Civil Rights — equal protection

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Civil Rights — equal protection

Even if a prosecutor filed a petition in bad faith, alleging that a six-year-old committed first-degree sexual assault, summary judgment was properly granted to the defendants on the boy’s equal protection claim.

“We are not suggesting that this was a well-administered investigation, or a wise exercise of prosecutorial discretion, for that matter. Our decision today should not be understood as an endorsement of this use of state power, which strikes us (assuming the allegations are true) as a troubling overreaction to a situation that could and should have been handled informally. It’s easy to understand why the twins’ mother would be alarmed and upset, but it’s also reasonable to expect that the response by Grant County officials would be measured and proportionate. As the district court aptly put it, accusing a six-year-old boy of first-degree sexual assault shows ‘poor judgment at best.’ But poor judgment does not violate the Constitution.”

“Accordingly, the complaint fails to state an equal-protection claim against Kopp and Moravits. With that conclusion, the Monell claim against Grant County necessarily fails. See Palka v. Shelton, 623 F.3d 447, 455 (7th Cir. 2010) (‘[B]ecause [the] complaint fails to state a claim for any constitutional violation, the … County cannot be held liable [under Monell] … .’).”

Affirmed.

12-2818 D.B. v. Kopp

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Crabb, J., Sykes, J.