Doe v. Arpaio

150 P.3d 1258, 214 Ariz. 237, 496 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 36, 28 A.L.R. 6th 809, 2007 Ariz. App. LEXIS 8
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJanuary 23, 2007
Docket1 CA-CV 05-0835
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 150 P.3d 1258 (Doe v. Arpaio) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doe v. Arpaio, 150 P.3d 1258, 214 Ariz. 237, 496 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 36, 28 A.L.R. 6th 809, 2007 Ariz. App. LEXIS 8 (Ark. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

IRVINE, Presiding Judge.

¶ 1 It is well-established law that certain constitutional rights of prison inmates may be curtailed to satisfy legitimate penological interests. This case involves an inmate 1 who asked to be transported to a location outside the jail so she could obtain a first-trimester abortion at her own expense. She was also willing to pay any security and transportation costs. Maricopa County and Joseph Ar-paio, in his official capacity as the Maricopa County Sheriff (collectively “the County”), had no objection to the request, but required her to first obtain a court order directing the transportation. The central issue before us is whether requiring a court order to transport an inmate to receive an abortion serves a legitimate penological interest. We hold that it does not, and affirm the judgment of the superior court.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 The County operates several jail facilities in Maricopa County that house pre-trial detainees and sentenced inmates who are not transferred to the Arizona Department of Corrections. Correctional Health Services (“CHS”), an agency of the County, provides medical care to the inmates in the jail facilities, and also in a secure ward of the county hospital. When an inmate requires medical services beyond the capability of the on-site CHS personnel, CHS arranges for the County to transport the inmate to an off-site medical facility.

¶ 3 CHS only performs, and only seeks transportation for, procedures CHS deems medically necessary. Accordingly, CHS provides pre-natal care and delivery services to pregnant inmates, but does not provide non-therapeutic abortion services.

¶4 The County has an unwritten policy that prohibits transportation of inmates off- *239 site for elective medical procedures (the “Policy”). As a result of the Policy, an inmate may only obtain a non-therapeutic abortion by securing a court order directing the County to transport her off-site for the procedure. 2 The County requires the inmate to make her own financial arrangements for the procedure and to pay the cost of security and transportation.

¶ 5 Doe discovered she was pregnant shortly before the County took her into custody on March 18, 2004 after she was sentenced to four months in the County jail. 3 CHS personnel confirmed Doe’s pregnancy by medical examination during her first week of incarceration. She immediately and repeatedly informed CHS medical personnel that she desired to terminate the pregnancy. Consistent with the Policy, the County refused to transport Doe for an abortion procedure.

¶ 6 For reasons mostly beyond her control, it took Doe seven weeks to obtain a court order. The superior court commissioner who sentenced Doe denied Doe’s initial request for a court order directing the County to transport Doe for the procedure, stating, “I have been told that this Court and this County does not involve itself usually in transporting or assisting inmates in having elective medical procedures performed.” Doe eventually, on May 12, 2004, obtained an order from the superior court that required the County to transport her to have the abortion procedure.

¶ 7 In conjunction with her request for an order, Doe filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment that the Policy was unconstitutional and alleging claims under 42 United States Code section 1983 (1996) for violation of plaintiffs’ rights to privacy under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and violation of plaintiffs’ rights to adequate medical care under the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. 4 Doe also sought a permanent injunction enjoining the County from enforcing the Policy insofar as it would deny plaintiffs access to safe, timely and legal abortions.

¶ 8 The parties cross-moved for summary judgment. The superior court granted Doe’s motion for summary judgment and denied the County’s motion, ruling that the Policy was unconstitutional because it constituted an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion and because it found the Policy served no legitimate peno-logical purpose.

¶ 9 The superior court entered judgment in favor of Doe and permanently enjoined the County from enforcing the Policy insofar as it applies to an inmate seeking an abortion. The County timely appealed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes (“A.R.S.”) section 12-2101(B) (2003).

DISCUSSION

¶ 10 A court may grant summary judgment when “there is no genuine issue as to any *240 material fact and [] the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(e)(1). We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the County, against which judgment was entered, and determine de novo whether there are genuine issues of material fact and whether the trial court erred in its application of the law. Salib v. City of Mesa, 212 Ariz. 446, 450, ¶ 4, 133 P.3d 756, 760 (App.2006).

¶ 11 Doe alleged, and the superior court found, that the Policy violates a woman’s Fourteenth Amendment right to choose to have an abortion, as articulated by the United States Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 153-54, 93 S.Ct. 705, 35 L.Ed.2d 147 (1973), and reaffirmed by the Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 846, 112 S.Ct. 2791, 120 L.Ed.2d 674 (1992). The trial court also concluded that the Policy served no reasonable penological interest, citing the four-part test developed in Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 84, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 96 L.Ed.2d 64 (1987). The County contends these rulings were in error.

¶ 12 As an initial matter, we recognize that the County’s Policy does not apply solely to abortion procedures, but prohibits the transportation of inmates off-site for any elective medical procedure. Doe challenges the Policy only insofar as it applies to inmates seeking a non-therapeutic abortion. The interests at stake, and the constitutional analysis of any rights associated with such interests, will necessarily depend on the specific elective procedure sought. An inmate will not be prejudiced by having to wait until after release to obtain most elective medical procedures, but the Supreme Court has recognized that involuntary delays in obtaining an abortion have constitutional significance because “time is likely to be of the essence in an abortion decision.” H.L. v. Matheson, 450 U.S. 398, 412, 101 S.Ct. 1164, 67 L.Ed.2d 388 (1981); see also Ohio v. Akron Ctr. for Reprod. Health, 497 U.S. 502, 513-14, 110 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
150 P.3d 1258, 214 Ariz. 237, 496 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 36, 28 A.L.R. 6th 809, 2007 Ariz. App. LEXIS 8, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doe-v-arpaio-arizctapp-2007.