In Re Wright

224 P.3d 1131
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 28, 2010
Docket35647
StatusPublished

This text of 224 P.3d 1131 (In Re Wright) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Wright, 224 P.3d 1131 (Idaho 2010).

Opinion

224 P.3d 1131 (2010)

In the Matter of the BOARD OF PSYCHOLOGIST EXAMINERS' FINAL ORDER CASE NO. PSY-P4B-01-010-002 Re: Dr. Eileen WRIGHT.
Dr. Eileen Wright, Petitioner-Appellant,
v.
The Board of Psychological Examiners, Respondent.

No. 35647.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, January 2010 Term.

January 28, 2010.

*1132 Edwin L. Litteneker, Lewiston, for appellant.

Naylor & Hales, P.C., Boise, for respondent. Bruce Castleton argued.

EISMANN, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from the judgment of the district court on a petition for judicial review of agency action. The district court held that the appellant could not challenge an earlier final order of the agency and it upheld the subsequent final order. We affirm the first holding and reverse the second.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Dr. Eileen Wright was licensed to practice psychology in Idaho on February 1, 1995, and she began working in private practice as a psychologist in 1998. On December 10, 1999, the judge presiding over a contentious *1133 domestic relations case appointed Wright to conduct a parenting evaluation of the parties in that case. They had been divorced on February 5, 1999, with mother being awarded sole legal custody of their two minor children due to father being a habitual perpetrator of domestic violence. The father was awarded periods of visitation with the children, and he had instituted contempt proceedings against the mother, contending that she had wrongfully denied him visitation. On April 4, 2000, Wright submitted her parenting evaluation to the judge. Her report was critical of the mother and recommended that the parents have joint legal custody of their children and that the father have increased visitation. On June 23, 2000, the judge issued an order finding the mother in contempt and adopting Wright's custody recommendations. A few months later, Wright began a sexual relationship with the father.

The mother reported Wright to the Idaho State Board of Psychologist Examiners (Board), and on May 15, 2003, it commenced disciplinary proceedings against Wright. The matter was tried before a hearing officer, who made recommended findings regarding Wright's "sexual intimacies" with the father. On April 22, 2005, the Board issued a final order ("2005 Order") adopting those findings and concluding that Wright's "actions constitute a violation of Idaho Code Sections 54-2909(d) and (e), and specifically Sections 4.07(a) and (b) of the 1992 Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct published by the American Psychology Association." As a result, the Board suspended Wright's license to practice psychology for five years and ordered Wright to pay, within ninety days, costs and attorney fees incurred in the sum of $17,558.61 and a fine in the amount of $1,000.00. The Board also ordered that Wright's license could be reinstated after three years if she had paid the costs, attorney fees, and fine and had complied with other listed conditions.

On August 18, 2005, the Board issued an order to show cause alleging that Wright had failed to pay, within ninety days, the sums she had been ordered to pay. It alleged, "Respondent's failure to comply with the terms of the Final Order constitutes grounds for additional discipline against Respondent's license." On September 26, 2005, the Board issued an amended order to show cause that was identical to the first order to show cause except that it added the allegation, "In addition, according to the affidavit of Allen Funk filed herein, Respondent has practiced psychology without a valid license after the date of her license suspension on April 22, 2005."

The amended order to show cause was heard by a hearing officer who made recommended findings that Wright had failed to pay the sums ordered and had continued to practice psychology after her license was suspended. In a final order issued on April 19, 2006, ("2006 Order") the Board adopted the hearing officer's findings and found "[t]hat Respondent's actions in failing to pay those costs in the order and continuing to practice psychology constitutes [sic] a violation of the Final Order dated April 22, 2005." It determined that "[t]hese violations constitute grounds for additional disciplinary action against her license to practice psychology in the state of Idaho pursuant to Idaho Code Sections 54-2305 and 54-2309, and IDAPA 24.12.01.375," and it suspended her license "for a period of five (5) years from the date of this order."

On May 16, 2006, Wright filed a petition for judicial review in the district court. She sought to challenge both the 2005 Order and the 2006 Order. The district court held that Wright had not filed a timely petition for judicial review with respect to the 2005 Order and the court therefore had no jurisdiction to review that Order. The court affirmed the 2006 Order on the ground that the Board could impose the penalty as a violation of Idaho Code § 54-2310, which makes practicing psychology without a license a misdemeanor. Wright then appealed to this Court.

II. ISSUES ON APPEAL

1. Did the district court err in holding that Wright cannot challenge the 2005 Order?

2. Did the district court err in upholding the 2006 Order?

3. Is either party entitled to an award of attorney fees on appeal?

III. ANALYSIS

"When the district court acts in its appellate capacity, we review the decision of *1134 the district court to determine whether it correctly decided the issues presented to it on appeal." Idaho Dept. of Health and Welfare v. Doe, 148 Idaho 124, 126, 219 P.3d 448, 450 (2009).

A. Did the District Court Err in Holding that Wright Cannot Challenge the 2005 Order?

Wright seeks to raise various challenges to the 2005 Order, contending that it is not based upon the record, is arbitrary and capricious, is in excess of the Board's authority, and is based upon the violation of an ethical code that is unconstitutionally vague. However, Wright did not timely seek judicial review of that Order. She contends that the district court should have reviewed the Order anyway. Her entire argument on this issue in her opening brief is as follows:

It is impossible for the Court to engage in Judicial Review of the Amended Order of the Board of April 19, 2006 without inquiry into and reviewing the original Order of the Board of April 22, 2005.
If the Board has the authority to amend it's [sic] order to add additional discipline for a violation of the April 22, 2005 Order, it is appropriate for the Court to review the Order of April 22, 2005. The Board should not be heard to argue that it can enter an order and then amend the order without the entirety of the amended order being subject to review.
Is the Board going to argue that the Court can only review part of the April 19, 2006 Order, only that part that is amended, suggesting that the parts of the April 22, 2005 Order incorporated in the April 19, 2006 Order are not subject to the Court's review?
The Board should not be heard to argue that it can amend a prior order to provide additional discipline and then claim that the entirety of the amended order is not subject to review.
Dr.

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Wright v. Board of Psychological Examiners
224 P.3d 1131 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
224 P.3d 1131, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-wright-idaho-2010.