Police officer advising parents that one of them must accompany their daughter for psychological evaluation does not rise to the level of a seizure.

The plaintiffs, a mother, father and their daughter, sued the defendants, including a police officer acting under the color of state law, pursuant to 42 U.S.C.S. § 1983. The plaintiffs' alleged a claim for false arrest and false imprisonment under the Fourth Amendment. The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania denied the officer's motion to dismiss. This officer appealed. After the 15-year-old daughter sent a text message to a friend asserting her plan to commit suicide, the friend contacted the police and advised of the daughter's statement. The defendant officer and other officers arrived at the plaintiffs' residence. The officer advised the daughter and her parents that the daughter needed to be sent to the hospital for an evaluation and that one of the parents would need to accompany her. The mother agreed and went to the hospital with her daughter. The plaintiffs alleged that the officer falsely arrested and imprisoned the mother when he insisted that she accompany her daughter to the hospital in an ambulance. The appellate court determined that the officer was entitled to qualified immunity as to the false arrest and false imprisonment claims because the allegations were insufficient to establish a show of authority that rose to the level of a seizure under the Fourth Amendment since advising the parents that one of them needed to accompany their daughter to the hospital would not cause a reasonable person to feel powerless to decline such a request or otherwise terminate the police encounter. There was no allegation that the officers intimidated the mother with a threatening presence, engaged in any physical touching or displayed a weapon. The appellate court reversed the judgment of the district court and dismissed the plaintiffs' complaint.

Case Law Alert - 1st Quarter 2013