Amicus Curiae Brief — City of Reno v. Conn

rr Supreme Coun, US |

FILED

|

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| JUN 3 - 2010

No. 09-1361 |_ovrice OF THE CLERK

IN THE

Supreme Court of the United States

CITY OF RENO, RYAN ASHTON, AND DAVID ROBERTSON,

Petitioners,

vi

CHARLA AND DUSTIN CONN,

Respondents.

On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE INTERNATIONAL

MUNICIPAL LAWYERS ASSOCIATION,

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES & NATIONAL

ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES

IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER

LARS ETZKORN STEPHEN B. KINNAIRD

National League of Cities COUNSEL OF RECORD

c > here ni : IW ‘

1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. TAMARA L. GRAHAM

Washington, DC 20004-1763

etzkorn@nlc.org MICKAEL W. STEVENS

JACQUELINE J. BYERS Paul, Hastings, Janofsky &

National Ass'n of Counties Walker LLP

25 Massachusetts Ave. NW 5th Fl. 875 15th Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20001 Washington, DC 20005

jbyers@naco.org (202) 551-1700

stephenkinnaird@paulhastings.com

Counsel for Amicus Cumae IMI.A

Wi SON-EPES PRINTING CO.,INC — (202) 789-0096 WASHINGTON, D. C. 20002

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page(s)

gs 808 ye iii

STATEMENT OF INTEREST ..................0.........2.. 1

6 OA 6) 00 LO) Ss ree 3

aay cidanarcscnacnocaasasaccascdersecenensane 5

: The Ninth Circuit’s Decision Below

Places An Insupportable Burden On

Municipalities To Ensure That Law

Enforcement Officers Are Equipped To

Make Medical Diagnoses of Suicidal

ee . cdcancuccncckuacuathane f

A.

C.

The Split Among The United

States Courts Of Appeals

Provides No Clear Guidance To

Municipalities On The Kind Of

Training To Provide To Law

Enforcement Officers To Meet

Legal Standards ....... Bc esucie ae

This Court’s Resolution Of The

Question Presented Is Important

In Light Of The Fiscal Challenges

Municipalities Face ...........................

The Decision Below Represents

Inappropriate Judicial

Interference With The Effective

Deployment Of Resources By

RINNE 6 ocs cnnniccccnsccencccunacsnctennse

6

9

ll

TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)

Page(s)

IT. The Ninth Circuit’s Decision Below

Threatens To Divert The Training Of

Law Enforcement Officers, Thus Making

Them Less Effective In Their Primary

Nee cd an ayslawandasendsces 12

A. Burdening Law Enforcement

Officers With Diagnosis Of

Psychological Conditions Will

Detract From Their Training In

Their Primary Law Enforcement

ee a adenaiica wie risntascshasaxnseenn sss 12

B. Burdening Law Enforcement

Officers With Identification Of

Suicidal Ideation Is Unnecessary

When The Detainee Will Be

Evaluated By Medical

a a a a ae 15

I oo g oe yco doc xeiuatekeatnseanscesassenseneesscecnsens 18

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

CASES

Barber v. City of Salem,

953 F.2d 232 (6th Cir. 1992)..........

Burns v. City of Galveston,

905 F.2d 100 (5th Cir. 1990)..........

City of Canton v. Harris,

BOD UF.2. BIG COD werscserscnccssissoscese

Conn v. City of Reno,

591 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir. 2010)........

Estate of Boncher v. Brown County,

272 F.3d 484 (7th Cir. 2001)..........

Horne v. Flores,

be Pe be ie ||) rene

Manarite v. City of Springfield,

957 F.2d 953 (ist Cir. 1992)...........

Perdue v. Kenny A.,

130 S. Ct. 1662 (2010) ...........0........

Popham ov. City of Talladega,

908 F.2d 1561 (11th Cir. 1990)......

Simmons v. City of Philadelphia,

947 F.2d 1042 (3d Cir. 1991)..........

Page(s)

eee 3, 4, 10, 15

9, 15, 16, 17

1V

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (continued)

Page(s)

