Brandy Kane v. Shawn Barger

Summary

In a § 1983 action, the Third Circuit held that a police officer violated a sexual assault victim's Fourteenth Amendment right to bodily integrity by touching her and using his personal cell phone to photograph her intimate areas for personal gratification during an investigation, conduct that shocks the conscience. The court reversed summary judgment based on qualified immunity, finding the right was clearly established under Third Circuit and other precedent prohibiting similar sexual misconduct by officers. The case addresses substantive due process, deliberate indifference, and the scope of clearly established law for police sexual misconduct during investigations.

Holdings

1. Barger's conduct of touching and photographing Kane's intimate areas for his own personal gratification, in violation of department policy, shocks the conscience and violates the right to bodily integrity.
2. The right to be free from a police officer's sexual fondling and illicit photographing for personal gratification was clearly established at the time of Barger's conduct.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Officer Barger violated Kane's Fourteenth Amendment right to bodily integrity by touching and photographing her intimate areas in a manner that shocks the conscience.
2. Whether that right was clearly established at the time of Barger's conduct such that he is not entitled to qualified immunity.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded