess it in the first place.”

 at 199–200 (quoting United States v. Classic, 

 (1941)).

        We applied Lindke in Mackey v. Rising and explained that the first element of the Dean

test—whether an “individual is possessed of state authority,” Dean, 

 (quoting

Griffin, 

)—“requires courts to identify the ‘nature of the act’ that the plaintiff


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No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


challenges, and to compare that act with the state-assigned ‘responsibilities’ of the official who

committed it,” 

, 559 (6th Cir. 2024) (first quoting Stengel v. Belcher, 

 (6th Cir. 1975); and then quoting Lindke, 

). The Mackey panel surveyed how

courts might assess different situations under this inquiry:

       This test produces some easy answers. Most obviously, a state employee’s conduct
       will meet the test if a state regulation tasked the employee with engaging in the
       specific conduct at issue. Consider our oft-cited decision in Stengel. There, a police
       officer shot three bar patrons while attempting to end a middle-of-the-night bar
       fight. Although the officer was off-duty and out of uniform, “police department
       regulations” vested him with the authority—indeed, the duty—to stop crime “24
       hours a day.” And state officials later approved the officer’s force as consistent
       with these regulations.

       But things are not always so simple. In some situations, an official might possess
       the required state authority even if the State did not permit the conduct. . . .

       . . . A state official’s conduct can qualify as state action even if the “particular action
       which he took” (say, a police officer’s use of excessive force) “was not authorized
       by state law” (say, because it violated a State’s use-of-force regulations). . . . [A]s
       Lindke put it, state officials can satisfy the Court’s “actual authority” test even if
       they go beyond (or “[m]isuse”) the power that the State has entrusted them. Even
       before Lindke, our cases made the same point when they noted that officers can
       engage in state action if their conduct arose from an “apparent duty” of their office
       or “ostensible state authority[.]” We interpret these statements—consistent with
       Lindke—to cover fact patterns when an official exercises state authority but exceeds
       the scope of the delegation.

       So what distinguishes the misuse of authority from the absence of authority? The
       Supreme Court has offered little guidance on this subject. But it has clarified that
       we must look beyond whether the State has permitted the “particular action” that a
       plaintiff challenges. We must instead ask whether the State has delegated the
       general “type of authority” that an official exercised.

 at 559–60 (second and third alterations in original) (internal citations omitted).3



3
  The district court acknowledged the Supreme Court’s holding in Lindke and its vacatur of this
court’s lower opinion, but it concluded that Lindke was specific to a public employee’s use of
social media, and therefore “[t]he general framework for determining where state action exists in



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No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


       Lawson focuses on a statement in the employee handbook, asserting that it granted Creely

and Franke the authority required to attribute their actions to the state: “All employees are

expected to use sound judgment in the performance of their duties and take reasonable and

commonly accepted measures to protect the health, safety, and well-being of others, as well as

District property.” R. 36-17, PageID 582 (employee handbook); R. 36-14, PageID 576 (classified-

personnel duties); R. 36-15, PageID 577 (certified-personnel duties).

       Considering the first Mackey situation—a state regulation tasking an employee with

engaging in the specific conduct at issue—the identified school policy falls short of tasking Creely

and Franke with searching Lawson’s purse. And the rule in Stengel that informed the first Mackey

situation specifically required an officer “to take action ‘in any type of police or criminal activity

24 hours a day.’” Stengel, 

. Here, the cited policy is not nearly as specific: It does

not suggest that employees like Creely and Franke must proactively investigate potential threats

to the health, safety, and well-being of students and others. In fact, in the employee handbook, the

cited policy is immediately followed by a requirement that employees like Creely and Franke

cooperate with “investigations conducted by the District,” R. 36-17, PageID 582 (emphasis added),

belying the notion that Creely and Franke were tasked with conducting their own. Further, even

if Creely and Franke could initiate their own investigation, the cited policy is tempered by language

requiring employees to use “sound judgment” and employ methods that are “reasonable and




other contexts not related to social media appears to remain unchanged.” Lawson, 737 F. Supp.
3d at 494 n.1. Although this court, in Mackey, declined to “decide on the precise formulation that
governs” outside the social-media context, it nonetheless made clear that regardless of the type of
case, courts must determine whether “a state statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage g[a]ve
the defendant the ‘actual’ or ‘state’ ‘authority’ to engage in the relevant conduct[.]” 106 F.4th
at 559 (quoting Lindke, 

).
                                                -9-
No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


commonly accepted.” 