STATUTES

4S US BA. B FB iveccesmsidnseciaeane eee 2, 3, 10

RULES

Supreme Court Rule S7:6....:/0..0... eee 1

REGULATIONS

Nev. Admin. Code § 289.140 (2008) ................... 13, 14

Nev. Admin. Code § 289.230 (2008) ............0...0..0002.. 14

Nev. Admin. Code § 289.300 (2007) ........000000000c.. 13

OTHER AUTHORITIES

Alan Greenblatt, Local Squeeze: The Budget

Pain Felt by State Lawmakers for the Past

Two Years Has Made Its Way to Cities and

Counties, National Conference of State

Legisiatures (Mia DIO) us i cocncnsncevscaueeeeeee 7

Vv

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (continued)

Page(s)

BRIAN A. REAVES, BUREAU OF JUSTICE

STATISTICS, U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTICE, CENSUS

OF STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

AGENCIES, 2004 (June 2007) ..................cccc cece

CHRISTOPHER W. HOENE & MICHAEL A.

PAGANO, NAT'L LEAGUE OF CITIES, CITY

FISCALCONDITIONS IN 2009 (SEPT. 2009)........... 6, 7

CITY OF NEW YORK OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT

AND BUDGET, FINANCIAL PLAN SUMMARY

FISCAL YEARS 2010-2014 (Jan. 28, 2010)........

CITY OF RENO, NEVADA 2009/10 BUDGET III

(May 22, 2009) ...............ccccccsscscccccsesessseescsseceees

Jacqueline J. Byers, How Are Counties Doing?

An Economic Survey, National Association

of Counties (Nov. 2009) oo... ccc ccc cece cceccec cece eee

Kari Petrie, Tighter Budgets Make Police

Training an Issue, ST. CLOUD TIMES, Mar.

BE MPA ND osscesssncntecanconscacssssassssnusscussescesscecescocsencnces

Kevin Johnson, Economy Limiting Services of

Police, USA ToDAy, May 18, 2009 ......0.....

SOURCEBOOK OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE STATISTICS

ONLINE (2006) 2000... 000oc co ooccccccccccececeecceceeeceeeeees

ceeues 8

nented 9

v1

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (continued)

Page(s)

VIRGINIA DEP’T OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES,

PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES, TRAINING

OBJECTIVES, CRITERIA, AND LESSON PLAN

GUIDES FOR COMPULSORY MINIMUM

TRAINING FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

CED ccncccccsicnssndicdéadaniaaineeaeliaade ee ee 14

STATEMENT OF INTEREST'!

Amicus curvae the International Municipal

Lawyers Association (“IMLA”) is a non-profit, non-

partisan, professional organization consisting of more

than 3,500 members that has been serving local

government attorneys since 1935. The membership

is comprised of local government entities, including

cities and counties, and subdivisions thereof, as

represented by their chief legal officers; state

municipal leagues; and individual attorneys who

represent municipalities, counties, and other local

government entities. Since its establishment, IMLA

has advocated for the rights and privileges of local

governments and the attorneys who represent them.

IMLA has appeared as amicus curiae on behalf of its

members before the United States Supreme Court, in

the United States Courts of Appeals, and in state

supreme and appellate courts.

Amicus curiae the National ‘eague of Cities

(“NLC”) is the oldest and largest organization

representing municipal governments throughout the

United States. Its mission is to strengthen and

promote cities as centers of opportunity, leadership,

and governance. Working in partnership with 49

State municipal leagues, NLC serves as a national

' Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 37.6, counsel for amici certify

that no counsel for a party authored this brief in whole or in

part, and no counsel or party made a monetary contribution

intended to fund the preparation or submission of this brief. No

person other than amici made such a monetary contribution.

Letters from the parties consenting to the filing of this amicus

brief have been filed with the Clerk of the Court.

2

advocate for the more than 19,000 cities, villages, and

towns it represents.

Amicus curiae the National Association of

Counties (“NACo”) is the only national organization

that represents county governments in the United

States. Founded in 1935, NACo provides ssential

services to the nation’s 3,068 counties. NACo

advances issues with a unified voice before the

federal government, improves’ the _ public’s

understanding of county government, and assists

counties in finding and sharing innovative solutions

through education and rescarch.

In their petition for certiorari, Petitioners have

demonstrated in detail the error of the Ninth

Circuit’s ruling and analyzed the conflicts of

authority justifying this Court’s intervention. Pet.

