Judge Who Jailed Teens In Custody Case Can Be Sued For Civil Rights Violations

A southwest Missouri judge cannot claim immunity in a federal lawsuit accusing him of putting two children in jail during a custody dispute involving their parents, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

In Rockett v. The Hon. Eric Eighmy (Docket No. 21-3903), the children’s father filed a civil rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 against Taney County, Missouri Associate Circuit Judge Eric Eighmy. The plaintiff-father alleged the judge had jailed his children without probable cause after they indicated they did not want to go live with their mother for a period of time. The complaint alleged the judge had violated the children’s First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

Judge Eighmy, however, claimed he was shielded from liability by judicial immunity, a doctrine that protects judicial officers when they act in their official capacity.

The 8th Circuit ruled that Judge Eighmy was not shielded by judicial immunity.

“[T]he children were never parties, they never stepped foot in the courtroom, and Judge Eighmy personally locked them up himself,” Judge David R. Stras wrote for the 8th Circuit panel. “We have been unable to find any case that extends judicial immunity so far.”

8th Circuit Chief Judge Lavenski R. Smith and Judge Jonathan A. Kobes joined the decision.

Background

The plaintiff, D. Bart Rockett, and his then-wife, Kami Ballard, were divorced in Missouri. Despite the divorce, they moved to California with their two teenage children, so the teens could pursue entertainment careers. Kami Ballard later filed for sole custody of the children in the Taney County Circuit Court. That filing led to a hearing before Judge Eighmy in 2019.

According to the lawsuit, the parents agreed the children would stay with their mother for a month before returning to live with their father. The children objected to the plan and refused to comply with the agreement, even when Judge Eighmy intervened.

The plaintiff alleged that Judge Eighmy took the children to a conference room, where they continued to protest the decision. The judge then personally escorted the children to jail, where they were placed in separate cells for about an hour. The lawsuit claims the children agreed to comply after the judge threatened to put them in foster care.

In 2021, the plaintiff filed a civil rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Judge Douglas Harpool declined to grant immunity to Judge Eighmy.

Judicial Acts Went ‘Too Far’

The 8th Circuit agreed, in part, with the U.S. District Court’s decision.

In an 11-page opinion, Judge Stras said the allegation that Judge Eighmy personally escorted the children to jail “took what would otherwise be a judicial act too far.”

Although judges, especially in family law cases, have broad powers, Judge Stras pointed out the children were not even present in the courtroom during the proceedings. “[J]udges do not do double duty as jailers,” he wrote. “So even assuming Judge Eighmy could have ordered someone else to take the kids to jail, he could not put them there himself.”

Judges have the authority to order an officer or a bailiff “to escort an unruly litigant to jail,” Judge Stras wrote. “They can also pull the parties into a conference room to discuss what just happened in court. … Judge Eighmy crossed the line, however, when he personally escorted the kids to jail, stood there while they removed their clothes and belongings, and personally came back an hour later to release them.”

The plaintiff further argued that Judge Eighmy caused his children to be jailed a second time, after he and the children missed a court hearing while living in Louisiana. Judge Eighmy had issued a “pick-up” order that prompted Louisiana deputies to arrest the children and place them in a juvenile-detention center. The Missouri Supreme Court ultimately vacated that order.

While the U.S. District Court had permitted the Louisiana allegation to proceed against Judge Eighmy, the 8th Circuit disagreed and reversed. According to Judge Stras, although Judge Eighmy may not have had the “express authority” to issue that pick-up order, he did have subject-matter over the case under Missouri law and, therefore, could not be sued for his actions.