248 results for 'cat:"Civil Rights" AND cat:"Constitution"'.
J. Houston rules that a hemp farm company may pursue Fourth Amendment claims against San Diego County officers related to the search of its farm and the destruction of $3 million worth of crops. The search warrant was defective because it did not mention the possibility that the company was legally cultivating hemp on its property and not marijuana. The officers also unreasonably dismissed the farm tenant's offer to show physical proof that the farm had a valid registration permit to grow hemp.
Court: USDC Southern District of California, Judge: Houston, Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv2082, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court properly denied the Texas prisoner's motions for appointment of counsel in his civil rights action brought against prison officials who he alleges retaliated against him by turning off his water, denying him food, and making false disciplinary charges against him. A district court is not required to appoint counsel for an indigent civil rights plaintiff unless the case presents “exceptional circumstances,” which the prisoner has failed to show. The case doesn't present complex issues, so appointment of counsel is unlikely to shorten the trial or assist in resolution. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: 21-10931, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Prisoners' Rights
J. Albright grants a preliminary injunction to a group of booksellers and publishers who sued Texas over a new law restricting children's access to so-called "sexually explicit" books. While the state no doubt has a strong interest in protecting children from "obscene content," this new law imposes "a web of unconstitutionally vague requirements," including by "abdicating its responsibility" to regulate obscenity and instead placing the burden on third parties like booksellers. Texas is temporarily barred from attempting to enforce the bill, HB 900.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Albright, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv858, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, First Amendment
Per curiam, the court of appeal finds that the circuit court improperly denied a minor judicial waiver of statute requiring her legal guardian to consent to her abortion on grounds that the pregnancy had gone beyond six weeks of fetal gestation because the proposed law had not yet become effective, and the court must consider the petition on the merits. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: September 15, 2023, Case #: 5D23-2754, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Dishman grants the defendant officer's dismissal motion in this civil rights action stemming from an individual's arrest, after the individual was allegedly stopped for failing to wear a seatbelt. The driver was cited for the seatbelt violation, along with attempting to elude police and illegal tag display. However, he fails to establish his claim that the officer "violated his constitutional right to travel" or that the subsequent impoundment and search of his car were unconstitutional.
Court: USDC Western District of Oklahoma , Judge: Dishman, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv12, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
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J. Meyer grants the sex offender's motion for summary judgment, ruling the Connecticut law requiring released sex offenders to disclose all email addresses and other forms of online communication to the state police violates the First Amendment and does not advance a compelling government interest. Although the state has an interest in deterring sex offenders from using the internet to commit additional crimes, requiring disclosure of all internet-based forms of communications prevents released offenders from speaking freely and anonymously on the internet, while the state failed to provide any evidence the law has been used to prevent or detect crimes in the 15 years since its passage; therefore, the state will be permanently enjoined from enforcing the law against him.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Meyer, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 3:19cv1240, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, First Amendment
[Consolidated.] J. DeGravelles denies requests by the city and several police officers to dismiss negligence claims by a protester they arrested during a demonstration against the police killing of Alton Sterling in 2017. The lasting impact of the woman’s unlawful arrest is significant. As a licensed professional, she was required to notify licensing agencies about a pending felony charge for “inciting a riot” for the years between her arrest and the expiration date for her prosecution. Also, she says she "has not wanted to protest and has a heightened sense of distrust and fear.”
Court: USDC Middle District of Louisiana, Judge: DeGravelles, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 3:17cv179, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Police Misconduct
J. Vilardo allows plaintiff to continue pro se claims contending officials forcibly removed and falsely charged him after warning him to stop filming a local government building on his cell phone because it would be premature to decide whether plaintiff's removal had been reasonable, and thus the court cannot yet determined whether plaintiff refused a lawful order. Meanwhile, plaintiff may amend his complaint to allege government officials lacked training regarding constitutional issues.
Court: USDC Western District of New York, Judge: Vilardo , Filed On: September 8, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv75, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Restani dismisses the individual plaintiffs' federal claims alleging due process violations in connection with the procedures used by the defendant judges to collect "costs, fines, and fees" associated with criminal proceedings. The claims are constitutionally moot, as neither plaintiff has any outstanding debt before the state court. Also, the court notes that steps have been taken "to address the risk of constitutional violations."
