DocketNumber: 2:13-cv-00070
Filed Date: 2/27/2019
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 10/19/2024
Mark R. Hornak, Chief United States District Judge *507Angelica Davila ("Ms. Davila") brought this lawsuit alleging violations of her rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, made actionable by
At all times relevant to this case, Officer Bienemann was a patrol police officer employed by the Northern Regional Joint Police Board (the "NRJPB"), another Defendant in this case. (Third Amended Compl. ¶ 6, ECF No. 138 ). The NRJPB is a local governmental agency that provides police services for the municipalities of Pine, Richland, and Marshall Townships and Bradford Woods Borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. (Pl.'s Concise Statement of Material Facts in Supp. of Mot. for Partial Summ. J. ("Pl.'s SMF") ¶¶ 1-2, ECF No. 236 ). Ms. Davila alleges that the NRJPB's customs, policies, and/or practices resulted in the deprivation of her Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights in connection with these incidents.
This case has a long and complicated procedural history. The Court first issued a lengthy opinion addressing the Defendants' motions to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint. Davila v. N. Reg'l Joint Police Bd. ,
Now before the Court is Ms. Davila's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 234 ), Officer Bienemann's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 238 ), and the NRJPB's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 240 ). Ms. Davila seeks the entry of summary judgment in her favor and against Officer Bienemann on Counts I and V of the Third Amended *508Complaint for alleged violations of her Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable seizures and from false imprisonment. She also seeks the entry of summary judgment in her favor and against the NRJPB on Counts I and II of the Third Amended Complaint for alleged violations of her Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable seizures. Defendants Officer Bienemann and NRJPB seek the entry of summary judgment in their favor in all claims asserted against them. These Motions are fully briefed and ripe for disposition. For the reasons that follow, each Motion will be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The following facts are undisputed. On January 22, 2011, Angelica Davila drove herself and her friend, Joel Garrete ("Mr. Garrete"), to Los Campos, a Mexican grocery store on U.S. Route 19 in Pine Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. (Defendants' Statement of Material Facts in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. ("Defs.' SMF") ¶¶ 36-38, ECF No. 242 ; see also ECF No. 242-8 ). Ms. Davila and Mr. Garrete arrived at Los Campos sometime between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. (Defs.' SMF ¶ 44). As the two left Los Campos, Ms. Davila turned right/north onto U.S. Route 19, a highway with two lanes in each direction. (Id. ¶¶ 46-47).
Officer Andrew Bienemann observed Ms. Davila travelling northbound in the left lane of Route 19. (Defs.' SMF ¶ 49). Ms. Davila's vehicle did not have its headlights on. (Id. ¶¶ 50, 57). Officer Bienemann thereupon initiated a traffic stop and reported the stop to Allegheny County Dispatch ("ACD") at 6:07 p.m. (Id. ¶ 52). Ms. Davila pulled her car over into the parking lot of a nearby restaurant. (Id. ¶ 54). Officer Bienemann approached Ms. Davila's vehicle and requested Ms. Davila's driver's license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance. (Id. ¶ 56). Ms. Davila produced a valid and current Pennsylvania driver's license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance. (Pl.'s SMF ¶ 29). Officer Bienemann also requested identification from Mr. Garrete. (Id. ¶ 58).
Mr. Garrete did not speak English, and Ms. Davila interpreted for Mr. Garrete during the traffic stop. (Defs.' SMF ¶¶ 60-61). After Mr. Garrete, through interpretation, answered "no" as to whether he had identification on him, Officer Bienemann asked Ms. Davila to ask Mr. Garrete if he was in the country legally. (Pl.'s SMF ¶¶ 33-34). Through Ms. Davila's interpretation, Mr. Garrete answered "no." (Id. ¶ 35). Officer Bienemann questioned Mr. Garrete about his immigration status because Mr. Garrete did not speak English and did not have a form of identification on him. (Id. ¶ 36). Officer Bienemann then asked Ms. Davila whether she was in the United States legally, and Ms. Davila responded that she was a legal permanent resident. (Id. ¶ 41).
Ms. Davila was born in Mexico in 1984 and immigrated to the United States with her parents when she was approximately two years old. (Dep. of Angelica Davila ("Davila Dep.") at 15:25-16:3, 169, 170, ECF No. 237-4 ). Ms. Davila received derivative United States citizenship pursuant to the Child Citizenship Act of 2000,
*509Officer Bienemann then returned to his patrol car and requested a backup unit to assist him. (Deposition of Andrew Bienemann ("Bienemann Dep.") at 62:3-25, ECF No. 237-3 ). Despite Ms. Davila indicating that she was lawfully present in the United States, and providing facially valid copies of the requested driving and identification documents, Officer Bienemann asked ACD to submit both Ms. Davila's and Mr. Garrete's names to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") in order to check their immigration statuses. (Pl.'s SMF ¶ 43). Officer Bienemann admitted that, at the time of the request, Ms. Davila had done nothing to cause him to believe that she might not have been lawfully present in the United States. (Bienemann Dep. at 63:17-20). Rather, Officer Bienemann's justification for providing Ms. Davila's name to ICE was that "in the course of [his] years of experience" he had "encountered numerous people who ha[d] not told [him] the truth or had been less than truthful with [him]," and since he was already notifying ICE about Mr. Garrete, he wanted ICE to "run [Ms. Davila's] name as well just to confirm what she had told [him]." (Id. at 63:8-16).
A second officer, Officer Sabrina Devereaux, arrived on the scene at approximately 6:13 p.m. (Pl.'s Response to Defs.' Statement of Material Facts ("Pl.'s Resp. SMF") ¶ 68, ECF No. 250 ). Officer Mark Wolfe responded to the scene at 6:18 p.m. (Deposition of Mark Wolfe ("Wolfe Dep.") at 48:21-49:4, ECF No. 237-5 ). ACD entered Ms. Davila's and Mr. Garrete's information provided by Officer Bienemann into its system at 6:35 p.m. (Pl.'s Resp. SMF ¶ 73). At approximately 6:36 p.m., Officer Bienemann received confirmation from ACD that Ms. Davila's license, registration, and registration were valid and up to date. (Bienemann Dep. at 119:18-120:1, 121:7-15). ACD did not provide information about Ms. Davila's immigration status at that time. (Id. ). Sergeant John Sicilia arrived on scene shortly before 6:41 p.m. (Deposition of John Sicilia ("Sicilia Dep.") at 37:23-38:8, ECF No. 237-5 ). Sergeant Sicilia suggested that all of the cars on the scene at this point (four police cars, and Ms. Davila's) be moved to a vacant parking lot across the street. (Id. at 37:23-38:19). Officer Bienemann asked Ms. Davila to move her car to the vacant lot at approximately 6:41 p.m. (Bienemann Dep. at 114:6-13). Officer Bienemann remained roadside with Ms. Davila and Mr. Garrete while awaiting contact with an ICE agent. (Id. at 69:24-71:12). Officer Bienemann testified during his deposition that Ms. Davila was not free to leave at any point during the roadside stop. (Id. at 86:5-9).
At 6:34 p.m., ICE received an immigration alien query ("IAQ") for Ms. Davila and responded that "this subject is not legally in the United States and appears to be subject to removal proceedings." (ECF No. 242-16 ). There was no match found in their database for Mr. Garrete. (ECF No. 242-10 ). At 6:54 p.m., an individual from ACD contacted the ICE Law Enforcement Support Center ("LESC") regarding Ms. Davila and Mr. Garrete. (ECF No. 242-21 ). That individual inquired as to how to proceed with Ms. Davila and Mr. Garrete and purported to be speaking with Officer Bienemann, who remained on the scene. (ECF No. 242-20 ). The individual from ACD advised the individual purported to be Officer Bienemann that "we're going to continue just where you are right now on these two individuals. We found something on the first one. We're still having a hard *510time on Joel, but we're trying to get a hold of an ICE agent now in the Pittsburgh area, so I'll let you know. Standby." (Id. ). Call records indicate that ICE Agent Jason Kenwood ("Agent Kenwood") contacted ICE Agent Briana Tetrault ("Agent Tetrault") at 7:04 p.m. (Pl.'s Resp. SMF ¶ 96). Officer Bienemann testified at his deposition that, after learning that Ms. Davila's driver's license was valid, he did not speak with anyone else from ACD until he was connected with Agent Tetrault at 7:22 p.m. (Bienemann Dep. at 69:24-71:6).
Agent Tetrault was patched through to Officer Bienemann at 7:22 p.m.
Shortly after leaving the ACJ, Officer Bienemann was contacted by ACD and was alerted that ICE had possibly made an error. (Bienemann Dep. at 91:22-92:6). ACD requested that Officer Bienemann view a photo to confirm whether the photo depicted Ms. Davila. (Id. ). Officer Bienemann pulled over his vehicle and confirmed that he believed that the photograph was, in fact, a photograph of Ms. Davila. (Id. at 92:7-10). Shortly thereafter, Officer Bienemann received a phone call from Agent Kenwood, who told Officer Bienemann that Ms. Davila may have been incorrectly detained due to a mistake. (Id. at 92:19-93:13, 135:16-21). Agent Kenwood conveyed to Officer Bienemann that it would be Agent Tetrault's decision on how to proceed if Ms. Davila was incorrectly detained. (Id. at 135:22-136:5).
At 9:50 p.m., ICE sent ACD confirmation that Ms. Davila was legally present in the United States as a permanent resident. (Bienemann Dep. at 93:14-19; ECF No. 242-29 ). Officer Bienemann discussed this information with Sergeant Sicilia, but Officer Bienemann took no additional action to ensure that Ms. Davila was released from custody in part because he believed that "there was nothing within [his] power that *511[he] could have done to get her out of jail." (Bienemann Dep. at 93:23-95:1).
Later that evening,
II. STANDARD FOR REVIEW
A court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there are no genuine disputes of material facts and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Summary judgment must be granted "after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett ,
The moving party bears the initial burden of demonstrating that there are no genuine disputes of material facts. Big Apple BMW, Inc. v. BMW of N. Am., Inc. ,
III. DISCUSSION
Plaintiffs may use
Officer Bienemann also argues that, even if his actions may have violated Ms. Davila's constitutional rights, he is nonetheless entitled to qualified immunity and the claims against him should be dismissed on that basis. Qualified immunity is an affirmative defense to § 1983 damages claims available to individuals. Harlow v. Fitzgerald ,
In order for a right to be "clearly established," "[t]he contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates the right." Anderson v. Creighton ,
*513It is particularly important in the Fourth Amendment context that the right be described with appropriate specificity, due to the fact-intensive nature of purported Fourth Amendment violations. Mullenix v. Luna , --- U.S. ----,
Claims Against Officer Bienemann
a. Unreasonable Seizure in Violation of the Fourth Amendment
i. Liability
Ms. Davila alleges that her Fourth Amendment rights were violated when Officer Bienemann engaged in an unreasonable seizure during the initial traffic stop. She argues that her continued roadside detention constituted a de facto arrest that was unsupported by probable cause that she had committed an offense other than the headlight violation. (Pl. Br. in Supp. at 7, ECF No. 235 ). She argues in the alternative that, even if her detention did not rise to the level of a de facto arrest, it was an impermissibly prolonged investigatory seizure that was unsupported by a reasonable suspicion of criminal wrongdoing. Id. at 8.
Ms. Davila and Officer Bienemann both agree that nothing was out of the ordinary with how the traffic stop began. Ms. Davila committed a minor traffic violation by driving without her headlights on at dusk. See 75 Pa. C.S. § 4302(a). Having witnessed this, Officer Bienemann had probable cause to believe that Ms. Davila had committed a traffic offense and was thus authorized to pull her vehicle over. See Whren v. United States ,
Both Ms. Davila and Mr. Garrete were "seized" for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment when Officer Bienemann effected the traffic stop. Brendlin v. California ,
If a seizure or detention is extended beyond what was authorized by the initial reasonable suspicion or probable cause, that extended seizure is unconstitutional absent additional reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. See, e.g., Rodriguez v. United States , --- U.S. ----,
In this Court's view, the holding in Rodriguez was not a revelation-it merely confirmed and exemplified what was clearly established by existing precedent. For instance, Illinois v. Caballes ,
The Supreme Court's guidance is the same in the context presented by this case-an officer asking questions about immigration status while an individual is seized. See Muehler ,
The initial questioning of Ms. Davila was permissible. It was conducted prior to Officer Bienemann's confirmation of Ms. Davila's identity and was within the scope of *516the stop for her minor traffic violation. However, it does not follow that Officer Bienemann's remaining actions pass constitutional muster. If Ms. Davila's seizure was extended "in scope and duration" longer than what was necessary to investigate her alleged headlight violation and confirm her identity, it became an independent Fourth Amendment seizure that required independent reasonable suspicion or probable cause to justify. See Florida v. Royer ,
The parties disagree about when and whether the "purpose" of the traffic stop here was completed. See United States v. Sharpe ,
A recent precedential decision from the Third Circuit, United States v. Clark ,
Here, had this been a "typical" stop for driving without headlights on, Officer Bienemann would have simply checked Ms. Davila's documents, warned or cited Ms. Davila for the violation, and then allowed her to leave. (Bienemann Dep. at 13:16-15:9). The entire process would have taken ten to twenty minutes. (Id. at 27:2-21). Of course, that is not what happened. After going through all of the usual incidents of an ordinary traffic stop, Officer Bienemann extended the seizure as he took the further step of having Ms. Davila's name submitted to ICE without a reasonable suspicion that her identity was in question, or as to her immigration status. (Id. at 63:17-20).
Officer Bienemann received confirmation of Ms. Davila's identification documents at 6:36 p.m., (Bienemann Dep. at 119:18-120:1), roughly twenty-nine minutes after the stop began. (See id. at 103:17-104:16). At this point, he had no reasonable basis to further doubt Ms. Davila's identity, and the mission of the traffic stop was complete. See Clark ,
Q. Was there anything that she said or did that caused you to believe that she might not be lawfully present?
A. No.
(Bienemann Dep. at 63:17-20). Nonetheless, he submitted her name to ICE because, in his experience, he "ha[d] encountered numerous people who ha[d] not told [him] the truth or had been less than truthful with [him] and since [he] was already notifying ICE for Mr. Garrete," he wanted ICE to confirm what Ms. Davila had told him. (Id. at 63:10-16). Aside from Ms. Davila's passenger's admissions and Officer Bienemann's generalized "experience" of having other people lie to him in other situations, there was nothing that would have given Officer Bienemann a remote suggestion-let alone reasonable suspicion-that Ms. Davila was not who she said she was or was in violation of any laws (immigration or otherwise) so as to justify extending the length of her detention to run her name through ICE. United States v. Cortez ,
As previously recognized by this Court, it would be entirely inappropriate for Officer Bienemann to submit Ms. Davila's information to ICE merely because her passenger admitted to being in the United States illegally. Davila III ,
And crucially, throughout this entire period, Ms. Davila was not free to leave:
Q. Now I am going to back up a little bit. During the course of the roadside stop with Ms. Davila and Mr. Garrete, was Ms. Davila free to leave at any point?
A. No, she wasn't.
(Bienemann Dep. at 86:5-9). Given Officer Bienemann's plain and unqualified admission that Ms. Davila was not free to leave "at any point," no reasonable jury could conclude that Ms. Davila was not "seized" for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment for the entire encounter. See United States v. Mendenhall ,
Officer Bienemann argues that the time spent waiting on ICE to run Mr. Garrete's and Ms. Davila's information is not attributable to him, as he was "diligent and prompt" in his efforts and the actions of "third-party law enforcement agencies" (including ICE) were "out of his control." (Bienemann Br. in Supp. at 6, ECF No. 239 ). The Court has already rejected this argument.
The Court finds unconvincing Officer Bienemann's argument that the portion of the time of the stop comprised of his waiting for ICE to get back to him should not count against him. Officer Bienemann made the stop himself, posed questions to Ms. Davila's passenger about his immigration status, and then affirmatively contacted ICE about both of the occupants of the vehicle. It is plain that he set the wheels in motion as to all that occurred during those two-plus hours. For purposes of analyzing this issue, he owns them.
Davila II ,
The Court is unpersuaded by Officer Bienemann's other arguments in support of his claim that the purpose of the traffic stop had not been completed-which are all essentially variations of the assertion that he still needed to confirm Ms. Davila's identity. The Court noted in its earlier opinion at the Motion to Dismiss stage that it was unclear, and apparently hotly contested, as to precisely when Officer Bienemann learned that Ms. Davila was "out of status." Davila III ,
The record indicates that ICE received an IAQ for Ms. Davila at 6:34 p.m. that indicated that "the subject is not legally in the United States and appears to be subject to removal proceedings." (ECF No. 242-16 ). However, it remains uncertain as to when Officer Bienemann personally became aware of that information. He stated during his deposition that he learned from Agent Tetrault that Ms. Davila was apparently not legally present in the United States and that he did not learn this information until after 7:22 p.m. (Bienemann Dep. at 121:7-15). Notwithstanding that admission, Officer Bienemann now argues that he was on the 6:54 p.m. phone call with the LESC and that he was instructed during this call, by Agent Kenwood, to hold Ms. Davila and Mr. Garrete while they awaited further instruction from a local ICE agent (apparently in reference to Agent Tetrault). After the Court's review of the recorded call in question,
But even if this is so, and even when evaluating the facts in the light most favorable to Officer Bienemann, this call did not begin until 6:54 p.m. (at the earliest) and Officer Bienemann was aware at 6:36 p.m. that all of Ms. Davila's driving and identification documents were valid. A review of *520the phone call recording indicates that the request from LESC to hold Mr. Garrete and Ms. Davila did not occur until approximately eight minutes into the call, i.e. , 7:02 p.m. (ECF No. 242-20 ). Thus, the record is uncontroverted insofar as it establishes that Officer Bienemann took it upon himself for at least twenty-six minutes (from 6:36 p.m. until 7:02 p.m.) to continue to detain Ms. Davila without a reasonable suspicion as to her identity or involvement in criminal activity. Further, the Court does not accept Officer Bienemann's argument that the then-pending request by LESC to hold Mr. Garrete and Ms. Davila absolved Officer Bienemann of responsibility for the continued detention. As explained above and in the Court's earlier Opinions, see Davila II ,
The time at which Officer Bienemann became aware of Ms. Davila's "out of status" designation would be material if Officer Bienemann learned of this information prior to 6:36 p.m., when Officer Bienemann learned from ACD that Ms. Davila's documents had been verified. If this was so, it could lay the basis for a reasonable suspicion of Ms. Davila's identity, notwithstanding the facially valid driver's license she supplied. Rather, even though the record indicates that ICE received the IAQ for Ms. Davila at 6:34 p.m., there is no evidence that Officer Bienemann received that information until 7:02 p.m. at the earliest. There would therefore have been no reasonable basis to continue detaining Ms. Davila after her documents were verified.