17-39. Amici agree with Petitioners that the circuit

split regarding the purported duty of municipalities

to train law enforcement officers to diagnose suicidal

tendencies is ripe for resolution by the Court.

Petitioners are also correct in their legal analysis of

the 42 U.S.C. § 1983 deliberate indifference standard:

diagnosing suicidal ideation is not within the scope of

a law enforcement officer’s regular and foreseeable

duties, and it was not deliberate indifference on the

part of the city of Reno to determine that licensed

medical professionals should be the ones to diagnose

a detainee’s tendency to commit suicide.

IMLA, NLC, and NACo offer this brief as amici

curtae to emphasize to the Court the importance of its

granting the requested writ and reversing the

erroneous ruling of the Ninth Circuit for three

reasons: (1) the Court must resolve the split among

the circuits to give clearer guidance to municipalities

on the constitutional requirements of law-

enforcement training; (2) the Ninth Circuit’s ruling

should not be allowed to stand, because the resultant

broadening of City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378

(1989), would place a grave economic burden on

struggling municipalities and impose the will of the

federal courts over decisions best made by

democratically elected state and local officials; and (3)

broadening Harris to require training of law

enforcement officers to diagnose suicidal tendencies

will divert training resources, detract from the

officers’ primary duties, and stray into areas that are

and should be the province of medical professionals.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

In the decision below, the Ninth Circuit, over the

strong dissent of seven of its judges, has joined the

minority side of a_ five-to-two inter-circuit split

regarding whether municipalities may be held lable

under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for failure to train law

enforcement officers to diagnose the — suicidal

tendencies of detainees. By solidifying that split in

authority, the Ninth Circuit has further complicated

the legal landscape and made it more difficult for

municipalities to know how to proceed in training

their law enforcement officers. Amuci ask the Court

to grant certiorari in this case to resolve the split and

thus provide definitive guidance to municipalities in

their efforts to establish constitutionally sufficient

training programs.

4

Further, the Ninth Circuit’s decision to expand

the reach of Harris places an insupportable burden

on municipalities to provide additional and expensive

specialized training to their law enforcement officers.

The Court should not constitutionalize a suicide-risk

training requirement during these difficult economic

times, when municipalities are facing significant

budget shortfalls and the restriction of already

stretched resources. One of the consequences of the

Ninth Circuit’s ruling below is to force municipalities

to allocate their limited funds as the courts, rather

than democratically elected local officials, see fit.

Finally, the ruling below will force municipalities

to divert the training of law enforcement officers,

rendering them less effective in the most important

aspects of their duties. The city of Reno and most

other municipalities have medical screening

procedures already in place and staffed by personnel

properly trained to diagnose suicidal ideation.

Requiring law enforcement officers to add psychiatric

diagnoses to their more traditional duties of

protecting their communities and enforcing the law

will only serve to undermine the services those

officers have been hired to provide.

ARGUMENT

[. The Ninth Circuit’s Decision Below Places

An Insupportable Burden On

Municipalities To Ensure That Law

Enforcement Officers Are Equipped To

Make Medical Diagnoses of Suicidal

Tendencies.

A. The Split Among The United States

Courts Of Appeals Provides No

Clear Guidance To Municipalities

On The Kind Of Training To

Provide To Law Enforcement

Officers To Meet Legal Standards.

As Petitioners have pointed out, the United States

Courts of Appeals are divided over the issue of

whether law enforcement officers must be trained to

diagnose suicidal ideation in detainees. The First,

Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits have all

ruled that it is not deliberate indifference for a police

officer not to diagnose and report the suicidal

tendencies of detainees. See Estate of Boncher v.

Brown County, 272 F.3d 484, 485-86 (7th Cir. 2001);

Manartte v. City of Springfield, 957 F.2d 953, 959-60

(1st Cir. 1992); Barber v. City of Salem, 953 F.2d 232,

240 (6th Cir. 1992); Popham v. City of Talladega, 908

F.2d 1561, 1564 (11th Cir. 1990); Burns v. City of

Galveston, 905 F.2d 100, 104 (5th Cir. 1990). In each

of these cases, hke in the case below, officers were

faced with intoxicated detainees who ultimately

committed suicide, but each court concluded that the

officers’ constitutional duties did not inelude

diagnosing the suicidal tendencies of the detainees.

