“Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears” is a blog series documenting the harmful impact of President Trump’s judges on Americans’ rights and liberties. It includes judges nominated in both his first and second terms.
.
What’s at stake in this case?
The family of a deceased woman sued the local county because the former coroner improperly kept skulls of a number of dead as trophies after their deaths.
What happened in this case?
In the late 1970s, authorities discovered the body of Louise Betts, who had been murdered and buried in a field in Boone County Illinois. The county coroner, Wesley Hyland, returned the body to her family for proper burial but, unbeknownst to anyone, retained Betts’ skull as a sort of trophy. Over the years, Hyland had done the same with several other bodies.
Years later, after Hyland died, his replacement discovered the skulls. He notified the Betts family in 2022 and they arranged for a proper exhumation and burial. They also sued the county under 42 USC 1983, a law that lets people sue cities and states that violate their federal rights. But the case was dismissed. They appealed to the Seventh Circuit.
In a 2-1 decision, Trump judges Michael Brennan and Michael Scudder affirmed the ruling below against the Betts family in Betts v Boone County. The majority maintained that because Hyland’s conduct also violated state law,it could not constitute a violation of 42 USC 1983. Obama judge David Hamilton dissented.
Why did Judge Hamilton dissent?
Judge Hamilton strongly disagreed with the holding that violation of state law prevents a ruling that a state official has violated 42 USC 1983, That reasoning, Hamilton explained, “disregards the history and purpose of Section 1983,” as well as past precedent. The majority’s rationale, he went on, would preclude section 1983 liability if an elected sheriff “raped a prisoner while on the job” or if a mayor ordered police to “shut down a political march by his opponent.” The “unusual facts” of this case may “distract us from the broad and important issues the majority opinion puts at stake,” Hamilton pointed out, but its opinion was clearly wrong, and the Betts family should be able to recover damages under section 1983 for the actions of the elected coroner, “regardless of whether he also violated state law,”
Why is the ruling harmful?
The ruling issued by Trump judges Brennan and Scudder clearly harms the Betts family in their effort to get justice for the harm done to them by the local coroner. It also sets a very troubling precedent limiting liability under section 1983, particularly in the Seventh Circuit, including Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. In addition, it illustrates the importance of our federal courts to health, welfare and justice and the significance of having fair-minded judges on the federal bench.