In summary, there is a period of time following the verification of Ms. Davila's documents at 6:36 p.m. for which Officer Bienemann needed an independent reasonable suspicion or probable cause of criminal activity in order to continue detaining Ms. Davila. Whether this period of time ended at 7:02 p.m. (as Officer Bienemann argues) or 7:22 p.m. (as Ms. Davila argues) is not material to the question of whether a constitutional violation occurred. Rodriguez demonstrates that any prolongation of a traffic stop that is unsupported by reasonable suspicion or probable cause is unconstitutional.
*521(Bienemann Dep. at 86:5-9). This admission, from the police officer that initiated the stop, is sufficient for the Court to conclude that no reasonable jury could conclude that Ms. Davila was not seized at any point during the encounter. But there is additional record evidence to support this conclusion as well. For example, Ms. Davila testified at her deposition that she was denied permission to use the restroom during the stop. (Davila Dep. at 74:6-23). Ms. Davila was also requested to move her vehicle to another location, (Bienemann Dep. at 114:6-13), and the additional police cars that arrived to the scene parked behind her car. (Davila Dep. at 65:23-66:1).
While it is true that Sergeant Sicilia testified at his deposition that Ms. Davila was "free to go" until they had the detention order, (Sicilia Dep. at 80:7-10), this strikes the Court as a conclusory assertion from a non-party in the case that is unsupported by the objective evidence in the record and is contrary to Officer Bienemann's own admission. It does not create a factual dispute as to whether Ms. Davila remained seized for the duration of the encounter. See Anderson , 477 U.S. at 252,
ii. Qualified Immunity
Officer Bienemann argues that, even if his actions may have violated Ms. Davila's Fourth Amendment rights, he is entitled to qualified immunity. Having concluded that Ms. Davila has demonstrated that there are no material factual disputes as to whether her Fourth Amendment rights were violated, Officer Bienemann's qualified immunity defense hinges on whether the rights at issue were clearly established as of the date of the incident. Officer Bienemann argues that there was no clearly established law that would have put him on notice as of January 22, 2011,
Muehler , as discussed in greater detail above, is factually inapposite to this case and does not bolster Officer Bienemann's qualified immunity argument. For one, the propriety of the immigration status questioning was, in the Court's estimation, a subsidiary issue for the Muehler Court. The main dispute in that case was the permissibility of detaining the subject of a search warrant using handcuffs while the search warrant was being executed.
*522
But this situation is quite different. Had this been a typical traffic stop for a headlight violation, Ms. Davila would have been free to leave after approximately ten to twenty minutes. (Bienemann Dep. at 27:2-21). Instead, she remained detained in a parking lot for approximately forty-five minutes longer before being transported handcuffed in the back of a patrol car to the local lockup and then the Allegheny County Jail. In Ms. Mena's case, there was a preexisting and independent justification for her extended seizure and the questions about her immigration status were not additional Fourth Amendment events. Here, Ms. Davila's initial seizure was based only upon her violation of a minor traffic law. The Court is mindful of the Supreme Court's recent decisions emphasizing the importance of describing the right at issue at an appropriate level of specificity. See, e.g., District of Columbia v. Wesby , --- U.S. ----,
Officer Bienemann, prior to deciding to prolong Ms. Davila's stop at the side of the road, was confronted by the following facts: Ms. Davila was driving without her headlights on; Mr. Garrete admitted to being in the country illegally, and; Ms. Davila claimed she was a legal resident and had produced a valid (and shortly thereafter, confirmed to be valid) driver's license, proof of insurance, and car registration. Based on these facts, Officer Bienemann admitted that he subjectively had no doubt as to Ms. Davila's lawful immigration status, and there is no evidence in the record that he suspected that Ms. Davila had committed a crime (aside from the headlight violation), or that she had been untruthful in any way. But yet she was not free to leave at any time.
It is beyond debate that it was clearly established on January 22, 2011, that Ms. Davila had a clearly established right to not be subjected to a prolonged traffic stop in order to investigate her immigration status without a reasonable suspicion or probable cause to call her lawful status into question. See Arizona v. Johnson ,
The purpose of the traffic stop was to investigate a minor traffic violation. That purpose was completed when Ms. Davila's identification was verified at 6:36 p.m. A reasonable police officer in Officer Bienemann's position would know that prolonging Ms. Davila's seizure beyond then, without reasonable suspicion as to her identity or involvement in further criminal activity, would be unconstitutional. Therefore, Officer Bienemann is not entitled to qualified immunity for the Fourth Amendment claims against him arising out of Ms. Davila's roadside detention.
There are no material factual disputes surrounding Ms. Davila's roadside detention prior to her transport to the Allegheny County Jail, and therefore summary judgment as to liability for Ms. Davila is appropriate as to this claim because Officer Bienemann indisputably violated her rights under the Fourth Amendment to be free from a prolonged seizure without reasonable suspicion or probable cause to support prolonging the seizure.
b. Selective Enforcement in Violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
i. Liability
Ms. Davila claims that her rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment were violated when Officer Bienemann selectively enforced the law or engaged in racial profiling by investigating her immigration status because of her protected characteristics-namely her Hispanic ethnicity and/or national origin. (Pl. Br. in Opp. at 1-2, ECF No. 248 ). Selective enforcement of facially neutral laws is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. See Whren ,
The remaining issues for the Court are whether there are sufficient facts in the record such that a reasonable jury could conclude that Ms. Davila, during the traffic stop, was treated differently from similarly situated individuals in an unprotected class and whether this disparate treatment was because of her ethnicity and/or national origin. As a preliminary matter, the Court agrees with Officer Bienemann in that there is no record evidence that Ms. Davila was initially stopped because of her Mexican ethnicity. The record is devoid of any evidence suggesting that Officer Bienemann was then aware of Ms. Davila's Mexican ethnicity or that he pulled over Ms. Davila because of her ethnicity.
The parties dispute whether Ms. Davila has produced enough evidence to permit a jury to conclude that she has been treated differently from similarly situated individuals in an unprotected class. Mr. Garrete and Ms. Davila are both of Hispanic descent and were both born in Latin American countries, and thus there are no members of an unprotected class against whom Ms. Davila can directly compare her treatment during this specific incident. Ms. Davila argues that no such comparator group is necessary because a jury could conclude based upon this record that, between 2007 and 2011, all individuals that were seized by NRJPB officers and then had their names to submitted to ICE were Hispanic. (Pl. Br. in Opp. at 15-16). NRJPB records show that ICE was contacted for immigration inquiries during traffic stops twelve times between 2007 and 2012, including seven times prior to January 22, 2011. (ECF No. 237-8 ; ECF No. 242-31 ). The incident reports in the record do, indeed, facially indicate that all of the individuals for whom an immigration inquiry was conducted were Hispanic (with the exception of three individuals for whom no ethnicity was provided) or from a Latin American country.
*525When a law or practice implemented by force of law is applied solely to one group and not another without lawful justification, it is a plain violation of the Equal Protection Clause. That has been the law for a very long time. See Yick Wo v. Hopkins ,
The decisions to stop a vehicle, detain its occupants, submit the occupants' information to ICE, and continue to detain those occupants while awaiting a response from ICE are all highly discretionary. Thus, there logically would not be records that reflect when Officer Bienemann or other NRJPB officers chose not to submit the names of vehicle occupants in unprotected classes to ICE during a traffic stop. Cf. Rodriguez v. Cal. Highway Patrol ,
*526officers (including Officer Bienemann) to those seemingly of Hispanic ethnicity or to those of Latin American origin.
A jury could further credit evidence as to Officer Bienemann's conduct in two other traffic stops that he made in 2011. In both stops, similarly as in Ms. Davila's stop, Officer Bienemann submitted the information of apparently Hispanic individuals to ICE following minor traffic violations, prolonging the roadside detentions as he did so. (ECF No. 237-8 at 20-21, 34-36). And there is no evidence in the record that Officer Bienemann has ever submitted the names of someone in an unprotected class to ICE during a similar stop. Considering the record as a whole, Ms. Davila has advanced sufficient facts such that a reasonable jury could conclude that Officer Bienemann's actions had a discriminatory effect on Ms. Davila based on her Hispanic ethnicity and/or national origin.
But even if the Court were to determine that a comparator group was necessary, the Court would nonetheless hold that the question of whether Officer Bienemann's actions had a discriminatory effect should proceed to the jury. Record evidence establishes that NRJPB officers engaged in hundreds of stops for Pennsylvania Vehicle Code offenses over a six-month period, (ECF No. 251-2 ), and by reasonable extrapolation, there would be thousands of stops over a several year period. The record also reflects that over a longer period only people appearing to be Hispanic or from a Latin American country (as self-described by the NRJPB officers generating the reports) had their names and information submitted to ICE by NRJPB officers, and importantly, by Officer Bienemann. Because of this apparently exclusive treatment, such individuals (including Ms. Davila) will necessarily be shown to have been disproportionately affected by this practice, thus demonstrating a discriminatory effect. See, e.g. , Morales v. Chadbourne ,
The viability of this claim thus hinges upon Officer Bienemann's subjective intent behind his decision to submit Ms. Davila's name to ICE and prolong the seizure while he awaited a response. Such determinations ordinarily are appropriately made by the finder of fact. See, e.g. , Christopher v. Nestlerode ,
At the time that Officer Bienemann chose to submit Ms. Davila's information to ICE he knew that her passenger was Hispanic and had admitted to being in the country illegally, and that Ms. Davila was a Hispanic woman. The first fact-Mr. Garrete's confessed unlawful status or his Hispanic ethnicity-cannot be the basis to justify Officer Bienemann's actions as to Ms. Davila. Not only is it generally "not a crime for a removable alien to remain present in the United States," Arizona ,
The Court also finds Officer Bienemann's arguments to the contrary to be unpersuasive. It is of no moment that "Davila has presented no evidence that Officer Bienemann made any remarks concerning race or heritage that would suggest a racially motivated stop or continued detention, or immigration status inquiry." (Bienemann Br. in Supp. at 14). True enough, but while such evidence would have been additionally probative of a discriminatory purpose, see Carrasca ,
Municipal officials acting in their official capacities seldom, if ever, announce on the record that they are pursuing a particular course of action because of their desire to discriminate against a [ ] minority. Even individuals acting from invidious motivations realize the unattractiveness of their prejudices when faced *528with their perpetuation in the public record. It is only in private conversation, with individuals assumed to share their bigotry, that open statements of discrimination are made, so it is rare that these statements can be captured for purposes of proving [ ] discrimination in a case such as this.
