Cruz v. Multnomah County

381 P.3d 856, 279 Or. App. 1
CourtMultnomah County Circuit Court, Oregon
DecidedJune 22, 2016
Docket120911181; A155157
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 381 P.3d 856 (Cruz v. Multnomah County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Multnomah County Circuit Court, Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cruz v. Multnomah County, 381 P.3d 856, 279 Or. App. 1 (Or. Super. Ct. 2016).

Opinion

ARMSTRONG, P. J.

Plaintiff brought two claims for damages against defendants Multnomah County and Multnomah County Sheriffs Office (MCSO) based on his detention in the Multnomah County Jail under a federal immigration detainer. He alleged a claim for false imprisonment and a claim based on violation of ORS 181A.820C1).1 On cross-motions for summary judgment, the trial court ruled in favor of defendants, concluding that they were immune under the Oregon Tort Claims Act (OTCA), ORS 30.265(6)(f),2 from liability to plaintiff for false imprisonment and that there is no private right of action for violations of ORS 181A.820(1). Plaintiff appeals. We conclude that the trial court did not err, and affirm.

“On review of cross-motions for summary judgment, we examine whether there are any disputed issues of material fact and whether either party was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Vision Realty, Inc. v. Kohler, 214 Or App 220, 222, 164 P3d 330 (2007). Here, the parties agreed to a joint statement of stipulated facts; therefore, the relevant facts before us—as they were before the trial court—are undisputed.

[4]*4The following facts are drawn from the parties’joint statement of stipulated facts, supplemented by undisputed facts in the record. Plaintiff was arrested on October 14, 2011, for disorderly conduct and booked into the Multnomah County Jail, which is operated by defendants.

That same evening, October 14, defendants received a fax from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with the heading, “Immigration Detainer - Notice of Action.” The detainer included a statement that the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Department) had initiated an investigation to determine whether plaintiff was subject to removal from the United States. It also stated: “Under Federal regulation 8 CFR § 287.7, DHS requests that you maintain custody of this individual for a period not to exceed 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays) to provide adequate time for DHS to assume custody of the alien.”3 The detainer was not accompanied by a warrant, an affidavit of probable cause, or a removal order.

[5]*5Defendants continued to hold plaintiff on the disorderly conduct charge and another misdemeanor until his arraignment on October 17, 2011. At the arraignment, the charges against plaintiff were reduced to violations and the court issued an order stating “release def this case only.” At that point, plaintiff was no longer subject to detention on any pending state or local charge, but defendants continued to hold him pursuant to the immigration detainer. Defendants held plaintiff for approximately 38 hours beyond the time that they otherwise would have released him, but for the detainer. ICE took plaintiff into custody on October 19, 2011. The federal government did not reimburse defendants for the cost of plaintiffs detention for the time that he was held beyond the time that he would otherwise have been released.

Plaintiff subsequently filed this action, alleging (1) that defendants had falsely imprisoned him during the 38 hours that he was held after his arraignment and (2) that defendants were liable for violating ORS 181A.820(1). Defendants’ answer asserted that defendants had detained plaintiff under the authority of a federal regulation and that, even if that regulation were invalid, unconstitutional, or inapplicable, they were immune from liability under the apparent-authority immunity provision of the OTCA. Defendants also argued that ORS 181A.820 did not apply to their detention of plaintiff and, in any event, does not provide for a private right of action.

The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The only issues in dispute on summary judgment for the false-imprisonment claim were whether plaintiffs detention was unlawful4 and whether defendants were immune under the OTCA. Among the issues on summary judgment on plaintiffs statutory tort claim was whether ORS 181A.820(1) created a private right of action. The trial [6]*6court concluded that defendants were immune under the OTCA and that there was no legislatively created statutory tort for violations of ORS 181A.820. Accordingly, the trial court granted summary judgment for defendants, denied summary judgment for plaintiff, and entered a judgment in favor of defendants.

Plaintiff appeals, raising three assignments of error. He first assigns error to the trial court’s failure to expressly rule that defendants’ detention of plaintiff was unlawful.5 He next assigns error to the trial court’s grant of summary judgment on plaintiff’s false-imprisonment claim on the ground that defendants were immune under the OTCA. In his last assignment, he contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment on plaintiffs claim under ORS 181A.820 on the ground that the statute does not provide for a private right of action.6 We write to address only the second and third assignments of error; as explained in footnote 5, we reject plaintiffs first assignment of error without extended discussion.

I. APPARENT-AUTHORITY IMMUNITY

We first consider plaintiffs claim that the trial court erred in concluding that defendants were immune from liability under ORS 30.265(6)(f), the apparent-authority immunity provision of the OTCA. The OTCA partially waives the state’s sovereign immunity, and it provides for indemnification and immunity for public actors in certain circumstances. ORS 30.260 -30.300; see Horton v. OHSU, 359 Or 168, 221-25, 376 P3d 998 (2016) (discussing history, function, and purposes of OTCA). ORS 30.265(6)(f) provides that public actors are immune from liability if they act without [7]*7bad faith or malice under the “apparent authority” of a law, but the law is “unconstitutional, invalid or inapplicable.”

A. The Parties’ Arguments Below

The parties agree that, when defendants detained plaintiff beyond the time that they would otherwise have released him, they did so based on the immigration detainer and the federal regulation that it invoked, 8 CFR section 287.7(d).

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Bluebook (online)
381 P.3d 856, 279 Or. App. 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cruz-v-multnomah-county-orccmultnomah-2016.