A Missouri judge who locked two children in jail cells because he was frustrated by their resistance to a parental custody decision is liable for violating their Fourth Amendment rights, a federal appeals court ruled this week.
asserted
court → lock → rights
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit rejected Taney County Judge Eric Eighmy's claim that he was shielded by qualified immunity, a doctrine that blocks federal civil rights claims unless they allege a violation of "clearly established" law.
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they → reject → law
"A reasonable judge should have known better," Judge David Stras writes in an opinion joined by the two other members of the 8th Circuit panel.
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Stras → know → panel
"The law was 'clearly established' enough" to "place the issue 'beyond debate.'
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law → establish → debate
Institute for Justice attorney Dylan Moore, who wrote an 8th Circuit brief arguing against immunity for Eighmy and participated in oral arguments, welcomed the decision.
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who → write → decision
"Every reasonable person knows that a judge can't throw children in jail for no good reason," he said.
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he → know → reason
"Yet Judge Eighmy claimed qualified immunity shielded him from accountability anyway because no prior case told him that imprisoning innocent kids is unconstitutional.
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imprisoning → claim → kids
That defense is ridiculous, and we are thrilled that the court saw through it.
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court → thrill → it
When government officials commit such obvious constitutional violations, qualified immunity should never enter the picture."
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immunity → commit → picture
The incident at the center of the case happened after an October 2019 custody hearing involving Kadan Rockett, then 14, and his 12-year-old sister, Brooklyn, who had achieved a modicum of fame as magicians performing on America's Got Talent.
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who → happen → Talent
Their divorced parents, Bart Rockett and Kami Ballard, agreed that Ballard, who at that point lived in Missouri, would have primary custody of the children, while Rockett, who was living in California, would be "responsible for them at the beginning of each month and 'during TV pilot season.'"
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who → divorce → season
But Kadan and Brooklyn did not want to go home with their mother, which led to an argument in the lobby of the courthouse.
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which → want → courthouse
Eighmy intervened, telling Kadan and Brooklyn to come with him to a conference room, where he informed them that they had to leave with Ballard.
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they → intervene → Ballard
"The children would not budge, even after the judge mentioned that the other option was foster care," Stras notes.
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Stras → budge → ?
"Frustrated, Judge Eighmy had the children follow him again, this time to a waiting area in the courthouse's juvenile division."
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children → have → division
A few minutes later, Eighmy "led them down a hallway to two holding cells."
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Eighmy → lead → cells
Outside the cells, Eighmy again threatened Kadan and Brooklyn with foster care, but they were still unmoved.
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they → threaten → care
"Lock them up," the judge told an officer, who "patted them down and ordered them to remove their socks and shoes" before confining them in separate cells.
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who → lock → cells
It is not clear exactly how much time Kadan and Brooklyn spent in the cells.
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Kadan → spend → cells
The Institute for Justice says "about an hour," while Stras says "the time spent in the holding-cell area was between twenty and forty minutes."
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time → say → area
In any case, the children's respect for Eighmy's authority had improved by the time he came back.
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he → improve → time
He "asked them one more time whether they would leave with their mother," Stras writes.
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Stras → ask → mother
"This time, they both nodded yes, so he let them go."
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them → nod → ?
In June 2021, Rockett, the children's father, sued Eighmy on their behalf under 42 USC 1983, which authorizes claims against state or local officials who violate constitutional rights under color of law.
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who → sue → law
In his motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Eighmy argued that he was protected by judicial immunity, which is absolute with respect to a judge's official duties.
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which → dismiss → duties
U.S. District Judge disagreed, and the 8th Circuit affirmed that ruling in 2023, noting that Kadan and Brooklyn were beyond Eighmy's contempt power because they were not parties to the custody case and that "judges do not do double duty as jailers."
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judges → disagree → jailers
Eighmy reiterated his judicial immunity claim in a motion for summary judgment, and
rejected it again.
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Eighmy → reiterate → it
After the trial began, Eighmy claimed qualified immunity twice, once after all the evidence had been submitted and again after the jury's verdict in favor of Kadan and Brooklyn.
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evidence → begin → Kadan
The jury ultimately awarded Kadan and Brooklyn $5,000 each in damages, and Harpool added about $327,000 in attorney fees.
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Harpool → award → fees
Eighmy appealed again, reiterating his judicial immunity claim.
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Eighmy → appeal → claim
But the appeals court ruled that he had abandoned that argument by failing to raise it during the trial or after the verdict.
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he → rule → verdict
So Eighmy was left with qualified immunity, which the appeals court said he did not deserve.
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he → leave → which
Eighmy clearly violated the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable seizures, Stras says, because he "did not have 'probable cause to believe that [the children had] committed' an offense, much less one that justified placing them in a holding cell.
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that → violate → cell
Rather, their only misdeed was one every parent knows well: resisting authority.
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parent → know → authority
Even in the context of legal-custody proceedings, refusing to leave with a parent is not a jailable offense.
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refusing → refuse → parent
"
Did Eighmy's authority as a judge give him extra leeway?
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authority → give → leeway
"Criminal contempt was off the table because the children were neither parties to the custody case nor present inside the courtroom," Stras notes.
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Stras → note → courtroom
"Nor could the power to punish a party for violating an injunction have provided the justification, given that Judge Eighmy never issued one."
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Eighmy → punish → one
Eighmy's motive for jailing the children does not change that analysis.
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motive → jail → analysis
"We have no doubt that Judge Eighmy believed he was acting in 'good faith,' and possibly even in the children's best interests, by detaining them," Stras writes.
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Stras → have → them
…and 14 more, not listed.
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