Taha v. Bucks County Pennsylvania

367 F. Supp. 3d 320
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 14, 2019
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 12-6867
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 367 F. Supp. 3d 320 (Taha v. Bucks County Pennsylvania) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taha v. Bucks County Pennsylvania, 367 F. Supp. 3d 320 (E.D. Pa. 2019).

Opinion

WENDY BEETLESTONE, District Judge

This certified class action arises from Defendants Bucks County Correctional Facility and Bucks County's decision in January 2011 to create an "Inmate Lookup Tool," (the "ILT") through which they published on the internet information about 66,799 individuals who had been held or incarcerated over the course of decades at the Bucks County Correctional Facility. One of the individuals whose information was published, Plaintiff, Daryoush Taha, filed this lawsuit on behalf of himself and all persons whose criminal history record information was made available on the ILT. He claimed that by publishing this information, Defendants Bucks County Correctional Facility and Bucks County violated Pennsylvania's Criminal History Record Information Act ("the CHRIA"), 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 9101 et seq. , in particular contravening the portion of the law that prohibits dissemination of "criminal history record information" except in defined circumstances, 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 9121(b)(2). Pending now are cross motions for summary judgment. Defendants maintain that punitive damages are not available to the class-or at the very least that such damages should be capped. Plaintiff argues that Defendants' violation of the CHRIA was willful, and therefore that punitive damages are proper.1 For the following reasons both motions will both be denied.

I. Background

The facts in this case, which are largely undisputed, have already been recounted at length. See Taha v. Bucks County , 2016 WL 2345998 (E.D. Pa. May 4, 2016) (" Taha II "). The short story is that in September of 1998, Plaintiff Taha was arrested by the Bensalem Police Department and transported to the Bucks County Correctional Facility. Id. at * 1. He was charged with harassment, disorderly conduct, *324and resisting arrest; his photo was taken; and he was released the following day. Id. Eventually, the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County ordered the Clerk of Courts of Bucks County, the Bucks County District Attorney, the district court, and the arresting agency to expunge Plaintiff's "arrest and other criminal records." Id.

In January of 2011, Defendants launched the ILT-a publicly accessible and searchable electronic database that included information about "individuals who had been held or incarcerated at the Bucks County Correctional Facility from 1938 onward, a total of 66,799 people." Taha v. County of Bucks , 862 F.3d 292, 297 (3d Cir. 2017) (" Taha III "). While the parties contest the sufficiency of Defendants' preparation, due diligence, and legal research prior to publishing the ILT, they largely agree on the steps that Defendants did and did not take. Defendants' employees reviewed at least one other county's ILT, discussed the ILT at a meeting of criminal justice professionals, and asked the state police whether certain information should be included in the ILT. They were also repeatedly trained on the protections the CHRIA requires for criminal history record information and on the types of information that qualify as criminal history record information; were aware of the Pennsylvania Attorney General's "Handbook"-according to Defendants, "an authoritative document that you would be reasonable to rely on if you're trying to understand the [CHRIA],"-which defined criminal history record information as the types of information made public by the ILT; had access to a hotline run through Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network that they could call if "there's any doubt as to the propriety" of information to be released, but did not make use of this resource; and proceeded without seeking advice from the Bucks County Solicitor before releasing the information.

Ultimately, the information that Defendants made public about the various class members included "name, race, weight, hair and eye color, arrest dates, arrest charges, and where available the marital status and the FBI and State fingerprint identification numbers." In addition, the ILT included booking photographs for about 47,000 class members. As to Taha himself, the following information became publicly accessible: "a color photograph of Taha from the shoulders up, wearing a blue shirt and pictured against a gray background; sex; date of birth; height; weight; race; hair color; eye color; citizenship; incarceration location; date committed to incarceration; release date; case number for the crime charged; and 'DC, HARASS' listed under 'Charge Information.' " Taha II , 2016 WL 2345998, at *1.

Plaintiff sued on December 7, 2012. In the course of resolving various motions, the Court has determined that Defendants violated the CHRIA by disseminating "criminal history record information," 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 9102 (defining the term), in a manner prohibited by the Act, Taha v. Bucks County , 172 F.Supp.3d 867, 872 (E.D. Pa. 2016) (" Taha I "), and has also certified a class of "all persons whose criminal history record information was made available on the ... Inmate Lookup Tool," Taha v. Bucks County , 2016 WL 2346000 (E.D. Pa. May 4, 2016) (order); see also Taha II , 2016 WL 2345998, at *4 (opinion). The Third Circuit affirmed the class certification decision, noting that "the only remaining factual issue is whether defendants willfully violated CHRIA," Taha III , 862 F.3d at 309, because in order to obtain punitive damages a plaintiff must show that any violation of the CHRIA was willful, see 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 9183(b)(2).

*325II. Legal Standard

Summary judgment must be granted if "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) ; see also Radich v. Goode , 886 F.2d 1391, 1395 (3d Cir. 1989). Materiality of facts is determined by reference to the substantive law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. , 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

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Bluebook (online)
367 F. Supp. 3d 320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taha-v-bucks-county-pennsylvania-paed-2019.