 Lawson has not explained how surreptitiously rifling through a

coworker’s bag is a reasonable and commonly accepted measure.

       Lindke cautioned courts to give “careful attention to the relevant . . . ordinance [or]

regulation” and not to “rely on ‘excessively broad job descriptions’” in determining the scope of

an official’s authority. 601 U.S. at 200–01 (quoting Kennedy v. Bremerton Sch. Dist., 

, 529 (2022)). Construing Creely’s and Franke’s conduct as falling within a policy to “take

reasonable and commonly accepted measures to protect the health, safety, and well-being of

others” would constitute the excessively broad construction of their job description foreclosed by

Lindke. Accordingly, the first Mackey situation does not support state authority here.

       The second Mackey situation—whether “an official . . . possess[es] the required state

authority even if the State did not permit the conduct”—presents a closer call but ultimately favors

a finding of no state authority. See 106 F.4th at 560. In this situation, the fact that Creely’s and

Franke’s conduct “exceed[ed] the scope” of the school policy does not preclude that conduct from

being state action if “the State has delegated the general ‘type of authority’ that [Creely and

Franke] exercised.” Id. (quoting Lindke, 

). But nothing in the policy suggests that

the state had delegated to Creely and Franke the general authority to conduct investigations or seek

out potential dangers beyond what was immediately ascertainable to them. Instead, a holistic

review of the school’s policies suggests that employees should report concerns and suspicions to

supervisors or law enforcement, who are better equipped to develop a plan of action. Further, the

fact that these policies contemplate the reporting of beliefs and suspicions suggests that employees

need not conclusively verify their suspicions (such as by searching through a coworker’s bag)

before reporting them. See, e.g., R. 36-7, PageID 560 (drugs-and-alcohol policy requiring

employees to report to law enforcement the suspected possession or sale of controlled substances


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No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


on school grounds); R. 36-8, PageID 563 (same); R. 36-10, PageID 566 (health-and-safety policy

requiring that “[e]mployees shall report any conditions they believe to be unsafe to their immediate

supervisor, who shall examine the situation and take appropriate action”); R. 36-17,

PageID 585–86 (employee handbook’s “Required Reports” section does not require employees to

investigate “suspicions” or “belie[fs],” other than arguably for a bomb threat, in which case the

employee must “scan the area noting any items that appear to be out of place”). In fact, when the

school’s weapons policy discusses potential searches, it expressly limits that authority to the

school’s principal: “In the enforcement of this policy, principals may authorize, if they have

reasonable suspicion, searches in compliance with applicable Board policies.”                R. 36-12,

PageID 572 (emphasis added). Considering these policies as a whole, the state had not delegated

even the general type of authority at issue here to employees like Creely and Franke.4

        For the foregoing reasons, Creely and Franke did not search Lawson’s bag pursuant to any

state authority, and consequently, Lawson cannot satisfy the acting-under-color-of-state-law

element for her § 1983 claim. Waters, 

.5



4
 We note as well that Creely and Franke did not understand themselves to be operating under any
policy when they searched Lawson’s bag. Creely, when asked whether she knew if “there was
any state statute or board policy that allowed you to look in to [sic] Ms. Lawson’s purse in May of
2021[,]” responded, “I do not [know].” R. 38, PageID 779–80; see also id. at 733 (similar question
and answer). Franke appears to have answered similarly. See R. 39, PageID 891. Creely knew
of the existence of the weapons policy but was “not completely familiar” with its contents. R. 38,
PageID 771. Franke understood the drugs-and-alcohol policy to apply only to “students,” and she
“had not seen” any written weapons policy. R. 39, PageID 845–46.
5
  The district court used a formulation of the state-action test permitting a finding of state action if
the defendant’s “conduct is such that the actor could not have behaved as he did without the
authority of his office.” Lawson, 737 F. Supp. 3d at 494 (quoting Waters, 

). The
district court then reasoned that but for Creely’s and Franke’s status as school (and state)
employees, they would not have been in a position to search Lawson’s bag. 

 (“Creely’s



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No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


                  B. Kopp Did Not Violate Lawson’s Constitutional Rights

       Lawson argues that Kopp unlawfully seized her on May 5, 2021, when he met her in the

school lobby and led her to Kelly’s office. She also claims that Kopp unlawfully searched her bag

in Kelly’s office. The district court concluded that Kopp seized Lawson for Fourth Amendment

purposes but properly conducted an investigative stop under the framework of Terry v. Ohio, 

 (1968), resulting in no constitutional violation. Lawson, 737 F. Supp. 3d at 505–06.

Additionally, the district court found that Lawson consented to the search of her bag because she

initiated the search and conducted it herself. Id. at 507. We affirm as to both conclusions.

       As a preliminary matter, Kopp and the Board argue that Lawson improperly attempts to

import Fifth Amendment case law into her Fourth Amendment claim. Lawson indeed does not

expressly mention the Fifth Amendment once in her complaint—though in her facts section, she

briefly alleges that when she was “in custody” in Kelly’s office, she received no “rights

advisement,” R. 1, PageID 5—and her only count is titled “Fourth Amendment Violations by

Creely, Franke, and Kopp (and Monell Liability for same [sic] by the Defendant Board),” id. at 6.

Significant portions of Lawson’s opening brief and reply make the case that Lawson was subject




and Franke’s status as school employees is the very thing that enabled them access to Ms.
Lawson’s office and bag. . . . Their very presence in the Guidance Suite . . . appears to be connected
to their employment.”); see also id. (“Creely and Franke were on duty during the school day when
they entered Ms. Lawson’s office, and they used their access as school employees to do so.”). As
employed here, this but-for approach lacks sufficient connection to “the authority of [Creely’s and
Franke’s] office,” Waters, 

 (emphasis added), and therefore runs afoul of Lindke’s
admonition that a plaintiff cannot merely “hang his hat on [the defendant’s] status as a state
employee,” 

; see also Stengel, 

 (“It is the nature of the act performed,
not . . . the status of being on duty, or off duty, which determines whether the officer has acted
under color of law.” (quoting Johnson v. Hackett, 

 (E.D. Pa. 1968))).
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No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


to a custodial interrogation and should have been read her Miranda rights, but this cannot

overcome her failure to plead a § 1983 claim for the deprivation of her Fifth Amendment rights.6

       Lawson instead appears to argue that if someone is “in custody” for purposes of the Fifth

Amendment, it cannot also be the case that the Fourth Amendment analysis should proceed under

Terry. Lawson Br. 27 (“Because [Lawson] was in custody during her interrogation, Terry simply

does not apply.”). This court has explained that the Fourth Amendment seizure and Fifth

Amendment custody analyses are different. United States v. Salvo, 

 (6th Cir.

1998) (“[A]lthough stopping an automobile is a ‘seizure’ under the Fourth Amendment, the

occupants are not necessarily ‘in custody’ for the purposes of the Fifth Amendment.” (citing

Berkemer v. McCarty, 

 (1984))); United States v. Woods, 

 (6th

Cir. 2013) (where the defendant argued that authorities obtained his statement and related physical

evidence in violation of Miranda, the district court’s conclusion that such evidence was lawful

under Terry and the plain-view doctrine “conflate[d] the applicable Fifth Amendment analysis

with inapposite Fourth Amendment doctrine”). In any event, because Lawson has brought only a




6
  Even if we interpreted Lawson’s fleeting reference to a “rights advisement” as alleging a Fifth
Amendment claim, it would not survive summary judgment. The Supreme Court has explained
that “violations of judicially crafted prophylactic rules [such as those found in Miranda] do not
violate the constitutional rights of any person” and therefore “cannot be grounds for a § 1983
action.” Chavez v. Martinez, 

 (2003) (plurality opinion) (gathering cases);
accord McKinley v. City of Mansfield, 

, 432 n.13 (6th Cir. 2005). And “a violation
of the Self-Incrimination Clause” itself does not occur until a defendant’s compelled statements
are “use[d] in a criminal case.” Chavez, 

. Lawson does not allege that any
statements she made during the May 5, 2021, questioning were later used against her in criminal
proceedings.

