Aid for Women v. Foulston

427 F.Supp.2d 1093

AID FOR WOMEN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Nola FOULSTON, et al., Defendants.

No. 03-1353-JTM.

United States District Court, D. Kansas.

April 18, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Anamika Samanta, Bonnie Scott Jones, Galen L. Sherwin, Simon Heller, New York City, Janet Lynne Crepps, Simpsonville, SC, Laura B. Shaneyfelt, Hulnick Law Offices, Wichita, KS, for Plaintiffs.

Steven D. Alexander, Brian D. Sheern, Steven D. Alexander, Kansas Attorney General, William Scott Hesse, Camille A. Nohe, Office of Attorney General, Topeka, KS, Mark A. Sevart, Wichita, KS, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MARTEN, District Judge.

This matter comes before the court on plaintiffs' action for declaratory and injunctive relief. Plaintiffs seek to prevent enforcement of Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline's application of the state mandatory reporting statute, through an Attorney General's Opinion,¹ to consensual underage sexual activity.² Specifically, as filed, this case turns on whether Kan. Stat. Ann. § 38-1522, commonly referred to as the "Kansas reporting statute," requires reporting of all consensual underage sexual activity as sexual abuse.

The court heard approximately seven days of testimony in a bench trial commencing January 30, 2006. For clarity, the court notes that neither side objects to the reporting of: 1) incest; 2) sexual abuse of a child by an adult; and 3) sexual activities involving a child under the age of twelve. Therefore, the only issue presented is whether consensual underage sexual activity must be reported under the Kansas reporting statute. After extensive review of the record, this court holds that the Kansas reporting statute: 1) does not make all underage sexual activity inherently injurious; and 2) requires that the reporter have reason to suspect both injury and that the injury resulted from illegal sexual activity, as defined by Kansas law, before reporting is required. In addition, to require reporting in accordance with Attorney General Kline's opinion would violate a minor's limited right of informational privacy. Thus, this court permanently enjoins enforcement of Kan. Stat. Ann. § 38-1522 in any manner inconsistent with this decision, which includes the Kline Opinion.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

A. Parties to this Action

Plaintiff Aid for Women is a medical practice in Kansas City that provides a range of gynecological services, including abortions and contraception.

Plaintiff Teri Augustus, L.M.S.W., is a Licensed Masters Social Worker who is licensed to practice social work in Kansas. She provides case management and adoption services to children and adolescents at a private child welfare agency in Wichita.

Plaintiff Margot Breckbill, R.N., is a child educator and registered nurse who is licensed to practice nursing in Kansas. She teaches sexuality education at various agencies and at public and private schools in the Wichita area. She has also worked with pregnant and parenting teens in the Wichita area for the past eighteen years.

Plaintiff Tracy Cowles, M.D., is a perinatologist who is licensed to practice medicine in Kansas. She is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology, maternal-fetal medicine and medical genetics. Dr. Cowles provides perinatology services in a private medical practice in Overland Park. Plaintiff Willow Eby, R.N., is a registered nurse who is licensed to practice nursing in Kansas. Ms. Eby provides nursing services at a private medical practice in Wichita that provides abortions and other reproductive health services.

Plaintiff Vicki Epp, L.B.S.W., is a Licensed Bachelors Social Worker who is licensed to practice social work in Kansas. She provides case management and other social services to children and adolescents at a private child welfare organization in Newton.

Plaintiff Margaret Estrin, M.D., is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist who is licensed to practice medicine in Kansas. Dr. Estrin provides a range of obstetrical and gynecological services in a private medical practice in Overland Park.

Plaintiff Herbert Hodes, M.D., is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist who is licensed to practice medicine in Kansas. His daughter, plaintiff Traci Nauser, M.D., is also a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist licensed to practice medicine in Kansas. Dr. Hodes and Dr. Nauser provide a range of obstetrical and gynecological services, including abortions, contraceptives, prenatal care, childbirth services, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases at their private medical practice in Overland Park.

Plaintiff Colleen O'Donnell, R.N.-C, is a registered nurse who is licensed to practice nursing in Kansas. Ms. O'Donnell is employed by Dr. Hodes' and Dr. Nauser's medical practice, where she provides a range of nursing services within their obstetrical and gynecological practice.

