Mazanec v. North Judson-San Pierre School Corp.

552 F. Supp. 873, 8 Educ. L. Rep. 322, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17096
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedDecember 14, 1982
DocketCiv. No. S 81-0219
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 552 F. Supp. 873 (Mazanec v. North Judson-San Pierre School Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mazanec v. North Judson-San Pierre School Corp., 552 F. Supp. 873, 8 Educ. L. Rep. 322, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17096 (N.D. Ind. 1982).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SHARP, Chief Judge.

This case is an action brought by private parties against the North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation and various public officials. In addition to compensatory and punitive damages, plaintiffs seek both declaratory and injunctive relief as well as costs and attorney fees. The plaintiffs are Richard and Barbara Mazanec, parents of Patricia, Susan and Angela Mazanec, and the Greenhouse Academy, a not-for-profit school incorporated by Richard and Barbara Mazanec under the laws of the State of Indiana. The defendants are the North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation; its Superintendent, James F. Moore; David M. Geisler, Prosecuting Attorney for the 44th Judicial Circuit of the State of Indiana; and Marilyn V. Mabry, Indiana State Attendance Officer. The above named defendants are being sued in both their individual and official capacities. The jurisdiction of this Court is predicated on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(l)-{4), and the cause of action is alleged to arise under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as well as the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. This case is presently before the Court on defendants motions to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. Construing the facts in a light most favorable to the non-movant plaintiffs reveals the following.

Barbara Mazanec is a Jehovah’s Witness. Because of sincerely held religious beliefs, she and her husband, Richard, founded the [875]*875Greenhouse Academy in 1979 and enrolled their three children therein rather than send them to the North Judson-San Pierre public schools. The Greenhouse Academy supplements State mandated curricula with religious and moral instruction. Barbara Mazanec is the Academy’s principal.

On August 29, 1980, defendant Moore sent a letter to the plaintiffs, informing them that the North Judson-San Pierre public schools had begun classes on August 25, 1980, and that the children of Richard and Barbara Mazanec were not enrolled among the students attending the above-named public schools. Defendant Moore advised the plaintiffs that they had ten days from the date of the receipt of his letter in which to enroll the children in the North Judson-San Pierre public schools or to provide him with evidence that the children were otherwise enrolled in a school complying with the requirements set forth at I.C. 20-8.1-3-17.

On September 10, 1980, plaintiffs sent a letter to defendant Moore explaining that their children would be enrolled later that month in a school complying with the above statute (the Greenhouse Academy operates on an academic calendar year beginning approximately five weeks later than the public school’s calendar), and offered to provide him with further information during the next 20 days.

Nonetheless, and notwithstanding this response, defendant Moore signed an affidavit in support of a criminal information on September 22, 1980, declaring that the plaintiffs had unlawfully permitted their children to be absent from the North Judson-San Pierre public schools. On that date, defendant Geisler filed a criminal action in state court against the plaintiffs, Richard and Barbara Mazanec, alleging a violation of the state’s compulsory school attendance law, a Class B misdemeanor.

On March 30, 1981, defendant Mabry acknowledged the fact that plaintiffs were “in compliance with the law” in a letter sent to the Mazanees. Even so, the criminal action pending against the plaintiffs in state court was not dismissed until September 25,1981, more than 11 months after the plaintiffs first filed said motion. Although no criminal action is presently pending in state court against the plaintiffs, defendant Geisler has allegedly threatened future prosecution against them.

Plaintiffs allege, inter alia, that their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, speech, and association in educational endeavors have been violated by the defendants acting or failing to act under color of state law, thereby constituting a denial of due process of law; that the plaintiffs have been subjected to selective prosecution resulting in a denial of due process of law; that the plaintiffs have been subject to selective prosecution resulting in a denial of equal protection of the laws; and that the actions of the defendants have injured not only the plaintiffs’ reputations, but have caused them physical and emotional distress as well.

The defendants argue in support of their motions to dismiss or for summary judgment that this Court lacks both in personam jurisdiction over the defendants as well as subject matter jurisdiction, and that the plaintiffs’ amended complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Defendants contend that the only genuine issues appearing before this Court are (1) whether the plaintiffs were in compliance with I.C. 20-8.1-3-1 et seq. on September 22,1980, and (2) whether the plaintiffs were in compliance with I.C. 20-8.1-3-17 and I.C. 20-8.1-3-34 after September 29, 1980. Thus, defendants maintain that this case turns on the sole question of whether there has been compliance with Indiana law. In addition, the defendants argue that a qualified immunity exists for the defendants because of their allegedly good faith actions in this matter.

Because defendants Geisler and Mabry have framed their Motion to Dismiss in the alternative to include a Motion for Summary Judgment, and defendants Moore and North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation have supported their Motion to Dismiss with the affidavit of defendant Moore, the motions to dismiss of all defendants are [876]*876hereby converted to a motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

In order for defendants to prevail on their motions for summary judgment, a careful review of “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, [must] show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Rule 56(c), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Defendants Moore and North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation argue that a school corporation is not a “person” within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, citing Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 81 S.Ct. 473, 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961) in support thereof. This Court directs defendants’ attention to Monell v. Dept. of Social Services of the City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), wherein the Supreme Court expressly overruled Monroe v. Pape, supra, in holding that municipalities and other local governing bodies are “persons” within the meaning of § 1983. 436 U.S. at 690,98 S.Ct. at 2035-2036.

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Related

Mazanec v. North Judson-San Pierre School Corp.
614 F. Supp. 1152 (N.D. Indiana, 1985)
Bell v. Metropolitan School Dist. of Shakamak
582 F. Supp. 3 (S.D. Indiana, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
552 F. Supp. 873, 8 Educ. L. Rep. 322, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17096, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mazanec-v-north-judson-san-pierre-school-corp-innd-1982.