00-3905 Berman, et al. v. Young, et al.

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“Based on our review of the record, Amanda and Pilar failed to produce evidence creating a genuine issue of fact as to the reasonableness of Young and Threatt’s suspicions of abuse. The district court was correct in determining that Young and Threatt had a reasonable basis for their belief that Amanda was being abused and needed to be removed from her home. Young and Threatt reasonably relied on reports from Tiny Town workers about the bruises and on the comments Amanda made in response to ques tioning concerning the bruises. The CCPD officers also documented their observations of the bruises and Amanda’s answers to their questions about Norman. Although details in the descriptions of the bruises differed, all of the Tiny Town employees and the CCPD officers involved agreed that the bruises were consistent with abuse. Moreover, Young and Threatt were aware that criminal charges had been filed against Norman. Finally, on October 30, Young personally observed marks on Amanda that could be consistent with prior abuse. Given this background, it was reasonable for Young and Threatt to suspect abuse.”

“Even assuming a constitutional violation, however, the second phase of our analysis – determining whether the constitutional right was clearly established – requires us to conclude that Young and Threatt are entitled to qualified immunity. Amanda and Pilar assert that Young and Threatt failed to conduct an adequate investigation and that their decision to remove Amanda from her home was overbroad given the accusations that only Norman (and not Pilar) abused Amanda. To the extent that Young and Threatt’s investigations ought to have been more detailed or they ought to have considered more limited measures than removing Amanda from the home, neither the extent of their obligations, nor the extent of the right to family integrity and association, were so well-developed as to place them on notice that their actions were unlawful. See Brokaw, 235 F.3d at 1023 (‘[B]ecause the balance between a child’s liberty interest in familial relations and a state’s interest in protecting the child is nebulous at best, social workers and other state actors who cause a child’s removal are entitled to qualified immunity because the alleged constitutional violation will rarely-if ever-be clearly established.’).”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Hart, J., Rovner, J.