                                              - 13 -
No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


Fourth Amendment claim, and because consideration of Fifth Amendment case law is unhelpful,

we focus our analysis on the Fourth Amendment.7

         1. Kopp Did Not Unlawfully Seize Lawson under the Fourth Amendment

       A Fourth Amendment seizure occurs “when, ‘in view of all of the circumstances

surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave.’”

United States v. Knox, 

 (6th Cir. 1988) (quoting United States v. Mendenhall,

 (1980)); see also Florida v. Bostick, 

 (1991) (reframing

the inquiry as whether “a reasonable person would feel free ‘to disregard the police and go about

his business’” or “ignore the police presence” (first quoting California v. Hodari D., 

 (1991); and then quoting Michigan v. Chesternut, 

 (1988))). A reasonable

person would not believe herself free to leave if she were approached by authorities (who identified

themselves as such) and, rather than being briefly questioned, were asked to follow them to an

office. Knox, 839 F.2d at 288–89 (citing United States v. Jefferson, 

 (6th

Cir. 1981)). But cf. United States v. Collis, 

 (6th Cir. 1985) (no seizure where

the defendant agreed to accompany an agent to baggage claim, and there was no indication of

“coercive or intimidating behavior” that would suggest that compliance was compelled).

       Kopp did not seize Lawson when he met her in the school lobby: Although he led her to

an office for further questioning, he did not suggest that her compliance was compelled; instead,

he asked if “she could answer a few questions,” and she agreed. R. 36, PageID 459. Lawson was

seized, however, when she found herself in Kelly’s office with the door closed, Kopp blocking

that door, and two law-enforcement officers equipped with firearms. See id. at 460; R. 40,



7
 For the same reasons, Lawson’s attempt to fault the district court for applying investigative-stop
case law, rather than less-applicable Fifth Amendment case law, is unconvincing.
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No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


PageID 1020 (Lawson’s testimony that given Kopp’s position, she felt that “[t]here was no way

that [she] could go out”); Mendenhall, 

 (“circumstances that might indicate a

seizure . . . would be the threatening presence of several officers [or] the display of a weapon by

an officer,” inter alia). And although Kopp and the Board argue that Lawson was questioned at

work in an office similar to her own—i.e., a location not “inherently intimidating,” like a station-

house, Salvo, 

 (discussing this factor in a custodial-interrogation context)—this

argument is undercut by the facts. Lawson was not questioned in a random coworker’s office but

rather in the office of the law-enforcement officer assigned to the school. And Kelly’s body-

camera footage reveals that the room was relatively small and, with the blinds drawn and paper

covering the window on the door, was concealed from anyone outside. Cf. 

 (the defendant was

not “in a confined space in which he might have felt constrained or intimidated,” because the room

“was large with windows facing various public areas”). In these circumstances, a reasonable

person would not have felt free to disregard the police and go about her business.

       Once seized in Kelly’s office, Lawson was entitled to the protections afforded to an

investigative stop. Such a stop is proper where there is a “reasonable, articulable suspicion that

[a] person has been, is, or is about to be engaged in criminal activity.” United States v. Smith, 

 (6th Cir. 2010) (alteration in original) (quoting United States v. Atchley, 

 (6th Cir. 2007)).      The stop also must be “sufficiently limited in time,” and the

investigative means must be “the least intrusive means reasonably available.” United States v.

