248 results for 'cat:"Civil Rights" AND cat:"Constitution"'.
J. Stadtmueller gives the citizen until November 29, 2023, to file an amended complaint in her pro se lawsuit claiming the county and county officials falsely imprisoned her and denied her a fair trial, as her current pleading fails to bring clear factual allegations and give the county fair notice, in addition to other problems. If she does not file her complaint by the deadline, her lawsuit will be dismissed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Stadtmueller, Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv1338, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Lipinsky finds the state's failure to timely process evidence before a criminal trial does not create a cause of action for civil rights violations to the victim of the crime and, therefore, the lower court properly dismissed the victim's complaint. The Colorado Victim Rights Act includes no language to allow victims to compel the processing of evidence by state actors, while the victim's indignation at the inability for the state to charge his assailant with attempted murder does not create a property interest or allow him to pursue damages for any constitutional violations. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lipinsky, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: 2023COA100, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Due Process
J. Rothstein denies the self-proclaimed election officer's motion to dismiss the county's counterclaims against her complaint, which alleges that the county and others supported laws recognizing her act of placing signs near ballot boxes during the August 2022 Washington State primary election as a criminal form of voter intimidation. The self-proclaimed election officer claims that her signs are protected by the First Amendment as free speech, but the county's counterclaims allege that the signs are a form of voter intimidation, which is not protected by the First Amendment.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Rothstein, Filed On: October 25, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1252, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Copperthite grants the U.S. attorney general’s motion to dismiss on an individual’s case challenging the denial of his state application for a “Handgun Qualification License.” While the individual, who seeks to buy a firearm for self-protection, has nonviolent convictions for driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest. The federal law that bans felons from owning guns is not unconstitutional as applied to him. The government has a legitimate interest in keeping weapons away from individuals that have been convicted of a crime that is punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Copperthite, Filed On: October 20, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv42, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Firearms
J. Jackson grants summary judgment to a suburban fire chief and against two former employees who allege he discriminated against them because they got married. To the contrary, the ruling holds, the fire chief only prohibited the department’s receptionist from marrying an ex-district fire chief to avoid chain-of-command and workplace morale issues that would arise from the subordinate being managed by the district’s second-in-command — her ex-husband. She disregarded the fire chief’s policy, married the ex-chief, and lost her job. The evidence shows that a rational relationship existed between the fire chief’s policy of requiring the receptionist to choose between marrying the ex-chief and her job — particularly given the “chaos” the couple created at the fire department when they first began dating in 2016. At the time, they were both married, but not to each other.
Court: USDC Middle District of Louisiana, Judge: Jackson, Filed On: October 19, 2023, Case #: 221cv287, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Settlements
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J. Chasanow grants in part Maryland’s attorney general and three Montgomery County police employees’ motions to dismiss in the suit they face from a resident challenging the constitutionality of state laws that criminalize harassment via phone and electronic mail. It is not in the public interest to prohibit state officials from prosecuting under the anti-harassment law, “in effect giving [plaintiff] carte blanche to harass MCPD employees via phone and email, prior to determining the constitutionality of those laws.” The individual’s motions for preliminary injunction, restraining order, summary judgment and to disqualify counsel are all denied because he has failed to produce any evidence other than a copy of an email.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Chasanow, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: 8:23cv338, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Tort
J. Christen finds that the district court properly entered summary judgment for law enforcement officers in an action alleging officers violated the decedent's Fourth Amendment rights by entering his private property without a warrant, using an armored vehicle to intentionally collide with his pickup truck while he was inside, and shooting and killing him. The district court correctly ruled that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity for shooting and killing the decedent because the officers’ split-second decision to open fire did not constitute excessive force. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Christen, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 21-35431, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Nye denies the state and school board's motion to dismiss individuals' and a student organization's allegations that Idaho Senate Bill 1100, which requires that public school students use the bathroom or locker room that corresponds with their biological sex, is unconstitutional. "The fact that other courts have found merit in similar claims against the backdrop of regulations similar to S.B. 1100 weighs against finding that Plaintiffs’ claims are wholly implausible." The temporary restraining order on implementing S.B. 1100 will be extended by 21 days to "provide enough time for school districts to identify and designate restrooms, changing facilities, and overnight accommodations in a manner consistent with S.B. 1100."
Court: USDC Idaho, Judge: Nye, Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv315, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Biery partially grants an injunction to indigenous members of the Native American Church who had asked a court to ensure they still had access to “sacred areas” in Brackenridge Park during renovation work by the city, including for ceremonies using peyote. While these worshippers will still have limited access to these sacred areas, it is “impractical” to allow unrestricted individual access. The parties should evaluate the pros and cons of a request by the worshipers for the city to develop “alternative plans” for redevelopment of the park, as it could lead the “temporary closing” of some areas to become “semi-permanent.”
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Biery, Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv977, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Native Americans
J. Lange grants officers' motion for summary judgment to determine that no constitutional violations occurred from a traffic stop culminated in the arrest of an individual. The individual alleged that officers used excessive force in the altercation in which police attempted to stop the individual for driving with a suspended license. The individual then led police on a low-speed chase, leading up to the arrest.
