CA9: School resource officer’s arrest of alleged bullying middle school girls ‘to prove a point’ and ‘make [them] mature a lot faster’ was unreasonable under T.L.O.

Arresting middle school girls for alleged bullying and fighting at school violated the Fourth Amendment and was unreasonable: “After concluding that the girls were unresponsive and disrespectful, the deputy arrested the girls ‘to prove a point’ and ‘make [them] mature a lot faster.’” Scott v. County of San Bernardino, 16-55518 (9th Cir. Sep. 10, 2018). Summary by the court:

The panel affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in an action brought by three middle school girls who alleged that a Sheriff’s deputy arrested them on campus without probable cause, in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights and state law.

The middle school’s assistant school principal had asked the Sheriff’s deputy, a school resource officer, to counsel a group of girls who had been involved in ongoing incidents of bullying and fighting. After concluding that the girls were unresponsive and disrespectful, the deputy arrested the girls “to prove a point” and “make [them] mature a lot faster.”

Applying the two-part reasonableness test set forth in New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 333 (1985), the panel held that the arrests were unreasonable because they were not justified at their inception nor reasonably related in scope to the circumstances. The panel held that the summary arrest, handcuffing, and police transport to the station of the middle school girls was a disproportionate response to the school’s need, which was dissipation of what the school officials characterized as an “ongoing feud” and “continuous argument” between the students. The panel further held that police officers were not entitled to qualified immunity because no reasonable officer could have reasonably believed that the law authorizes the arrest of a group of middle schoolers in order to teach them a lesson or to prove a point.

The panel held that the evidence was insufficient to create probable cause to arrest the students for violating California Penal Code § 415(1) or Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 601(a), and that plaintiffs were entitled to summary judgment in their favor on their state false arrest claim.