Davis, 

 (6th Cir. 2005) (quoting Bennett v. City of Eastpointe, 

,

825–26 (6th Cir. 2005)). An unreasonable duration or unreasonable means may convert an

investigatory stop into an arrest requiring the more onerous showing of probable cause. United




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No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


States v. Avery, 

 (6th Cir. 1997) (citing United States v. Place, 

 (1983); United States v. Sharpe, 

, 685–86 (1985)).

       Kopp had a reasonable, articulable suspicion that Lawson possessed a firearm on school

grounds based on the reports he received from Reid’s supervisor and Abrams. Establishing a

reasonable, articulable suspicion is difficult in cases of anonymous informants providing vague

descriptions of individuals or their alleged criminal acts. But these reports were from Kopp’s

coworkers, based on personal observations of Lawson’s allegedly illegal conduct. Cf., e.g., United

States v. Johnson, 

 (6th Cir. 2010) (discussing factors such as the reliability of

the tip, whether the informant identified the suspects with particularity, and whether the

information alleged criminal activity). Kopp was therefore justified in making an investigative

stop based on the reports.

       The investigative stop was also sufficiently limited in time, and Kopp employed the least

intrusive means reasonably available. The meeting lasted approximately four minutes, and as the

body-camera footage indicates, Kopp resolved the question whether Lawson had a firearm in her

bag within the first minute of the meeting; he and the officers then spent the remaining time

explaining to Lawson what would happen next and photographing the bag.8 It would be difficult

to imagine a more expeditious investigation. The means were similarly appropriate: Kopp made

the reasonable judgment not to immediately accuse Lawson in the school lobby, and instead he led

her to a secure office and promptly informed her of the allegation. Salvo, 

 (noting

that law enforcement chose a private interview location “to save [the defendant] from a more



8
  To the extent that Lawson takes issue with the nature of her seizure after she searched her bag,
law enforcement had probable cause for an arrest once she acknowledged that the firearm was in
her bag.

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No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


public exposure of his criminal activity, not out of a desire to coerce or intimidate him”). In sum,

Kopp “diligently pursued a means of investigation that was likely to confirm or dispel [his]

suspicions quickly.” Sharpe, 

.

       Lawson argues that the secluded nature of Kelly’s office and the presence of Kelly and

Abrams escalated the investigatory detention to the level of an arrest requiring probable cause.

“To determine whether an investigative detention has crossed the line and become an arrest, this

court considers factors such as ‘the transportation of the detainee to another location, significant

restraints on the detainee’s freedom of movement involving physical confinement or other

coercion preventing the detainee from leaving police custody, and the use of weapons or bodily

force.’” United States v. Lopez-Arias, 

 (6th Cir. 2003) (quoting United States v.

Richardson, 

 (6th Cir. 1991)). The facts of Lopez-Arias make clear that the

present case did not escalate into an arrest during the four-minute interaction. In Lopez-Arias, the

defendants were effectively arrested when they “were (1) stopped by four DEA agents brandishing

firearms, (2) handcuffed, (3) placed into the backseats of separate DEA vehicles, (4) transported

from the scene of the stop, (5) read their Miranda rights, and (6) questioned.” Id. at 628.

       Here, Lawson voluntarily followed Kopp to Kelly’s office, Kelly and Abrams did not

brandish their weapons, and Lawson was not subjected to physical restraints such as handcuffs.

The Lopez-Arias court also noted that employing some of the above measures would not escalate

an investigative detention into an arrest if they were proportional to safety concerns. Id. (citing

Houston v. Clark Cnty. Sheriff Deputy John Does 1-5, 

, 814–15 (6th Cir. 1999)).

Here, even if Kopp’s decision to bring Lawson to a private, secure office could be faulted as

possibly escalating the interaction into an arrest, it was justified by the potential dangers of

confronting a likely armed person in the school lobby. This undermines Lawson’s reliance on


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No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


Florida v. Royer, where the Supreme Court found that the limits of Terry had been exceeded when

authorities moved the defendant from an airport concourse to a police interrogation room because

“[t]he record d[id] not reflect any facts which would support a finding that the legitimate law

enforcement purposes which justified the detention in the first instance were furthered by removing

[the defendant] to the police room.” 