Court: USDC Northern District of Oklahoma , Judge: Restani, Filed On: September 7, 2023, Case #: 4:19cv234, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Due Process
Per curiam. The Eighth Circuit finds a lower court properly dismissed a civilian's First Amendment retaliation claims against a police officer. The civilian argued that the police officer violated his civil rights by handcuffing him and arrested him for walking on the right side of the road. However, the police officer sufficiently presented evidence in court that the civilian, who is obligated to walk against traffic for his own safety, was placed in a jail cell for two hours after he refused to identify himself. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 22-1726, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Torbitzky finds that the commission improperly affirmed the police department's decision to fire the police officer. The department improperly forced the officer to choose between his employment and his Fifth Amendment rights by retaliating against him for refusing to answer questions about another officer's alleged sexual encounter with a 12-year-old girl in a patrol car. The officer was given immunity for statements made to the department's internal investigator, but understood that there was no such immunity for statements made to the criminal investigator. Reversed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Torbitzky, Filed On: September 5, 2023, Case #: ED111086, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Employment Retaliation
J. Doughty denies requests by a Louisiana sheriff and the warden of a privately operated parish prison to dismiss claims of a pattern and practice of “tacit authorization” of both excessive force on manacled prisoners and denial of medical care for their injuries, resulting in constitutional violations. The brutality claims stem from a suit by an inmate who alleges specific facts about how deputies repeatedly struck his broken jaw while he was in restraints, on separate occasions. His denial-of- medical care claims relates to injuries from three separate stabbings by fellow inmates, including two attacks in one day. The authorities argued that prisoner’s claims should be dismissed because he had not exhausted his administrative remedies. However, the inmate has sufficiently alleged that the grievance procedures at the jail were unavailable to him because authorities refused to provide him with the necessary forms.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: September 5, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv3198, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Health Care
J. Adelman denies the protester's motion for reconsideration of an order dismissing his lawsuit against the sheriff's office employees alleging unreasonable seizure and excessive force during his arrest while marching with a protest in June 2020 that blocked a Milwaukee interstate. In part because the protester has brought no evidence refuting the testimony or credibility of an officer who testified he was told over radio that the protester was the one who led the march onto the interstate, and because he also has not shown any other error in the prior dismissal order regarding whether the force used to tackle him was reasonable or the officers' entitlement to qualified immunity, his motion must be denied.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Adelman, Filed On: September 5, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv1502, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Barbier denies requests by four law enforcement officers to dismiss excessive force claims by the daughter of a visibly distressed armed man who they fatally shot, allegedly firing a majority of their 36 shots after he dropped his gun and fell to the ground, incapacitated. The facts raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence that one of the officers, a Louisiana State Police trooper, fired his weapon at the gunman after he no longer posed a threat. The Fifth Circuit has held that police excessive force claims are fact-intensive inquiries, requiring an examination of the totality of circumstances to determine whether an officer in the same situation would have concluded that a threat existed justifying the particular use of force.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Barbier, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv4587, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Immunity
J. Copenhaver grants in part and denies in part the Coalition's motion for summary judgment in its suit challenging the constitutionality of the 2018 "Parking Lot" amendments to the West Virginia Business Professional Liability Act that prohibits property owners from banning firearms on the parking lots of their premises. The Inquiry and Take-No-Action provisions of the amendments "facially violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech," as "the term 'any action against' is not defined, its scope is unknown and serves to chill any comment or conduct," and "property owners may certainly inquire into the presence of a firearm in order to prepare for and provide for the safety of their customers, employees and invitees and do so without intending to banish or discriminate against the possessor." The West Virginia Attorney General is enjoined from further enforcement of two provisions.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 2:19cv434, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Firearms
J. Barbier grants a request by the mother of a 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped and sexually abused by a 53-year-old New Orleans police officer, barring the now-incarcerated ex-cop, the City and its former police chief from re-litigating the child’s criminal claims in her civil suit. They argue that the officer pleaded guilty in the criminal case and did not mount a vigorous defense to the girl’s allegations because of poor health, including three heart attacks, a stroke, and a likely terminal brain tumor. The City, the former police chief and the ex-cop all unsuccessfully argued without any legal authority that his health condition is a special circumstance that could prevent his guilty plea in the criminal case from being used in the child rape victim’s civil suit.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Barbier, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv407, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Evidence
J. Ezra grants a preliminary injunction to a group of porn-industry insiders after they sued the interim Texas attorney general over a new state law that “restricts access to pornographic websites by requiring digital age verification methods and warnings about the alleged harms caused by pornography.” While the state “has a legitimate goal in protecting children from sexually explicit material online,” the law violates the First Amendment and Section 230 in a number of ways, including by requiring porn websites to publish speech that is “deeply controversial” and “unduly burdensome,” including “somewhat deceptive” claims about the alleged dangers of pornography.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Ezra, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv917, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, First Amendment
[Consolidated]. J. Kobes finds a lower court properly dismissed constitutional rights claims brought by the Satanic Temple concerning a City's denial of the erection of a public monument. The Satanic Temple argued that the City gave the green light to place two monuments in a Veterans Memorial Park. However, the City presented sufficient evidence in court that its second complaint was barred by res judicata. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Kobes, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 21-3079, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Government
J. Lovric tosses a self-represented litigant’s complaint brought against the Utica Civil Criminal Court, a city court judge, the Utica Police Department and her two legal counsel alleging various due process and constitutional rights violations in connection with her arrest and criminal proceedings. The city court judge is protected by judicial immunity, the Civil Criminal Court and local police department are not independent legal entities to which she can assert civil claims and her claims against her counsel fail for failure to state a claim.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Lovric, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv1398, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Due Process
J. Willett finds the district court properly granted summary judgment to the school district and a resource officer who tased a special-needs student, who physically fought with school staff while attempting to leave school following a violent episode. Though, based on recent Supreme Court precedent, the court incorrectly subjected the disability discrimination claims to administrative exhaustion, the student’s mother has not shown that the officer intentionally discriminated based on the student’s disability. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Willett, Filed On: August 28, 2023, Case #: 21-20671, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Education
J. Flanagan grants a county its motion to dismiss allegations of due process violations brought by a former library director after the county fired her unexpectedly. The director had an argument with a volunteer, and the volunteer met with the assistant county manager. The next day, he fired the director without explanation beyond “unsatisfactory job performance.” Because a reasonable person would not know that the director’s property rights under due process include her employment, her argument is not sufficient to overcome the manager’s protection under qualified immunity.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv130, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Employment