Plaintiff Stacey Morgan, D.O., is a doctor of osteopathy who is licensed to practice medicine in Kansas. Dr. Morgan is board certified in family practice. She provides a range of medical services in a private practice in Overland Park.

Plaintiff Beth McGilley, PhD., is a clinical psychologist who is licensed to practice psychology in Kansas. Dr. McGilley provides individual and group counseling services in her private practice in Wichita.

Plaintiff Trina Wheeler, L.M.S.W., is a Licensed Masters Social Worker who is licensed to practice social work in Kansas. Ms. Wheeler provides a variety of social work services to students of a public high school in Wichita.

Plaintiff Sherman Zaremski, M.D., is a physician who is licensed to practice medicine in Kansas. He is board certified in internal medicine. Dr. Zaremksi provides abortions, family planning, and other health care services at Aid for Women. He also provides abortions and other services at another private medical practice in Wichita.

Defendant Nola Foulston is the District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District of Kansas. She is being sued in her official capacity as District Attorney and as representative of a class of all county and district attorneys in the state of Kansas.

Defendant Phill Kline is the Attorney General of Kansas.

B. The Kansas Reporting Statute

Kansas law recognizes the state's interest in reporting abuse of children:

It is the policy of this state to provide for the protection of children who have been subject to physical, mental or emotional abuse or neglect or sexual abuse by encouraging the reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect, insuring the thorough and prompt investigation of these reports and providing preventive and rehabilitative services when appropriate to abused or neglected children and their families so that, if possible, the families can remain together without further threat to the children.

Kan. Stat. Arm. 38-1521. See also Clevenger v. Catholic Social Serv. of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, 21 Kan.App.2d 521, 529, 901 P.2d 529, 535 (1995) ("It is apparent that the public policy of this state is to encourage persons with information concerning possible child abuse to report this information to the proper authorities."); Kansas State Bank & Trust Co. v. Specialized Transp. Serv., Inc., 249 Kan. 348, 372, 819 P.2d 587 (1991) (purpose of reporting statute is to provide protection for children by encouraging reporting of suspected child abuse and insuring thorough and prompt investigation of such reports); Kennedy v. Kansas Dept. of Social and Rehabilitation Serv., 26 Kan.App.2d 98, 981 P.2d 266 (1999) (public policy of state is to encourage reporting of possible child abuse).

As part and parcel of this obligation, Kansas requires reporting to the state government whenever certain persons have "reason to suspect that a child has been injured as a result of . . . sexual abuse." Kan. Stat. Ann. § 38-1522 (emphasis added). The mandatory reporting requirement extends to various medical and health care providers, school officials, law enforcement, child care service providers, social workers, counselors, and emergency response personnel. See Kan. Stat. Ann. § 38-1522(a) (listing the persons who are considered mandatory reporters). Such persons are required to notify the designated state agency, or, in limited circumstances, law enforcement. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 38-1522(c), (e). "Willful and knowing failure to make a report" is a misdemeanor criminal offense. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 38-1522(f).

Kansas law defines "sexual abuse" as "any act committed with a child which is described in article 35, chapter 21 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated." Kan. Stat. Ann. § 38-1502(c). The referenced chapter criminalizes a range of sexual activities involving a minor under the age of sixteen.³ See, e.g., Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-3503(a)(1) ("any lewd fondling or touching . . . done or submitted to with the intent to arouse or to satisfy . . . sexual desires"); Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-3501(2) ("oral contact . . . of the female genitalia or . . . of the male genitalia"); Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-3501(1) ("any penetration of the female sex organ by a finger, the male sex organ or any object"). Based on the very language of the relevant provisions, sexual activity of minors younger than sixteen is illegal, regardless of whether the activity is voluntary or the sexual activity involves an age-mate.⁴ The only exception to this criminal ban is in the case of consensual sexual contact between a person under sixteen and that person's spouse. See, e.g., Kan. Stat. Ann. §§ 21-3503(b); 21-3504(b); 21-2502(b). Kansas has long allowed twelve-year-old females and fourteen-year-old males to marry with parental or judicial consent, although the Kansas legislature is now considering raising these ages. State v. Sedlack, 246 Kan. 305, 307, 787 P.2d 709, 710 (Kan. 1990) (citing State v. Johnson, 216 Kan. 445, 448, 532 P.2d 1325 (1975)). Kansas law requires both parties to be at least eighteen years of age before recognizing a common law marriage as valid. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 23-101(b) (2...