Sheena Yarbrough v. Decatur Housing Authority

941 F.3d 1022
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit·Decided October 29, 2019·No. 17-11500·Published·Cited by 21 cases

Opinion

Case: 17-11500 Date Filed: 10/29/2019 Page: 1 of 20

[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 17-11500 ________________________

D.C. Docket No. 5:15-cv-02325-AKK

SHEENA YARBROUGH,

Plaintiff-Appellant, versus

DECATUR HOUSING AUTHORITY,

Defendant-Appellee.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama _______________________

(October 29, 2019)

Before WILLIAM PRYOR and MARTIN, Circuit Judges, and VRATIL,* District Judge.

WILLIAM PRYOR, Circuit Judge:

* Honorable Kathryn H. Vratil, United States District Judge for the District of Kansas, sitting by designation. Case: 17-11500 Date Filed: 10/29/2019 Page: 2 of 20

This appeal requires us to decide whether, under the Due Process Clause of

the Fourteenth Amendment, some evidence supported the decision of the Decatur

Housing Authority to terminate Shenna Yarbrough’s housing voucher issued under

Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937, 42 U.S.C. § 1437f. The Authority

terminated her voucher because she had “violated her agreement with the

Authority and her lease by engaging in drug-related criminal activity.” Yarbrough

filed a complaint against the Authority, id. § 1983, that the termination violated

both a federal regulation providing that “[f]actual determinations” in a voucher-

termination hearing “shall be based on a preponderance of the evidence,” 24

C.F.R. § 982.555(e)(6), and the constitutional right to due process of law. The

district court granted summary judgment to the Authority. A panel of this Court

reversed because the indictments and arrest records presented at the hearing failed

to establish that Yarbrough engaged in drug-related criminal activity under the

preponderance standard, but we later vacated that decision and reheard that issue

en banc. Yarbrough v. Decatur Hous. Auth. (Yarbrough I), 905 F.3d 1222, 1226

(11th Cir. 2018), rev’d en banc, 931 F.3d 1322 (11th Cir. 2019). The en banc court

overruled our earlier precedent, Basco v. Machin, 514 F.3d 1177 (11th Cir. 2008),

which underpinned the panel’s decision, but it left it to the panel on remand to

address Yarbrough’s remaining due process arguments. We now affirm the

summary judgment in favor of the Authority.

2 Case: 17-11500 Date Filed: 10/29/2019 Page: 3 of 20

I. BACKGROUND

Sheena Yarbrough was a qualified participant in the Section 8 Housing

Assistance program operated by the Decatur Housing Authority under the

administration of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Section

8 program provides low-income families assistance with rental payments. 42

U.S.C. § 1437f(a). Public housing authorities have the power to terminate

assistance under Section 8 if any member of a participating family engages in

drug-related criminal activity. 24 C.F.R. § 982.551(l); see also id.

§ 982.553(b)(1)(iii). The regulatory requirement to refrain from drug-related

criminal activity was incorporated into the terms of Yarbrough’s agreement with

the Authority. To obtain housing benefits, she signed a document issued by the

Department of Housing and Urban Development entitled “Obligations of the

Participating [F]amily,” which provided that “members of the family may not

engage in drug-related criminal activity.”

In September 2012, Yarbrough was arrested for selling Xanax and Lortab to

an undercover police informant. On learning of her arrest, the Authority notified

Yarbrough that it intended to terminate her program assistance. At Yarbrough’s

request, the Authority conducted a hearing at which a hearing officer found that

Yarbrough had engaged in drug-related criminal activity and upheld the decision.

3 Case: 17-11500 Date Filed: 10/29/2019 Page: 4 of 20

But based on legal advice, the Authority decided to postpone the termination of

Yarbrough’s housing assistance “until a court date or decision was rendered.”

On April 11, 2013, a grand jury for the Circuit Court of Limestone County,

Alabama, indicted Yarbrough on two felony counts of unlawful distribution of a

controlled substance. On October 8, 2015, with the charges still pending, the

Authority sent Yarbrough a second notice of its intent to terminate her benefits. At

Yarbrough’s request, the Authority conducted a second informal hearing on

November 10, 2015. Yarbrough attended the hearing and was represented by

counsel. Her caseworker, Kenyetta Gray, attended the hearing and presented

testimony and evidence on behalf of the Authority.

At the hearing, Gray presented the indictments and arrest records and

testified that they established that Yarbrough had sold Xanax and Lortab to an

undercover police informant. Gray also testified that the charges were still pending.

Yarbrough testified and admitted the arrests. She did not deny that she had sold

prescription medications to the undercover informant or otherwise dispute the

factual basis of the charges. Instead, she asserted that the charges would be

dismissed upon payment of court costs. Yarbrough also argued that the Authority

had agreed to wait for the outcome of the criminal proceedings before terminating

her benefits.

4 Case: 17-11500 Date Filed: 10/29/2019 Page: 5 of 20

The hearing officer issued a written decision that Yarbrough “violated her

agreement with the Authority and her lease by engaging in drug-related criminal

activity.” The decision explained that the evidence of Yarbrough’s arrest and

indictments was sufficient to establish that Yarbrough engaged in drug-related

criminal activity. The hearing officer acknowledged that Yarbrough had presented

“credible evidence that the cases will be dismissed on payment of court costs.” But

he determined that because the charges remained pending and the indictments were

issued “by a duly impaneled grand jury,” the evidence was sufficient to establish

“that more likely than not, i.e. by a preponderance of the evidence, Ms. Yarbrough

engaged in drug related criminal activity in violation of the terms of her agreement

with the Authority.”

Yarbrough filed a complaint against the Authority, see 42 U.S.C. § 1983, in

which she alleged that the Authority violated the regulation requiring a decision

based on a preponderance of the evidence, 24 C.F.R. § 982.555(e)(6), and the Due

Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by basing its termination decision on

insufficient evidence and by relying exclusively on hearsay. After discovery, the

district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Authority on the grounds

that the indictments established that Yarbrough engaged in drug-related criminal

activity under a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard and that relying on the

indictments comported with due process.

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Sheena Yarbrough v. Decatur Housing Authority, 941 F.3d 1022 (11th Cir. 2019).

941 F.3d 1022 (Sheena Yarbrough v. Decatur Housing Authority) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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