6

The Ninth Circuit’s decision to join the minority

view of the Third Circuit only widens and solidifies

the split. See Simmons v. City of Philadelphta, 947

F.2d 1042, 1049 (3d Cir. 1991). The ruling throws

municipalities across the country into confusion

regarding the constitutional requirements for

training their law enforcement officers. The split in

authority makes it impossible for municipalities to

know precisely how expansive to make their law-

enforcement training and just how much expanding

the training will cost them. Amuc:i ask this Court to

grant certiorari to resolve this issue regarding police

training and provide definitive guidance to state and

local governments.

B. This Court’s Resolution Of The

Question Presented Is Important In

Light Of The Fiscal Challenges

Municipalities Face.

This Court’s resolution of the question presented

is particularly critical given the financial straits in

which many municipalities operate. The global

economic downturn since 2008 has caused especially

significant financial harm to local governments.

Eighty-eight percent of city finance officers reported

that in 2009 they were less able to meet their fiscal

needs than they were in 2008, as sales tax and

general fund revenues fall. See CHRISTOPHER W.

HOENE & MICHAEL A. PAGANO, NAT'L LEAGUE OF

CITIES, CITY FISCAL CONDITIONS IN 2009, 1, 3 (Sept.

2009).

More troubling for local governments is the nearly

unprecedented decline in the real-estate market.

~

/

Local governments are largely dependent on property

tax revenue. Because of the delay in appraised

values leading to reduced tax collections, the full

extent of the bursting of the real-estate bubble has

not yet been felt and may cause even greater

economic havoc in 2010, 2011, and 2012. ZId. at 3.

Large cities such as Chicago and San Francisco

are facing budget shortfalls in excess of $500 million,

while smaller cities such as Bossier City, Louisiana,

have thirteen-percent shortfalls and face cutting

equivalent percentages of city positions. Alan

Greenblatt, Local Squeeze: The Budget Pain Felt by

State Lawmakers for the Past Two Years Has Made

Its Way to Cities and Counties, National Conference

of State Legislatures (May 2010), available at

http://www.ncesl.org/?tabid=20180.

Amicus NACo conducted a survey of counties to

gauge the continuing impact of the economic

downturn on a sample of counties across the country.

See Jacqueline J. Byers, How Are Counties Doing? An

Economic Survey, National Association of Counties

(Nov. 2009), available at

http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Surveys&

template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm

&ContentID=32326. According to the survey, fifty-

six percent of counties report starting their fiscal

years with up to $10 million projected shortfalls. Jd.

at 3. Forty-seven percent stated that their shortfall

increased after the beginning of the fiscal year, with

those additional shortfalls nearing $10 milhon. Zd.

These shortfalls have been produced by a decrease in

the traditional revenue streams from property taxes,

state and federal funding, and sales taxes. Ejighty-

8

two percent. of these counties anticipate the shortfalls

extending into the next fiscal year. Jd. Counties, like

cities, are dealing with the economic turmoil by

slashing their budgets and shuffling their resources.

Although local governments often cut police and

public safety funding only as a last resort, the current

economic difficulties have forced them to make such

cuts. In Pennsylvania, nineteen suburban and rural

police agencies closed over a fifteen-month period

ending in May 2009, and seven others cut patrols; in

Minnesota, nine small police agencies closed in a five-

month period. Kevin Johnson, Economy Limiting

Services of Police, USA TODAY, May 18, 2009, at O1A.

The problem is not limited to small or rural

communities: if adopted, the New York Governor's

2011 proposed state budget cuts would lead to the

layoffs of over 3,000 New York City police officers.

City OF NEW YORK OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND

BUDGET, FINANCIAL PLAN SUMMARY FISCAL YEARS

2010-2014 23 (Jan. 28, 2010), available at

http://www.nyc.gov/html/omb/downloads/pdf/sum 1_ 10

pdf.

