CA10: School restraint desk that could be crawled out of was not a seizure

A six year old girl with multiple disabilities caused by being born with cocaine addiction was not subjected to a Fourth Amendment violation by being put in a school restraint desk that she could crawl out of. This was different than other cases from this circuit where the child was physically restrained. Ebonie S. v. Pueblo School District 60, 11-1273 (10th Cir. August 28, 2012):

Plaintiff devotes much effort to arguing that the use of the desk was prohibited under Colorado law and was contrary to well-established educational standards. But it is not our office to decide the lawfulness of the desk under state law or the wisdom of using the desk as a matter of pedagogical policy. We firmly decline to offer any view on those questions. Moreover, we express no view as to the claims under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. We hold only that use of the desk under the circumstances presented did not violate the Fourth or the Fourteenth Amendments.

. . .

Finally, we find significant that the restraining mechanisms were not attached to Ebonie’s body. This fact distinguishes Ebonie’s circumstances from the cases the plaintiff cites in which other circuits have found in-school seizures. See Gray v. Bostic, 458 F.3d 1295, 1306 (11th Cir. 2006) (handcuffing student was unreasonable seizure); Doe ex rel. Doe v. Haw. Dep’t of Educ., 334 F.3d 906, 910 (9th Cir. 2003) (taping student’s head to a tree was a seizure). Physically binding a student is a much more significant imposition on her dignity and bodily integrity than the use of the desk in this case.

If one or more of these facts were absent, our conclusion might be different. But in light of these three factors, we conclude that Ebonie was not seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. We affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment on this claim.