Smith v. Town of Clarkton, N.C. ,
Officer Bienemann also claims that he and other NRJPB officers viewed ICE as a resource for "identity issues[,] language barriers and where an individual admits to being in the country illegally." (Bienemann Br. in Supp. at 14); see also Arizona ,
ii. Qualified Immunity
Officer Bienemann also asserts that he is entitled to qualified immunity because the specific facts presented by this case would not have provided him with fair notice that his conduct would violate Ms. Davila's constitutional rights. (Bienemann Br. in Supp. at 23-24). This Court has already held that it was clearly established on January 22, 2011, "that selective enforcement based on a person's membership in a particular ethnic group is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause," and it has been since Yick Wo was decided in 1886. See Davila I ,
Officer Bienemann's attempts to focus on the "specific facts" of Ms. Davila's stop are unavailing. (Bienemann Br. in Supp. at 24). Neither party contests the validity of the initial stop-the proper focus is whether Officer Bienemann was on fair notice that continuing to detain Ms. Davila while he submitted her name to ICE because of her Hispanic origin was violative of her Equal Protection rights. Once again, Officer Bienemann admitted that there were no facts here that would give him reasonable suspicion as to Ms. Davila's identity or immigration status. Other than his generalized experience of sometimes having people lie to him, he has identified no facts about this stop that would lead him, based upon his experience, to have a reasonable suspicion about Ms. Davila's truthfulness. Cf. Arvizu ,
Officer Bienemann's motion for summary judgment on Ms. Davila's Equal Protection Clause claim will be denied. It is up to the jury to decide whether Officer Bienemann acted with a discriminatory intent in submitting Ms. Davila's name to ICE and thereby subjected her to an unconstitutionally prolonged seizure.
c. False Imprisonment in Violation of the Fourth Amendment
Ms. Davila also alleges that Officer Bienemann violated her Fourth Amendment rights by withholding exculpatory evidence from the Allegheny County Jail which led to her continued detention until she was released the following morning. According to Ms. Davila, once Officer Bienemann learned that Ms. Davila was lawfully present in the United States he had an affirmative duty to personally secure her release from custody.
Officer Bienemann responds that he had no such duty. Alternatively, he asserts that he is entitled to qualified immunity because the existing precedent was not sufficiently clear so as to put him on notice that he was required to provide the information he learned from ICE directly to the ACJ. The Court agrees with Officer Bienemann's characterization of the existing precedent and thus concludes that he is entitled to qualified immunity on this claim. Because the Court concludes that Officer Bienemann's actions were of the type that a reasonable officer could have believed were lawful, see Anderson ,
Officer Bienemann asserts that there is no Third Circuit precedent to put a police officer on notice of any duty to seek a subject's release after learning of exculpatory information. He chiefly relies on a *530non-precedential opinion from the Third Circuit for this point, Toribio v. Spece ,
In Toribio , the Third Circuit cited to one of its precedential decisions for the proposition that the law in this area is "unsettled."
A review of the facts of Wilson and Schneyder is helpful. In Wilson , witnesses to a robbery described the suspect as a "very tall" "light skinned black male."
Schneyder presents a case where an officer learned information that undeniably dispelled the justification for a continued detention. In Schneyder , a prosecutor secured an arrest warrant for a material witness in an upcoming trial.
Here, Ms. Davila's continued detention at the ACJ was based upon the belief that Ms. Davila was unlawfully present in the United States. Once it was determined that this was erroneous, Ms. Davila's continued detention would be per se unreasonable, as the basis for her detention would no longer exist. But Schneyder does not control given the other facts of this case. Officer Bienemann delivered Ms. Davila and Mr. Garrete to the Allegheny County Jail at 8:55 p.m. (Pl. CSF ¶ 80). On his way back from the Jail, he was contacted by ACD and alerted that ICE may have made a mistake about Ms. Davila. (Bienemann Dep. at 91:22-25). Shortly thereafter, he received a phone call from Agent Kenwood in which Agent Kenwood informed Officer Bienemann that Ms. Davila "may have been incorrectly detained and that they were looking into it." (Id. at 92:19-93:13). Officer Bienemann asked Agent Kenwood to send confirmation to the station as to what ICE determined. (Pl. CSF ¶ 85). ICE sent ACD confirmation that Ms. Davila was lawfully residing in the United States on 9:50 p.m. on the night of the incident. (ECF No. 242-29 ). Officer Bienemann admits to personally becoming aware of Ms. Davila's lawful status sometime later in the evening via fax, well before Ms. Davila's eventual release. (Bienemann Dep. at 93:16-19).
This information would have vitiated, beyond any doubt, any reason underpinning Ms. Davila's detention. The ICE detainer issued because it was believed that Ms. Davila was unlawfully present in the United States. Once this belief was dispelled by ICE-the authority that issued the detainer-no reasonable officer would have believed that there was probable cause justifying Ms. Davila's continued detention. Officer Bienemann argues that this is not necessarily true because the detainer did not facially state why ICE requested Ms. Davila's detention. This, in Officer Bienemann's view, distinguishes the ICE detainer from an arrest warrant insofar as he would not have known, based solely on his discovery of Ms. Davila's lawful status, that there was no longer a basis for the detainer to have issued. Given Officer Bienemann's personal involvement in these events, the absence of any record evidence that Ms. Davila was in the ACJ for any reason other than the ICE detainer, and that the ICE detainer was issued based only on Ms. Davila's perceived status, the Court finds this argument to be wholly unpersuasive. Officer Bienemann-of all people-would have known that the detainer was issued based upon Ms. Davila's erroneously reported unlawful status and for no other reason. Officer Bienemann initially pulled Ms. Davila over and remained with her through her delivery to the jail. He knew that she had not committed any state crimes and that, based upon his interactions with Ms. Davila and his conversations with LESC, ACD, and Agent Tetrault, he well knew that the sole reason that the detainer was issued and Ms. Davila was put in the ACJ was because it was believed that Ms. Davila *532was unlawfully present in the United States. His argument to the contrary does not hold water.
It appears to the Court that had Officer Bienemann simply sat on this information and done nothing further, then Schneyder may govern this case. However, unlike the prosecutor in Schneyder , the record indicates that Officer Bienemann did take some action regarding this information and that he would not have been unreasonable in his belief that those actions were sufficient. The record reflects that Officer Bienemann notified his superior, Sergeant Sicilia, of the developments. (Pl. CSF ¶ 87; Bienemann Dep. at 93:20-94:7; Sicilia Dep. at 56:13-59:24). It is also apparent that, unlike the prosecutor in Schneyder , Officer Bienemann was not the only individual with knowledge of Ms. Davila's lawful status. Agents at ICE knew. The ACD knew and Sergeant Sicilia, via his conversation with Officer Bienemann, also knew. And of course, shortly after Officer Bienemann learned of the information, the ACJ knew. Further, Officer Bienemann was told by Agent Kenwood that ICE "would handle getting her released" if it was determined that she was improperly detained. (Bienemann Dep. at 93:4-5). It appears to the Court that it could have been reasonable for Officer Bienemann to rely on the guidance from the agency that not only issued the detainer, but whose expertise is in immigration law enforcement. It can be fairly disputed whether Officer Bienemann-as the police officer personally responsible for delivering Ms. Davila to the Jail-sufficiently acted on the new information that he received. But his potential mistake as to what the law required in the situation that he faced is precisely what the qualified immunity defense is intended to shield from liability. See Saucier v. Katz ,
The Supreme Court has repeatedly cautioned district courts to avoid "defin[ing] clearly established law at a high level of generality." E.g., Mullenix ,
With these principles in mind, the Court concludes that the right at issue here is the right of an individual to be released from custody after the reason justifying her custody was determined to be unfounded and where the officer that arrested the individual was one of multiple individuals that learned that the initial justification was unfounded, yet only reported this new information to his superior. With this formulation of the right in mind, the Court concludes that there was no existing controlling or robustly persuasive precedent that would have put Officer Bienemann on notice that his course of action (or inaction) would have violated Ms. Davila's constitutional rights in these regards. See Berg v. Cty. of Allegheny ,
*533Our court of appeals, in Schneyder , reached the "almost tautological conclusion that an individual in custody has a constitutional right to be released from confinement after it was or should have been known that the detainee was entitled to release."