Police-training budgets in particular are facing

drastic cuts. Even the city of Reno cut its police-

training budget by more than twenty percent

between fiscal years 2008/2009 and 2009/2010, from

$1.69 million to $1.35 million. CiTy OF RENO, NEVADA

2009/10 BUDGET III-245 (May 22, 2009), available at

http://www.reno.gov/index.aspx?page=171. Reno is

not alone in the need to reduce _ police-training

budgets: the state of Minnesota has decreased its

police-training reimbursement rate from $423 per

officer per year in 2008 to $341 per officer per year in

9

2010, a reduction of almost twenty percent, not

taking into account inflation. Kam Petrie, Tighter

Budgets Make Police Training an Issue, ST. CLOUD

TIMES, Mar. 8, 2010, available at

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/03/

08/police-training. Local law enforcement agencies

are already stretched thin. Before municipalities

allocate scarce resources to comply with the Ninth

Circuit’s erroneous ruling, this Court should resolve

the conflict in authority.

C. The Decision Below Represents

Inappropriate Judicial Interference

With The Effective Deployment Of

Resources By Municipalities.

In his dissent to the opinion below, Chief Judge

Kozinski warns that the majority opinion represents

“unprecedented judicial interference in our local

institutions.” Conn v. City of Reno, 591 F.3d 1081,

1085 (9th Cir. 2010) (Kozinski, J., dissenting).

Deployment of limited local resources is’ an

undertaking best conducted by the people closest to

and with the most knowledge of those resources and

the needs of the local community. Kozinski’s dissent

recognizes that “any redefinition of the role of the

state should occur under the supervision of

democratically elected officials, not unaccountable

federal judges.” Id.

This Court, in the opinion that the Ninth Circuit

seeks to widen with its ruling in Conn, cautioned

against the danger presented by increased judicial

scrutiny over the training programs of law

enforcement’ officers to the autonomy of

10

municipalities, as well as to the principles of

federalism. The Court in Harris narrowed its holding

to avoid retrospective judicial evaluation of police-

training programs precisely because “[i]t would also

engage the federal courts in an endless exercise of

second-guessing municipal employee-training

programs.” Harris, 489 U.S. at 392. This kind of

second-guessing “the federal courts are ill suited to

undertake, as well as [being] one that would

implicate serious questions of federalism.” Jd.

More recently, this Court has expressed sustained

concern over the financial impact of federal

requirements imposed upon state and _itocal

governments, precisely the kind of impact that will

result from the Ninth Circuit's ruling. In Horne v.

Flores, the Court acknowledged that “[s]tates and

local governments have limited funds. When a

federal court orders that money be appropriated for

one program, the effect is often to take funds away

from other important programs.” 129 S. Ct. 2579,

2594 (2009). While Horne involved federal

requirements for state education spending, the Court

has articulated the same concerns in other contexts,

such as when state and local governments are

ordered to pay exorbitant awards of attorneys’ fees

pursuant to § 1983 litigation. See Perdue v. Kenny A..,

130 S. Ct. 1662, 1677 (2010) (“[S]tate and local

governments have limited budgets, [and] money that

is used to pay attorneys’ fees is money that cannot be

used for programs that provide vital public

services.” ).

In the instant case, the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, if

affirmed, would impose substantial financial burdens

ll

on already cash-strapped municipalities. As of 2004,

there were almost 780,000 sworn personnel with

general arrest powers employed by state and local

law enforcement agencies, and the vast majority of

these personnel were employed by local police

departments or sheriff departments. BRIAN A.

REAVES, BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS BULLETIN,

U.S. DEpP’T OF JUSTICE, CENSUS OF STATE AND LOCAL

LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, 2004 1, 2 (June 2007),

avatlable at

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/csllea04. pdf. 2

Training all of these officers to diagnose suicidal

ideation would impose huge costs on municipalities

that would not be borne by the federal government

despite being mandated by a federal court. As this

Court recognized in Horne and Kenny A., any such

training requirement would only mean that other

important legal programs would receive less funding.

The Court should grant certiorari to resolve this issue

and prevent the imposition of unnecessary police-

training costs on and unwarranted judicial

interference with local governments.

22 Data from 2006 indicates a total of 919,274 total officers

(685,611 of them with general arrest powers), 90% of whom were

employed by local police and sheriff departments. See

SOURCEBOOK OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE STATISTICS ONLINE (2006)

available at

http://www.albany-.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t1262006.pdf.