 (1983).

        For these reasons, the district court correctly concluded that Kopp did not seize Lawson

in a manner that violated the Fourth Amendment.

       2. Lawson’s Search of Her Own Bag Did Not Violate the Fourth Amendment

       A person may waive her Fourth Amendment rights by consenting to a search, which can

be shown “in the form of words, gesture, or conduct.” United States v. Carter, 

(6th Cir. 2004) (quoting United States v. Griffin, 

 (7th Cir. 1976)). Consent must

be “freely and voluntarily given” and is not established by “showing no more than acquiescence

to a claim of lawful authority.” Bumper v. North Carolina, 

, 548–49 (1968). To

determine whether there was consent, courts examine the totality of the circumstances, including

the individual’s “age, his or her education and intelligence, the existence of advice concerning the

nature of the constitutional right that is implicated, the length of detention prior to the request for

consent, the nature of any prior questioning, and whether any physical punishment was involved.”

Morphis v. United States, 

 (6th Cir. 2004) (first citing Schneckloth v.

Bustamonte, 

 (1973); and then citing United States v. Guimond, 

 (6th Cir. 1997)). “The absence of an overt act or threat of force, promises made to a defendant,

or indications of more subtle forms of coercion that might flaw a defendant’s judgment indicate

that a defendant’s consent was freely given.” 

 (citing United States v. Watson, 

 (1976)).


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No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


       Lawson contends that Kopp, flanked by two law-enforcement officers, directed Lawson to

search her bag. But Kelly’s body-camera footage tells a different story and shows that no search

by state actors occurred at all: Kopp informed Lawson of the allegation and stated that he

“need[ed] to ask [her] if this [wa]s true.” R. 37, Ex. 40, PageID 681. Then Lawson, while

answering verbally, initiated a search of her bag on her own. “Where video evidence depicts the

events, we view the facts ‘in the light depicted by the videotape’ and do not adopt a version of the

facts that is ‘blatantly contradicted by the record.’” Jackson-Gibson v. Beasley, 

,

853–54 (6th Cir. 2024) (quoting Scott v. Harris, 

, 380–81 (2007)). More than

consenting to a search by authorities, then, Lawson herself revealed the presence of the firearm in

her bag without being directed to do so. United States v. Strouth, 

 (E.D.

Tenn. 1970) (“[M]ere acceptance by officers of that which a defendant turns over to them

voluntarily is not ‘a search’ within the purview of the Fourth Amendment.”).9 Accordingly, no

constitutionally impermissible search of Lawson’s bag occurred on May 5.

                           C. The Board Is Not Liable Under Monell

       To establish the Board’s municipal liability under Monell, Lawson must show both “the

deprivation of a constitutional right” and that the Board “is responsible for that violation.” Doe v.

Claiborne Cnty. ex rel. Claiborne Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 

, 505–06 (6th Cir. 1996) (citing

Collins v. City of Harker Heights, 

 (1992)). Because Creely and Franke lacked




9
  Even if we determined that a search occurred, the Morphis factors would suggest that Lawson
consented to it. Although Kelly and Abrams were present, they did not threaten Lawson or claim
to have a right to search her bag; in fact, they did not speak until after she had searched her bag.
Further, Lawson is an educated adult; she had been in Kelly’s office for only moments before she
looked through her bag; there was no significant prior questioning or physical punishment; and
there were no threats, promises, or other coercive measures applied to Lawson.

                                               - 19 -
No. 24-5649, Lawson v. Creely et al.


state authority for their conduct, and because Kopp did not violate Lawson’s Fourth Amendment

rights, Lawson cannot maintain a Monell claim against the Board. Pollard v. City of Columbus,

 (6th Cir. 2015) (“Because the officers did not commit a violation of [the

decedent’s] constitutional rights, [the plaintiff’s] claim of municipal liability must fail . . . .”). We

therefore affirm the district court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of the Board.

                                        IV.     Conclusion

        For the reasons set out above, we AFFIRM.




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