Moreover, there is not a "robust consensus" among the other courts of appeals that clearly established this right. Cf. Wilson v. Layne ,
The Seventh Circuit has held that a sheriff's continued detention of an individual despite having knowledge that detention is wrongful was sufficient to state a cause of action under § 1983. Sivard v. Pulaski Cty. ,
The Fifth Circuit also examined a related claim-"whether a police officer has an obligation to release an individual arrested *534pursuant to a valid warrant when, subsequent to the arrest, the officer receives information regarding the invalidity of the warrant." Duckett v. City of Cedar Park ,
The Eleventh Circuit recognized the "constitutional right to be free from continued detention after it was or should have been known that the detainee was entitled to release." Cannon v. Macon Cty. ,
Given the state of the law on January 22, 2011, a reasonable official facing the factual scenario that Officer Bienemann faced would not be on sufficient notice that his or her conduct would violate Ms. Davila's constitutional rights. As of approximately 10:00 p.m. on the night of the incident, Officer Bienemann knew that Ms. Davila had been incorrectly determined to be unlawfully present and thus should not be detained. But, based upon the evidence in the record, even when viewed in the light most favorable to Ms. Davila, a reasonable jury could not conclude that Officer Bienemann consciously "turned a blind eye" to the information about Ms. Davila's lawful status. Cf. e.g., Sanders v. English ,
To be clear, Officer Bienemann's actions following his delivery of Ms. Davila to the ACJ would not win him an award for thoroughness or diligence. But the relevant question is not whether Officer Bienemann could have done more-he most certainly could have. The relevant question is whether it was reasonable for him to believe that he had done enough given the information that he came into. Officer Bienemann was told by Agent Kenwood-from the agency that issued the detainer-that ICE would "handle getting her released" if it was determined that she was incorrectly detained. (Bienemann Dep. at 93:5). Officer Bienemann also took the additional step of alerting his superior to the new information and also requested that ICE "send confirmation one way or the other to the station" as to what they discovered about Ms. Davila's immigration status. (Id. at 93:6-94:10). It cannot be said that Officer Bienemann was "plainly incompetent" or "knowingly violate[d] the law" by only telling his superior about the new information after ICE agents told him that they would effectuate Ms. Davila's release if they determined they made a mistake. See White v. Pauly , --- U.S. ----,
*535Claims Against NRJPB
Ms. Davila asserts that the NRJPB is also constitutionally liable for her prolonged roadside seizure and imprisonment at the Allegheny County Jail. Municipalities and other local governmental entities may be held liable as "persons" as that term is used in § 1983. Monell ,
A municipality may also be liable for "a widespread practice that, although not authorized by written law or express municipal policy, is so permanent and well settled as to constitute "custom or usage" with the force of law." Praprotnik ,
In limited circumstances, municipalities and other local government entities may also be found liable when a constitutional violation results from its failure to adequately train or supervise its employees. Connick v. Thompson ,
*536City of Canton v. Harris ,
Municipal liability claims are generally derivative of the underlying constitutional violation. Mulholland v. Gov't Cty. of Berks, Pa ,
a. Final Policymaker of the NRJPB
Under Pennsylvania law, "a township police chief is not a final policymaker." Santiago v. Warminster Twp. ,
However, Chief Amann testified on behalf of the NRJPB as a Rule 30(b)(6) witness during his deposition and purported to have knowledge of the applicable customs, practices, policies, and procedures of the NRJPB. (Amann Dep. at 9:3-11:13). The NRJPB specifically designated Chief Amann to be its representative and for Chief Amann's testimony to represent the testimony of the NRJPB as an organization. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(b)(6). So while Chief Amann's personal conduct cannot be considered as making municipal policy, neither party disputes that he was competent to testify to and confirm the customs, practices, procedures, and policies of the NRJPB. See Heinrich v. City of Casper ,
b. Fourth Amendment Claims
Ms. Davila alleges that the custom, policy, practice, and/or deliberate indifference of the relevant policymaking officials of the NRJPB caused her unlawful roadside detention. More particularly, Ms. Davila argues that the NRJPB maintains an unconstitutional custom or practice of detaining individuals without reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that they were engaged in any criminal activity. She asserts that Chief Amann was aware of such practices but failed to take appropriate precautions to prevent future constitutional violations. Alternatively, she argues that her constitutional injuries resulted from the NRJPB's failure to train its officers in a way to prevent the type of injuries that she suffered. The NRJPB argues that Ms. Davila has not produced sufficient evidence to adequately support either of her theories.
As a preliminary matter, there is insufficient evidence in the record that the NRJPB had a "policy," written or otherwise, of detaining individuals without reasonable suspicion or probable cause. In support of her argument that the NRJPB had an unconstitutional custom or practice in place, Ms. Davila produced twelve (12) incident reports written by NRJPB police officers that describe other incidents wherein traffic and pedestrian stops were allegedly extended in order to utilize ICE to verify the identities of the individuals involved. (ECF No. 237-8 ). According to Ms. Davila, these reports evince a pattern of constitutional violations because the officers would demand identification from all individuals and then continue to detain everyone on the scene until everyone's identification was verified. The officers would refer the names of all individuals that were seized during the stop to ICE, even if an individual had valid identification on them. (Id. ). In Ms. Davila's view, such a practice violates the Fourth Amendment because the continued detentions were not justified by reasonable suspicion of other criminal activity and the verification of the individuals' identities was not necessary to protect officer safety while the officers completed the stops.
Chief Amann testified that the incidents described in the reports were not inconsistent with the guidelines, policies, customs, practices, or procedures of the NRJPB. (Amann Dep. at 127:9-18). The NRJPB does not argue that Officer Bienemann was acting contrary to departmental policies, rather, it contends that there is (or was) nothing unconstitutional about the *538policies or customs that were allegedly in place. The twelve incidents that Ms. Davila relies upon are summarized as follows:
• Incident No. 07-8425 (ECF No. 242-31 at 2-5) - a traffic stop was performed for running a red light. The four vehicle occupants presented identification documents that appeared to be forged or counterfeit. The owner of a Mexican restaurant (also of Hispanic descent) approached the officer and stated that the four occupants were his employees. The owner had valid identification on him. All five individuals on the scene had their names submitted to ICE for further inquiry. The four vehicle occupants were taken to the ACJ at the request of an ICE agent who stated that detainers would issue for them.
• Incident No. 07-8986 (ECF No. 242-31 at 6-9) - a traffic stop was performed for an expired registration sticker. Two of the occupants had valid identification on them (confirmed through dispatch) but the other two did not. All four occupants had their information submitted to ICE for further inquiry. The four vehicle occupants were taken to the ACJ at the request of an ICE agent who stated that detainers would issue for them.
• Incident No. 07-9075 (ECF No. 242-31 at 10-12) - a traffic stop was performed for an expired registration sticker. The driver only had an identification card from Argentina and no driver's license. The driver's information was submitted to the Department of Homeland Security for further inquiry. It was determined that that the driver was not currently in violation of any immigration laws and he was then released to his fiancée.
• Incident No. 08-8103 (ECF No. 242-31 at 11-18) - an officer responded to a call of a suspicious white van. All four males in the van had identification on them (one was a Mexican ID card). All of the occupants had their information submitted to ICE for further inquiry. Three of the occupants were determined to be unlawfully present in the country and they were taken into custody. The officer on the scene was told that detainers would issue for the men.
• Incident No. 08-9721 (ECF No. 242-31 at 19-22) - a traffic stop was performed for an expired registration sticker. None of the three vehicle occupants had identification on them. All of the occupants had their information submitted to ICE for further inquiry. An ICE agent requested that the individuals be detained and the ICE agent later picked up the individuals from the police department and assumed custody of them.
• Incident No. 10-4885 (ECF No. 242-31 at 23-26) - a traffic stop was performed because the driver was driving erratically. The driver produced identification from Mexico and the passenger produced a fake Pennsylvania identification card and a Mexican passport. Both occupants admitted that they were illegal aliens and their information was submitted to ICE for further inquiry. An ICE agent requested that both occupants be detained and emailed detainer forms to the officer on the scene. The occupants were then transported to the ACJ.
• Incident No. 10-7873 (ECF No. 242-31 at 27-29) - a traffic stop was performed for driving at an unsafe speed. The driver only produced a Mexican passport and the *539passenger had no form of identification. Both of the occupants had their information submitted to ICE for further inquiry. An ICE agent stated that detainers would issue for the vehicle occupants and requested that they be transported to the ACJ. The two occupants were taken into custody and the detainers were obtained at the ACJ.
• Incident No. 11-3817 (ECF No. 237-8 at 12-16) - a traffic stop was performed because of reports of a suspicious vehicle. The driver produced a Maryland driver's license and all occupants had passports (the issuing country was not provided in the report), but they appeared to be outdated or new without immigration stamps. The vehicle occupants spoke English poorly and two of them were unable to provide a current address. All of the occupants had the information submitted to ICE for further inquiry. An ICE agent requested that the occupants all be detained for further investigation. The officer on the scene took them into custody and delivered them to the ICE agent.
• Incident No. 11-3997 (ECF No. 237-8 at 20-21) - a traffic stop was performed for driving with a faulty rear brake light. The driver only produced a Mexican driver's license. The driver's name was submitted to ICE for further inquiry. The ICE agent requested that the driver be detained and stated that he would fax a detainer. The driver was taken into custody and transported to the ACJ.
• Incident No. 11-5530 (ECF No. 237-8 at 24-26) - a traffic stop was performed for erratic driving. Both vehicle occupants had identification on them but the information they were telling the officer did not match the information on their identification cards. Both occupants had their information submitted to ICE for further inquiry. It was determined that the occupants were in the country illegally and ICE sent detainers to the police department. The occupants were then taken into custody and transported to the ACJ.
• Incident No. 11-5631 (ECF No. 237-8 at 28-30) - a traffic stop was performed for an illegal left turn. The vehicle had three occupants. One of the occupants produced valid identification, one gave false identification, and the other occupant did not have a form of identification on him. All of the occupants had their information submitted to ICE for further inquiry. Two of the occupants were determined to be in the country illegally and were transported to the ACJ after obtaining a detainer for them.
• Incident No. 11-7497 (ECF No. 237-8 at 34-36) - a traffic stop was performed because the car failed to make a complete stop. The driver produced identification that did not appear to be state-issued. After the driver's identity was confirmed, his name was submitted to ICE for further inquiry. It was determined that the driver was unlawfully present in the country and an ICE agent advised that a detainer would be faxed to the ACJ. The agent requested that the officer detain the individual despite the officer only having "summary traffic violations against him." The officer complied and transported him to the ACJ.
The Court cannot conclude that these incident reports establish a pattern of constitutional violations so as to definitively establish (as Ms. Davila argues) that the NRJPB had an unconstitutional custom in place. The Court also disagrees with the breadth of the custom asserted by Ms. Davila. That is, there is insufficient evidence to support a conclusion that the NRJPB had a policy or custom of detaining individuals without probable cause or reasonable suspicion to believe that they are involved in criminal activity. The cited *540incidents are simply too varied in their facts. A review of the incidents reveals that a majority of the individuals' names were submitted to ICE because those individuals lacked identification, because the identification that they provided was facially suspect or issued by another country, or because there were some other indicia that the individuals may not be legally present in the United States. It is a legitimate safety rationale for an officer to confirm the identities of vehicle occupants that are seized during a traffic stop, Soriano-Jarquin ,
On the other hand, the Court recognizes the parallels between some of the other incidents and the events at issue in this case and cannot foreclose the possibility that there was some potentially unconstitutional custom in place. Five of the twelve incident reports describe situations where at least one of the seized individuals had his name submitted to ICE despite having either his/her identity or the validity of his/her identification documents confirmed and there being no reasonable suspicion or probable cause that he/she was involved in further criminal activity.
Based on a review of the twelve incidents cited by Ms. Davila, whenever an NRJPB police officer was faced with an individual presenting valid identification along with one or more individuals without valid identification, or with suspect identification, NRJPB police submitted all of the individuals' names to ICE. Even if only five of the twelve incidents presented such a scenario, it cannot be ignored that the NRJPB officers seemingly treated the individuals with "confirmed" identification the same in each of these five instances. It may be true there was a reasonable basis to submit some of the individuals' names to ICE in those five instances, i.e. , some of the incidents describe individuals failing to produce identification or producing suspect identification. But prolonging the detention of the individuals with valid and confirmed identification in order to submit their names to ICE is not justified simply because the officers would already be contacting ICE as to others. That would run afoul of the requirement of particularized reasonable suspicion to prolong a seizure of a person. See, e.g., Cortez ,
But this alone does not carry the day for Ms. Davila on this claim. For liability to attach under § 1983, she must demonstrate that the relevant policymaker had knowledge of, and acquiesced to, the practice. Watson ,
It is undisputed that Chief Amann generally reviewed incident reports. (Amann Dep. at 46:4-10, 48:12-49:10). According to Ms. Davila, this demonstrates that he had the requisite awareness of the "pattern" of constitutional violations described in the referenced reports. Not so. For one, Chief Amann is not a final policymaker for the NRJPB, Santiago ,
Miniter v. City of L.A. , No. 10-05826,
The evidence introduced by Ms. Davila fails to meet this test. It is of a significantly different kind and degree than the evidence in Beck and Miniter. Rather than pointed and direct complaints about a specific practice (e.g. , excessive force), Ms. Davila has only produced general narratives of traffic stops that resulted in no formal complaints. It strikes the Court as unrealistic that (potentially) five allegedly unconstitutional seizures spread out between 2007-2012 that occurred out of hundreds or thousands of traffic stops, see (Defs.' SMF ¶ 30), could have sufficiently put any policymaker on notice that something was constitutionally amiss with how the traffic stops at NRJPB were being conducted in relation to ICE inquiries. The record evidence is far too attenuated to support such a conclusion.
Because the Court concludes that, as a matter of law, there is insufficient record evidence such that a reasonable jury could conclude that any of the NRJPB policymakers had knowingly acquiesced to the allegedly unconstitutional custom asserted by Ms. Davila, Ms. Davila's Fourth Amendment claim against NRJPB fails. McTernan ,
c. Fourteenth Amendment Claims
Ms. Davila next argues that she was unlawfully detained because of her Hispanic ethnicity and/or national origin in conformity with a custom, policy, or practice of the NRJPB. As with her Fourth Amendment Monell claim, Ms. Davila argues that the twelve (12) cited incidents reveal that the NRJPB had a custom, policy, or practice of selectively enforcing the law by only submitting the information of Hispanic individuals to ICE. The NRJPB explains the incidents differently. In its *543view, ICE was only contacted because the individuals lacked identification, spoke little English, or presented false identification. However, the NRJPB glosses over the five incidents in which individuals that did present valid identification nonetheless had their seizures prolonged so that their names could be submitted to ICE for further inquiry. Based on the incident reports, it is undisputed that all of these individuals were Hispanic, from a foreign country, or perceived as being Hispanic.
However, like the Fourth Amendment claim above, the Court concludes that there is insufficient evidence in the record such that a reasonable jury could conclude that any NRJPB policymaker had knowledge of this practice and acquiesced to it. Once again, there is no evidence of an explicit "policy" of the NRJPB to submit only the names of Hispanic individuals to ICE. Thus, Ms. Davila's claim depends on the existence of a custom. The Court observes that at most five instances out of the multiple hundreds of conducted traffic stops conducted between 2007 and 2012 potentially implicate constitutional concerns. As before, the record reflects no complaints, reports, or allegations of wrongdoing in relation to those incidents. For substantially the same reasons as with Ms. Davila's Fourth Amendment Monell claim, the Court concludes that the act of the Chief's review of reports is too tenuous of a basis for a jury to rationally conclude that any policymaker had knowingly acquiesced to such a practice, or should have been on notice of such a practice. For this reason, this claim also fails. Accordingly, the Court need not reach the issue of whether the alleged custom proximately caused the deprivation of Ms. Davila's constitutional rights. Summary judgment shall be granted in favor of the NRJPB on this claim and Ms. Davila's motion for summary judgment as to this claim will be denied.
d. Failure to Train
Ms. Davila also asserts that the NRJPB failed to provide adequate training to prevent violations of the Fourth Amendment and Equal Protection Clause, such as those allegedly suffered by herself. Liability under this theory can only be proven "[i]n limited circumstances" and "[a] municipality's culpability ... is at its most tenuous" in this context. Connick , 563 U.S. at 61,
The Court has already concluded that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that any policymaker at the NRJPB could have been said to fairly be on notice that there was a "pattern" of constitutional violations as described in the incident reports. Without such actual or constructive knowledge of past violations, the NRJPB policymakers could not have been deliberately indifferent to the rights of persons with whom the NRJPB officers would come into contact. See Connick , 563 U.S. at 62,
Given the low frequency of alleged violations out of the hundreds of traffic stops conducted annually, the admitted existence of relevant general training protocols, and (most importantly) the lack of any complaints or adequate notice that these measures were ineffective, the Court concludes that no reasonable jury could conclude that the NRJPB's training protocols or supervisory procedures were so woefully inadequate that they amount to a deliberate indifference to a known risk of constitutional harms. See Mann v. Palmerton Area Sch. Dist. ,
e. Custom or Policy of Arresting Individuals Pursuant to ICE Detainers
Ms. Davila asserts that, on January 22, 2011, the NRJPB maintained a policy of requiring its officers to comply with all ICE detainers and that this policy was the cause of her unlawful detention. The NRJPB disagrees with the framing of the asserted policy. Both parties rely primarily *545on the deposition testimony of Chief Amann, the Rule 30(b)(6) designee for the NRJPB, for their positions. The evidence is clear that there was no explicit policy of requiring officers to comply with and enforce all ICE detainers. Chief Amann unequivocally testified that the NRJPB had no policy for detaining individuals suspected of violating immigration laws, (Amann Dep. at 41:7-20), nor is the Court aware of any other evidence of such a policy. He did, however, repeatedly acknowledge that the NRJPB had a more general policy of cooperating with and assisting other law enforcement agencies. (E.g., id. at 50:10-16, 51:14-19). Other portions of Chief Amann's deposition testimony do, however, conclusively demonstrate that the more specific practice of cooperating with ICE, a federal law enforcement agency, was subsumed within this general policy of cooperation. For example, Chief Amann testified that the NRJPB would not treat a request from ICE "any differently from a request from any other law enforcement agency to detain an individual." (Id. at 78:2-11). In his words, "[i]f [ICE] says they have a detainer on them, it's as good as an arrest warrant for us." (Id. at 78:24-25).
Moreover, the incidents cited by Ms. Davila evince a pattern of behavior whereby NRJPB officers would take individuals into custody following a routine traffic or pedestrian stop based only on a detainer from ICE.
It is also beyond dispute that the NRJPB knowingly acquiesced in these practices. Chief Amann, testifying on behalf of the NRJPB, described the extent of the NRJPB's cooperation with ICE during his deposition. (Amann Dep. at 78:2-80:13). If ICE "had a detainer" then the NRJPB "honored it [and] assisted them." (Id. at 60:2-5). Thus, the only remaining issue is whether this custom caused the deprivation of Ms. Davila's constitutional rights during the night in question.
As a preliminary matter, the Third Circuit held in Galarza that a municipality's custom of mandatorily complying with all *546ICE detainers could be the basis of constitutional liability because such detainers are permissive.
That said, the defense of qualified immunity is not available to municipalities and local governmental units. Owen v. City of Independence ,
Overview of Immigration Law Enforcement
The "comprehensive federal statutory scheme for regulation of immigration and naturalization" is set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act (the "INA"), codified at
*547Arizona ,
The Supreme Court in Arizona determined that Congress had already enacted a comprehensive enforcement scheme that only authorized warrantless arrests based on possible removability in limited circumstances. Id. at 410,
One of the primary avenues for federal-state cooperation is through the issuance of immigration detainers. These are "creature[s] of regulation," Lopez-Aguilar ,
A Local Law Enforcement Agency Cannot Detain Based Solely on an Immigration Detainer
This Court is far from the first to consider the propriety of a local law enforcement agency's detention of an alien that is solely premised on the agency's cooperation with an immigration detainer. Indeed, courts across the country have "determined that when local law enforcement agencies hold someone pursuant to a detainer-and without separate probable cause that the person has committed a crime-such detention gives rise to a Fourth Amendment claim against the local law enforcement."