12

II. The Ninth Circuit’s Decision Below

Threatens To Divert The Training Of Law

Enforcement Officers, Thus Making Them

Less Effective In Their Primary Duties.

A. Burdening Law Enforcement

Officers With Diagnosis Of

Psychological Conditions Will

Detract From Their Training In

Their Primary Law Enforcement

Duties.

One of the more troubling consequences of the

Ninth Circuit’s ruling below is the burden it will

place upon law enforcement officers as they train to

serve their role as protectors of our communities.

Most states have Peace Officer Standards and

Training (“POST’) organizations that establish

requirements for the training of law enforcement

officers. The POSTs set the curricula for the

mandatory minimum basic training that usually

takes place in academies for new officers and for the

continuing in-service education requirements that

officers must satisfy throughout their careers.?

3 Nearly all states have websites devoted to their POSTs, where

training standards can be reviewed. See, e.g.,

http://www.azpost.state.az.us/; http://www.post.ca.gov/;

http://www.gapost.org/; http://www.idaho-post.org/;

http://www.cole.state.la.us/programs/post.asp;

http://www.dps.state.mn.us/newpost/posthome.asp;

http://post.state.nv.us/;

http://publicsafety.utah.gov/post/index. html;

http://attorneygeneral.state.wy.us/post.htm.

13

In Nevada, in particular, the minimum standards

for all law enforcement officers are dictated by state

regulation. See Nev. Admin. Code § 289.300 (2007).

Basic training for law enforcement officials includes

480 hours of mandatory training in several subject

areas. Nev. Admin. Code § 289.140 (2008). Of Law

and Legal Procedures, officers-in-training must learn

civil lability, constitutional law, crimes against

persons, crimes against property, juvenile law, laws

governing coroners, laws relating to arrests, laws

relating to drugs, miscellaneous crimes, probable

cause, rights of victims, search and seizure, traffic

laws, and use of force. Jd. Officers must also study

Patrol Operations and Investigations, including

issues pertaining to the abuse of elderly persons,

accident investigations, basic patrol procedures, child

abuse and sexual abuse of children, domestic abuse

and stalking, investigation of crime scenes, collection

and preservation of evidence, fingerprinting,

principles of investigation, techniques of interviewing

and interrogation, DWI detection and standardized

field sobriety testing, and unknown-risk and high-

risk vehicle stops. Id.

The third general area of study is Performance

Skills, including health, fitness and _ wellness,

interpersonal communications, tactics for the arrest

and control of suspects, methods for arrest, the use of

less-than-lethal weapons, operation of emergency

vehicles, provision of emergency first aid and CPR,

searching of buildings, training in the use of firearms,

and writing of reports. Jd. Finally, basic training

also includes The Functions of a Police Officer,

specifically care of persons in custody, community

policing, counter-terrorism and weapons of mass

14

destruction, courtroom demeanor, the giving of

testimony, crisis intervention, ethics in law

enforcement, handling of persons who are mentally

ill, history and principles of law enforcement,

management of stress, National Crime Information

Center procedures, survival of peace officers, systems

of criminal justice, and the realities of law

enforcement. Jd. Basic training concludes with the

requirement to pass both the state police certification

examination and a physical fitness examination. Id.

After an officer in Nevada has completed basic

training and has been certified by the state, he or she

must annually thereafter complete twenty-four hours

of additional training. Nev. Admin. Code § 289.230

(2008). Part of this additional training includes

biannual firearms and other weapons certification,

defensive tactics, handling of suspects, and reviewing

the policies of the officer’s employing agency. Id.

Other states follow simiiar curricula and require a

similar number of hours of training. See, e.g.,

VIRGINIA DEp’T OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES,

PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES, TRAINING OBJECTIVES,

CRITERIA, AND LESSON PLAN GUIDES FOR COMPULSORY

MINIMUM TRAINING FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS,

(2009), available at

http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/standardsTraining/comp

ulsoryMinimumTraining/officers.cfm. At a minimum,

law enforcement officers throughout the country

must be trained in the substantive laws they are

enforcing, techniques for investigation and solving

crime, standards for handling suspects and detainees,

use of weapons and other types of force, interpersonal

15

and community interaction, and the constitutional

limits to their actions, among other subjects.

To add another level of training as advanced and

specialized as the psychiatric diagnosis of mental

illness or suicidal ideation would detract from the

training that allows them to serve and protect their

communities in a safe, professional, and effective

manner.

This Court recognized in Harris the multiple

areas of training law enforcement officers must

master to serve their important role in _ society.

Harris considered cases that addressed police

training in just a few areas, including the proper

force for arrests, detention, interrogation, obtaining

and executing warrants, and searching detainees.

See Harris, 489 U.S. at 383 n.3, 387 n.6. The Court

should heed Chief Judge Kozinski’s warning that

“[als police devote time and energy to judicially-

imposed obligations, they will have less time and

attention to devote to preventing crime, protecting

their own safety, and avoiding other types of

constitutional violations.” Conn, 591 F.3d at 1089

(Kozinski, J., dissenting).

B. Burdening Law Enforcement

Officers With Identification Of

Suicidal Ideation Is Unnecessary

When The Detainee Will Be

Evaluated By Medical Professionals.

Chief Judge Kozinski’s dissent to the Ninth

Circuit's ruling points out the danger of the kind of

diversion of resources that amici wish this Court to

16

prevent. If the Ninth Circuit’s ruling is allowed to

stand, “Judges will henceforth micromanage the

police, who in turn will serve as mental health

professionals.” Jd. at 1085 (Kozinski, J., dissenting).

Mental health professionals are specially trained and

licensed to diagnose and treat the kinds of

psychological disorders that lead to suicide attempts.

Although a police officer or layperson may at times be

able to recognize that a person is at risk to attempt

suicide, this Court should not make it a law

enforcement officer's constitutional duty to make a

diagnosis best Ieft to licensed health-care

professionals.

The decision below details that the Reno Police

Department and the Washoe County Juil both had

systems in place to allow detainees to receive medical

attention when needed and to require each detainee

to receive a medical screening by professionals

trained in recognizing and addressing psychological

symptoms that might lead to suicide. Jd. at 1091-

1093. Chief Judge Kozinski provided further detail

regarding the multiple medical screenings Brenda

Clutska herself received from Reno and Washoe

County medical professionals:

Right before her arrest, Clutska was

evaluated by a team of medics. At

intake, she was examined by a nurse

who received annual training in

suicide prevention. She was then

held in a detoxification cell that was

regularly monitored by jail staff and

nurses. After discharge, she was

arrested a second time and brought

1‘/

by police to an emergency room,

where she was seen by a physician.

And when she was arrested a third

time, she was booked into the mental

health unit of the jail, which is

managed by a licensed social worker

and staffed around the clock.

Id. at 1087 (Kozinski, J., dissenting). As both the

majority and dissenting opinions make apparent,

Reno and Washoe County had many procedures in

place to provide the grossly intoxicated Clutska with

medical and psychiatric screenings warranted by her

behavior and condition. Having more extremely

specialized training for its law enforcement officers

would not have prevented the unfortunate outcome in

this case, would serve only to diminish the officers’

training in the more crucial aspects of their duty, and

most importantly, is not required by the Constitution.

18

CONCLUSION

For all the foregoing reasons, the petition for writ

of certiorari should be granted.

Respectfully submitted,

LARS ETZKORN

National League of Cities

1301 Pennsylvania Ave.,

N.W.

Washington, DC 20004

(202) 626-3173

etzkorn@nlc.org

JACQUELINE J. BYERS

EDWARD FERGUSON

National Ass'n of

Counties

25 Massachusetts Ave.,

N.W., 5th FIL.

Washington, DC 20001

(202) 202-942-4285

jbyers@naco.org

eferguso@naco.org

STEPHEN B. KINNAIRD

COUNSEL OF RECORD

TAMARA L. GRAHAM

MICHAEL W. STEVENS

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky &

Walker LLP

875 15th Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20005

(202) 551-1700

stephenkinnaird@paulthastings.c

om

CHARLES W. ‘THOMPSON, JR.

Int’l Municipal Lawyers

Ass'n

7910 Woodmont Ave, Suite 1440

Bethesda, MD 20814

(202) 466-5424

CThompson@imla.org

Counsel for Amici

June 9, 2010