Court: USDC South Dakota, Judge: Lange, Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv3021, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Grasz finds a lower court improperly dismissed a journalist's unlawful seizure claims. A police officer argued that he was entitled to pepper spray the journalist in the face while tackling him to the ground. However, the journalist, who was covering a protest, presented sufficient evidence in court that he disclosed to the officer that he was a member of the press, which he backed up with press credentials. Reversed in part.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Grasz, Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: 22-2600, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. DeGravelles denies a request by the secretary of Louisiana’s correctional department to exclude an email he wrote in 2016 from a class action alleging Louisiana has been unlawfully overdetaining thousands of prisoners each year and that the Secretary has known about the state’s misconduct since at least 2012. The secretary unsuccessfully argues that the email is irrelevant, has not been authenticated and that its late production is untimely and unfair. The state official’s objection “rings exceedingly hollow.” Not only did the secretary turn over the email in discovery, he authored the letter which is relevant in that it tends to show that there was an overdetention problem in Louisiana which he and the state recognized before a former inmate filed suit in 2020.
Court: USDC Middle District of Louisiana, Judge: DeGravelles, Filed On: October 4, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv233, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Discovery
J. Moses grants summary judgment for several officers who were sued by an arrested man following a report of a suspicious vehicle at an abandoned property. The man, who arrested in the vehicle and ultimately charged with driving while intoxicated, was later determined to have had permission to be on the property. The man argued that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated, but he had “parked in an ‘open field’ rather than parking his truck within the house’s curtilage” and therefore did not have the same Fourth Amendment rights as if he had been fully within private property.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Moses, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv4, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Police Misconduct
J. Stadtmueller partially grants a motion to dismiss from the school district, high school and former school board members in a lawsuit from two former high school students who in the 1980s were sexually abused by a math teacher about whom allegations of such abuse were known among students and faculty. The former students' federal claims alleging 14th Amendment due process and equal protection violations, negligent hiring, training and supervision and civil conspiracy are dismissed with prejudice, in part because they fail to prove municipal policymakers were "constructively aware" of a widespread pattern of abuse such that they are liable for deliberate indifference which created a risk of abuse. Individual and supervisory liability claims against the former board members also fail, as evidence of their actions upon learning of the abuse in 1983 show they did not facilitate or ignore it. Jurisdiction is not exercised over the former students' 11 remaining state-law claims, which are dismissed without prejudice.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Stadtmueller, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv819, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Equal Protection
J. Bennett finds that the district court improperly entered summary judgment denying qualified immunity to police officers in an action alleging First Amendment retaliation arising from the investigation of two arsons. A couple alleges that in retaliation for remaining silent during police questioning, detectives opened criminal investigations against them. The couple failed to show that the detectives’ conduct violated clearly established law. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bennett, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 22-16236, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Immunity
J. Jackson denies summary judgment to an eastern Louisiana police department and a parish sheriff’s office on state-law claims filed on behalf of the minor child of a car passenger shot to death by two lawmen, during a traffic stop for a failed license plate light. The same video evidence that creates a genuine dispute regarding the constitutional excessive force claim against the police officer and the sheriff’s deputy also establishes a genuine dispute as to these claims to state-law claims excessive force, assault and battery.
Court: USDC Middle District of Louisiana, Judge: Jackson, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv221, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Police Misconduct
J. Shea denies, in part, the police officers' motion for summary judgment, ruling disputes of fact regarding the traffic stop of the black driver for use of his cell phone, including whether he actually used his phone while driving and how much activity the officers observed before initiating the stop, prevent judgment in their favor or the application of qualified immunity on the driver's Fourth Amendment claim.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv452, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Immunity
J. Cogburn grants a police officer’s motion for summary judgment in a suit brought against him by a driver alleging he used excessive force after he pulled her over for suspected drunk driving. Although the officer applied a breathalyzer and field sobriety tests, which were positive for alcohol content, the charges of driving while impaired and reckless driving were dropped. When he tried to arrest her for drunk driving, she refused until he used an arm-bar takedown technique to get her on the ground to handcuff her. The driver claims she suffered multiple injuries as a result, including herniation of spinal discs, a black eye, and cuts and bruises all over her face, breasts, legs, and back. Although the driver invokes her Fourth and Eighth Amendment rights, they fail in the face of the officer’s state sovereign and qualified immunities.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Cogburn, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv166, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Tort
J. Hittner enjoins state officials from enforcing a law touted as the "Drag Ban," which bans sexually oriented performances, carries civil and criminal penalties, and grants counties and cities the ability to regulate the performances. The law is unconstitutional.
Court: USDC Southern District of Texas, Judge: Hittner, Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 4:23cv2847, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Africk denies a request by the New Orleans District Attorney to dismiss a wrongful conviction claim against his office by a former criminal defendant who spent 26 years in prison following his conviction in 1995 for first-degree murder based on the acknowledged unconstitutional suppression of favorable evidence by prosecutors under a former D.A. The current district attorney’s contention that the freed defendant has no claim against his office because the state is responsible for the parish district attorneys’ actions is “without merit.”
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Africk, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv1922, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Malicious Prosecution