*548Creedle v. Miami-Dade Cty. ,
The Court concludes that the thorough and well-reasoned analysis by the Middle District of Tennessee, addressing a similar scenario, is particularly persuasive. Stated succinctly by the Lopez-Aguilar court, "seizures conducted solely on the basis of known or suspected civil immigration violations violate the Fourth Amendment when conducted under color of state law." Lopez-Aguilar ,
In this case, the record demonstrates that the NRJPB customarily enforced all ICE detainers, because, after all, for the NRJPB, ICE detainers were "as good as" arrest warrants, (Amann Dep. at 78:24-25), and if ICE had issued a detainer, then NRJPB "honored it" and "assisted them." (Id. at 60:2-4). But this begs the question-an arrest warrant for what ? Local police officers generally must have probable cause that a crime has been committed in order to arrest someone. As Chief Amann acknowledged, "[i]mmigration law is civil, not criminal." (Id. at 37:17). If detainers by themselves are treated "as good as" arrest warrants, probable cause of criminal activity was at most an optional consideration for NRJPB officers performing warrantless arrests when there was an ICE detainer in play. The unconstitutionality of such a practice would have been abundantly clear during the incidents at issue here because it would result, in some instances, in the seizure and detention of individuals without probable cause that a crime had been committed by them. See, e.g., Beck v. Ohio ,
*549Accordingly, the Court is unpersuaded by the NRJPB's contention that the NRJPB policymakers could not have been "deliberately indifferent" to a risk of constitutional harms because it was yet to be established that mandatory compliance with ICE detainers was unconstitutional. That framing misses the point. It may be true that Arizona , Galarza , and a litany of cases in the lower courts have since refined and clarified some of the many intricacies of federal/state cooperation in the immigration law sphere, but focusing on the granular aspects of these decisions misses the forest for the trees. A known or obvious consequence of enforcing all ICE detainers, or treating them "as good as" arrest warrants, logically resulted in at least some people being detained by the NRJPB solely because of the detainer. It was well-established in 2011 that, generally, civil violations of the law do not justify arrests. Lopez-Aguilar ,
To be clear, the Court is not saying that it was unconstitutional for the NRJPB to have a general policy of cooperating with other law enforcement agencies. Nor would it be unconstitutional to generally cooperate with ICE. But customarily enforcing ICE detainers in a manner such that individuals are arrested and detained on the basis of the ICE detainer alone is another matter.
A § 1983 plaintiff bears the additional burden of establishing "a "plausible nexus" or "affirmative link" between the municipality's custom and the specific deprivation of constitutional rights at issue." Bielevicz ,
*550The record evidence establishes an NRJPB custom of enforcing all ICE detainers and thereby arresting individuals pursuant to those detainers without a probable cause determination of the commission of a crime, along with a direct and substantial causal nexus between that custom and the constitutional injury suffered by Ms. Davila. After all, Ms. Davila is alleging precisely the same injury-an unreasonable seizure unsupported by probable cause and in violation of the Fourth Amendment-that would be the natural consequence of the alleged custom. A "heightened inclination" of NRJPB officers (including Officer Bienemann) enforcing a detainer at the behest of ICE, without questioning whether there was probable cause for an arrest, would be a "highly predictable consequence" of such a custom existing within the NRJPB. See Merman v. City of Camden ,
Indeed, a review of officer narratives from the incident reports in the record reveals that NRJPB police officers detained individuals anytime that ICE issued a detainer for the individuals, but released the individuals from the scene anytime that ICE did not issue a detainer and there was no probable cause that the individuals committed any other crimes. (ECF No. 237-8 ). For example, Incident No. 07-9075 involved a routine traffic stop for an expired inspection sticker. The driver could only produce identification from Argentina and the officer on scene contacted DHS for an immigration inquiry. (Id. at 47). After an hour, DHS informed the officer that the driver was legally admitted into the United States and because "no indication for detainment was stated" the officer released the individual to his fiancee. (Id. ). Contrast that sequence with Incident No. 11-7497, which also began as a routine traffic stop. (Id. at 35-36). The officer on scene-Andrew Bienemann-contacted ICE "in reference to [the driver's] status" after verifying the driver's identity and performing a check for outstanding warrants. (Id. ). Officer Bienemann then "inquir[ed] if they wanted him detained" and advised ICE that he "only had summary traffic violations" against the driver. (Id. ). ICE requested that the driver be detained and conveyed that they would fax a detainer. (Id. ). Officer Bienemann "advised that [he] would file a traffic citation" and proceeded to arrest the driver and transport him to the ACJ. (Id. ). There is no record evidence that an NRJPB police officer ever released an individual following a traffic stop despite ICE issuing a detainer for the individual. This reinforces the existence of the custom of enforcing all ICE detainers, but also makes causation in Ms. Davila's case undeniable. If ICE issued a detainer for an individual, the NRJPB arrested that individual, no matter what. Here, ICE issued a detainer for Ms. Davila. Ms. Davila committed no other offenses apart from the headlight violation. Despite this, Ms. Davila was arrested because ICE had issued a detainer, and because NRJPB officers customarily enforced all ICE detainers.
Finally, the NRJPB asserts that Ms. Davila's detention cannot be attributable to the NRJPB's policies because Officer Bienemann was acting pursuant to Agent Tetrault's directions to detain Ms. Davila. Relying on Couden v. Duffy ,
As discussed,
First, the text of § 1357(g)(8) plainly states that the designation of "acting under color of federal authority" is "for purposes of determining the liability, and immunity from suit, of the officer or employee [.]"
Further, it strikes the Court as a perverse reading of § 1357 to suggest that a local law enforcement officer acts under federal authority whenever the local officer responds to an informal request from a federal agent. Otherwise, a state officer would need only to ask permission from an ICE agent to assist with arresting suspected deportable aliens and that local officer would then essentially have all of the powers and immunities of a federal agent enforcing civil immigration laws. If this were true, it would render the thorough training, supervision, and certification requirements in
The practical circumstances of Officer Bienemann's "cooperation" with ICE in this case further belie the suggestion that he was acting with federal authority. Even if this was a species of cooperation between ICE and the NRJPB, it is hard to imagine a more informal or minimal arrangement. The Third Circuit has not expressly laid out a formulation as to when a local officer may be acting under federal law. But, after surveying a number of courts, the Middle District of North Carolina identified the following factors as relevant:
Whether the officers (1) participated in a clearly federal investigation or in a federally instigated raid; (2) presented local, state or federal identification, or were cross-deputized as federal agents; (3) received payment from the local, state or federal government; (4) had only a de minimis involvement in the actions; (5) acted pursuant to federal law; and (6) performed the day-to-day operations under the control or supervision of the local, state or federal government. None of these factors, in isolation, establishes that municipal employees acted under color of state law. In the totality of the circumstances, however, these factors inform the resolution of the state action question.
Pettiford v. City of Greensboro ,
*553It appears from the record that Officer Bienemann solely presented himself as an NRJPB officer and never held himself out to be an agent of the federal government. At all times relevant to this case, Officer Bienemann remained an employee of-and subject to the direction of-the NRJPB. And beyond requesting that Officer Bienemann detain Ms. Davila, ICE provided no supervision or control over Officer Bienemann's actions. While it is true that Officer Bienemann detained Ms. Davila supposedly pursuant to federal immigration law, this alone cannot transform him into a solely federal actor. Davila IV ,
In summary, Ms. Davila has demonstrated beyond dispute that the NRJPB maintained a custom of complying with all ICE immigration detainers without determining whether there was independent probable cause to arrest the individual. Further, based on Chief Amann's deposition admissions as the testimonial speaker for the NRJPB, this was the actual custom of NRJPB policymakers. Finally, there was an unquestionable causal nexus between this custom and Officer Bienemann's actions that led to Ms. Davila's alleged constitutional harms. Accordingly, Ms. Davila's Motion for Summary Judgment as to this claim will be granted as to liability, and that of the NRJPB will be denied.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Ms. Davila's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 234 ) will be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Ms. Davila's Motion will be GRANTED with respect to Count I of the Third Amended Complaint (ECF No. 138 ) against Officer Bienemann and with respect to Count II
*554against the NRJPB. Summary judgment as to liability will be entered in favor of Ms. Davila and against Officer Bienemann on Count I and in favor of Ms. Davila and against the NRJPB on Count II. The remainder of Ms. Davila's Summary Judgment Motion will be DENIED.
Defendant Officer Bienemann's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 238 ) will be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Officer Bienemann's Motion will be GRANTED with respect to Count V of the Third Amended Complaint (ECF No. 138 ). Count V of the Third Amended Complaint will be DISMISSED with respect to Officer Bienemann. The remainder of Officer Bienemann's Motion will be DENIED.
Defendant NRJPB's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 240 ) will be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The NRJPB's Motion shall be GRANTED with respect to Counts I and III of the Third Amended Complaint (ECF No. 138 ). Counts I and III of the Third Amended Complaint will be DISMISSED with respect to the NRJPB. The remainder of the NRJPB's Motion will be DENIED.
