Iowa Supreme Court cites May 7 Johnson County decision in recent rulings
A week after the Iowa Supreme Court overturned its 2017 decision allowing Iowans to seek monetary damages from state officials for alleged improper conduct, it has cited that ruling in affirming a ruling last week denying several claims in a Johnson County case. The plaintiff had sued an Iowa City police officer and Johnson County sheriff's deputy for what she said was an excessive show of force in the arrest of her husband on suspicion of drunken driving after a one-car accident.
The Supreme Court on Friday, May 12 turned down an appeal from Jason Carter and affirmed the district court's decision, citing its May 7 decision in Burnett v. Smith. The court also dismissed claims from Geri White of assault by an Iowa City police officer and a Johnson County Sheriff’s deputy.
Both rulings involved the case of Cory Burnett, a Johnson County garbage truck driver who was arrested on an interference charge after he refused to assist in an inspection of his truck by an Iowa Department of Transportation officer who had pulled him over for having a cracked windshield.
After the charge was dismissed, Burnett sued the officer and the state, accusing the officer of unreasonable stop and seizure that violated his due process rights under the Iowa Constitution. A district judge dismissed Burnett's claims, and he appealed.
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As with the investigator in Carter's case, the lower court found that the IDOT officer had been acting in his official capacity and was immune from claims for monetary damages, even if he had acted wrongly. That was in keeping with a long-held principle that government officials could be held liable only in cases where the Legislature specifically permitted such claims.
But in 2017, the Iowa Supreme Court in a case widely known as Godfrey II had found that such claims could be made even without legislative authorization. That case involved a lawsuit in which Workers' Compensation Commissioner Christopher Godfrey alleged the administration of then-Gov. Terry Branstad had retaliated against him for being gay by trying to force him out of his job.
Though the jury's award was later overturned, it found for Godfrey and decided the state should pay him $1.5 million.
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Since then, all of the Supreme Court justices appointed by Democrats have been replaced, leaving the court with entirely Republican appointees. One of them, Justice Edward Mansfield, who dissented in the Godfrey II case, wrote for the majority in last week's Burnett decision that the case had been wrongly decided, resulting in an unworkable precedent, and returned the law to its pre-2017 status.
In its brief, unsigned opinion on the Carter case, the court cited Burnett as it affirmed the lower court's ruling.
"As explained in Burnett v. Smith … we overruled Godfrey as demonstrably erroneous and unworkablein practice," the court wrote. "Carter’s constitutional tort claims therefore cannot proceed."
Burnett ruling also cited in case alleging excessive display of force
The Supreme Court likewise cited Burnett in the Johnson County case of Geri White, who accused Iowa City police Officer Michael Harkrider and county sheriff's Deputy Chris Wisman of "intentional infliction of emotional distress, trespass, and assault."
White's husband, Daniel, was being sought in connection with a one-car accident in which the driver fled the scene, leaving behind a beer can and some unused rifle ammunition. White's suit alleged that when Harkrider and Wisman came to her house, they brought a contingent of other officers who surrounded it with drawn guns and that Harkrider used a loudspeaker to demand the occupants come out "with your hands in the air."
White came out, asking for what the court said was "an explanation for the army in front of her home." It said she eventually spoke to Wisman and was allowed to go back inside, but that her husband, who also was inside, was arrested and charged with operating while intoxicated, a count later dismissed in a plea agreement.
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White, in her suit, cited Godfrey to back claims that Harkrider and Wisman had violated her state constitutional rights. The district court, however, found there was no reason for state constitutional claims in the case, which involved municipal employees, and that she could pursue her claims of emotional distress, trespass and assault as common law actions.
The Supreme Court cited its Burnett decision in affirming the dismissal of White's state claims. It also ruled in a cross-appeal from Harkrider and Wisman of the district judge's decision to allow the common law claims, dismissing the ones for intentional infliction of emotional distress and trespass, but remanding the assault claim to the lower court.
The opinion, written by Justice Christopher McDonald, said that while the officers' conduct "was not beyond the bounds of all decency in a civilized society, it could put a person in fear of physical pain or injury. Indeed, our courts have held that confronting another with a shotgun is substantial evidence in support of a jury's verdict finding civil assault by a private person."
It said it will be up to the district court in further proceedings to determine whether the claim should be dismissed, as Harkrider and Wisman contend, "because their actions as peace officers were justified as a matter of law."
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Iowa Supreme Court cites May 7 Johnson County decision in recent rulings