What this all means is that the following claims will proceed to trial: 1) Count I of the Third Amended Complaint (Unreasonable Seizure) against Officer Bienemann, as to damages only; 2) Count II of the Third Amended Complaint (Unreasonable Seizure) against NRJPB, as to damages only, and; 3) Count III of the Third Amended Complaint (Equal Protection) against Officer Bienemann as to liability and damages.
An appropriate Order will issue.
The United States is not a defendant in this action. The United States was formerly a defendant in the related action at No. 14-cv-0070, which had been consolidated with this case. (ECF No. 252 ). The sole remaining defendants here are Officer Bienemann in his individual capacity and the Northern Regional Joint Police Board.
Apparently unbeknownst to Ms. Davila at the time, she was actually a United States citizen during the entirety of the events giving rise to this suit. Defendants do not dispute that Ms. Davila was an American citizen when she was detained and had been a citizen for about a decade at that time. (Defs.' Resp. SMF ¶ 10, ECF No. 246 ; see also ECF No. 148 ).
Officer Bienemann asserts that the Call Master Record and recording of the phone call indicate that Agent Tetrault was connected to Officer Bienemann at 7:11 p.m. (Defs.' SMF ¶ 97). Upon review of that record, at ECF No. 242-21, there is no indication as to when Agent Tetrault was connected with Officer Bienemann. Ms. Davila presents other evidence that indicates that the call was actually initiated at 7:22 p.m. (ECF No. 242-11 at 3, Bienemann Dep. at 114:19-115:14). It appears to the Court that this fact is not genuinely in dispute, but even if it were, for the purposes of analyzing whether a constitutional violation occurred, this potential eleven-minute discrepancy is not material.
A copy of the faxed order facially states that it was received at "01/22/2011 23:05", or, 11:05 p.m. on January 22, 2011. (ECF No. 242-30 at 4 ). Officer Bienemann contends that, because another fax was "an hour off," it is believed that this fax also had a misreported time and was received at 10:05 p.m. (ECF No. 242 at 16 n.3 ). This is not a material factual dispute. Even if the fax were received at 10:05 p.m., this would still be after Officer Bienemann received information that Ms. Davila was a legal resident and, in any event, Ms. Davila was not released until 7:30 a.m. the next morning.
Ms. Davila does not challenge the authenticity of the phone call in question, but does contest Officer Bienemann's assertion that the call was initiated at 6:54 p.m. The audio in the call itself does not mention the time. A call log indicates that the call took place at 6:54 p.m. (ECF No. 242-21 ). Based on what was discussed in the phone call, i.e. , Agent Kenwood discussing his anticipated next steps as contacting Agent Tetrault to apprise her of the situation, it appears that this phone call necessarily must have occurred at some point prior to Agent Tetrault speaking with Officer Bienemann at 7:22 p.m. Ms. Davila does not appear to contest this.
As discussed above, in the Court's estimation, United States v. Clark confirms that Officer Bienemann's continued inquiry into Ms. Davila's immigration status and/or identity following the ACD's confirmation of her identity violated her Fourth Amendment rights.
Because the Court concludes that Ms. Davila was, as a matter of law, subjected to a prolonged investigatory seizure without reasonable suspicion of any criminal wrongdoing, the Court need not address whether her continued seizure rose to the level of a de facto arrest that was unsupported by probable cause. See, e.g. , United States v. Sokolow ,
The probable cause analysis under the Fourth Amendment is a distinct inquiry from whether a law is selectively enforced in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. Whren ,
Officer Bienemann denies that all of the individuals that were seized by NRJPB officers and subsequently had their names submitted to ICE were Hispanic. (ECF No. 246 ¶ 99 ). The incident reports list each "person involved" in an incident and each listing either has an entry labelled "Ethnic:" or explicitly lists the individual's ethnicity. (ECF No. 237-8 ). Cross-referencing the narratives in the incident reports, each individual that had their name submitted to ICE had an entry of "Ethnic: H" in those reports with an abbreviated denotation for ethnicity. Given these individuals' actual given and surnames, (ECF No. 237-8 at 2-36 ), it is apparent that "H" refers to "Hispanic." In Incident No. 11-3817, three individuals-Diomedes G. Lujan, Hercules Jesus, and Murillo Remigio Hugo Reynald-had an entry of "Ethnic: N", presumably indicating that those individuals' ethnicities were not provided. For the purposes of Officer Bienemann's Motion, the Court must view all factual disputes in the light most favorable to Ms. Davila, the non-moving party. Even if it is disputed precisely how many individuals were Hispanic, the Court concludes that a reasonable jury could conclude, based on the information in the incident reports and the record as a whole, that all of the individuals that had their information submitted to ICE were Hispanic, perceived to be Hispanic, or from a Latin-American country. Put differently, a reasonable jury could conclude, based upon this record, that all individuals that had their names submitted to ICE by NRJPB officers belonged to the same protected class or classes that Ms. Davila belonged to. Officer Bienemann has not advanced any evidence that affirmatively refutes this contention.
As an illustration, the NRJPB and Officer Bienemann claim they utilize ICE as a resource to verify identities, but logically such identity verification processes (and immigration status queries) may well take longer to complete than other identity verification procedures, as they involve an extra step involving a federal agency/database. Accordingly, in the Court's estimation, Hispanic or foreign-born individuals who fail to present valid identification documents may be subjected to prolonged seizures as compared to individuals in unprotected classes who fail to present valid identification documents because those individuals would not have their names submitted to ICE. Instead, they may have their identities verified through potentially more expeditious local procedures which would not involve an immigration status query.
Officer Bienemann also cites to Galarza v. Szalczyk , No. 10-cv-06815,
Toribio presents a similar scenario. An individual was arrested pursuant to a warrant, supported by probable cause, for his suspected involvement in a string of bank robberies.
The reasonableness of the seizure was not based upon a probable cause analysis because the witness was not detained because the police believed that she had committed a criminal offense. Schneyder ,
The Court observed in an earlier Opinion that "[s]everal courts of appeal have held that an officer's failure to release an individual after the officer knew or should have known that the person was wrongfully detained gives rise to a cause of action under § 1983." Davila I ,
Indeed, district courts from across the country routinely consider Rule 30(b)(6) deposition testimony as evidence of operative municipal practices, policies, and customs for Monell claim purposes. See, e.g., M.T. v. City of N.Y. ,
The NRJPB argues that incidents that occurred after January 22, 2011, cannot be used to establish that a pattern of constitutional violations. The Court has already rejected this argument. Davila I ,
Ms. Davila cites to the deposition of multiple NRJPB police officers to bolster her assertion that the NRJPB has an unconstitutional custom of detaining individuals without reasonable suspicion or probable cause. (See, e.g. , Amann Dep. at 30:9-32:9; Deposition of Jeffrey Jones ("Jones Dep.") at 13:17-25, ECF No. 237-9 ). This is not a faithful reading of these transcripts. For example, Sergeant Jones explained that he believed that he may detain someone "[a]s long as necessary ... [t]o identify the persons involved in the traffic stop." (Jones Dep. at 13:22-25). This testimony, at most, supports the existence of a custom of identifying all individuals involved in a traffic stop. As already discussed in detail, such a practice is not unconstitutional. Neither Sergeant Jones nor Chief Amann spoke to whether there was a custom, policy, or practice in place of detaining individuals without reasonable suspicion or probable cause despite having no reason to doubt their identity-and that is the alleged practice or custom that is truly at issue here.
Those incidents are No. 07-8425 (ECF No. 242-31 at 2-5), No. 07-8986 (ECF No. 242-31 at 6-9), No. 08-8103 (ECF No. 242-31 at 11-18), No. 11-5631 (ECF No. 237-8 at 25-30), and No. 11-7497 (ECF No. 237-8 at 34-36).
Once again, those incidents are No. 07-8425 (ECF No. 242-31 at 2-5), No. 07-8986 (ECF No. 242-31 at 6-9), No. 08-8103 (ECF No. 242-31 at 11-18), No. 11-5631 (ECF No. 237-8 at 25-30), and No. 11-7497 (ECF No. 237-8 at 34-36). In Incident No. 07-8986, three of the seized individuals were described as being "Hispanic" and one individual-Fernando Dalzochio-was listed as being "non-Hispanic." (ECF No. 242-31 at 7-8 ). However, in the officer narrative of the incident, all of the men were referred to as "Brazilians." (Id. at 9). Thus, for Equal Protection Clause purposes, it is undisputed that all four men were members of a protected class either by virtue of their national origin or perceived ethnicity.
Of course, as a legal matter, a detainer administratively issued unilaterally by ICE as to at most a civil law violation is not for these purposes akin to a warrant for arrest, issued upon probable cause, by a neutral and detached judge. Not even close.
See, supra , note 18.
Indeed, Chief Amann (testifying in his deposition on behalf of the NRJPB) appears to have equated mandatory enforcement of ICE detainers with a general policy of cooperating with other law enforcement agencies:
Q. Now, you said it's no longer mandatory. Was it previously mandatory that officers comply with ICE requests to detain individuals?
A. Was it previously?
Q. Correct.
A. It was our practice to cooperate and assist agencies, that being federal, state and local.
(Amann Dep. at 88:18-24).
The parties appear to dispute whether the NRJPB moved for summary judgment as to Count II of the Third Amended Complaint (the second unreasonable seizure claim). (Third Amended Compl. ¶¶ 175-79). In its Motion for Summary Judgment, the NRJPB incorrectly asserted that only Count I and Count III of the Third Amended Complaint remain against the NRJPB because the Court had previously dismissed Count II as asserted against Officer Bienemann. (ECF No. 240 ). The Court never reached the issue as to whether Officer Bienemann's seizure of Ms. Davila based upon the ICE detainer violated Ms. Davila's Fourth Amendment rights and dismissed the claim on the basis of qualified immunity. Davila III ,