93 results for 'cat:"Civil Rights" AND cat:"First Amendment"'.
J. Pechman grants Attorney General Robert Ferguson's motion to dismiss the nonprofit organization's complaint alleging that Ferguson, Assistant Attorney General Joshua Studor and the Attorney General's office targeted conservative activist Alan Gottlieb, four nonprofit organizations and two for-profit entities for their gun rights advocacy efforts, attempting to silence them with sham civil investigations. Except for the Public Records Act claim, the nonprofit organization does not show that it or the others suffered injury from the civil investigative demands or the AG's office, especially not that they suffered chilled speech.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Pechman, Filed On: January 9, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1554, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment
J. Joseph denies the school district and superintendent's motion to dismiss a lawsuit from a teacher claiming she was fired for objecting in her personal capacity to elementary school students being prohibited from singing "Rainbowland" by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton at a school concert because of a school board policy banning "controversial issues" in the classroom. The teacher has sufficiently alleged her First Amendment retaliation claims against both the district and the superintendent to survive the motion to dismiss, and the superintendent is not entitled to qualified immunity at this time.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Joseph, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv1169, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment
J. Gutierrez finds in favor of the city against the former fire chief's complaint that the city violated his First Amendment rights by firing him for statements he made on a podcast about civil unrest, which coincided with a time of public outcry against the police following George Floyd's death three weeks prior. The former fire chief's statements reflected on the city and the fire department because he never indicated during the podcast or afterward that he spoke in his individual capacity, as he represented himself as "Fire Chief Daryn Drum."
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Gutierrez, Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv8492, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Employment, first Amendment
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J. Ross preserves, on a motion to dismiss, an investigative reporter’s First Amendment claim that alleges Nassau County violated his right to freedoms of press and speech and equal access. He claims a member of the county legislature, during a public meeting regarding proposed plans for the Las Vegas Sands Casino, barred him from an area of the room dedicated to members of the press and subsequently removed him from the meeting. The reporter adequately alleges the county’s actions were in retaliation for comments he made several hours prior during a public comments portion of the meeting.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Ross, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv4286, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment
J. Johnson grants the dismissal motions filed by the city and the police chief in this lawsuit brought by a former police officer who was allegedly terminated for certain social media posts that violated department rules. The posts at issue were made prior to his employment with the police department, and he contends in this suit that his First Amendment rights were violated by his termination. However, the city's interest "in maintaining a police force that instills public confidence" outweighs the former police officer's interest "in his protected speech."
Court: USDC Northern District of Oklahoma , Judge: Johnson, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 4:19cv538, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Employment Discrimination, first Amendment
J. Kobes finds a lower court properly dismissed a news reporter's First Amendment rights against a police officer. The reporter, who was filming a protest, argued that she suffered injuries after a police officer sprayed pepper spray into the crowd. However, the City sufficiently showed in court that the officer is protected by qualified immunity, and that the correspondent failed to show that he intentionally sprayed her exclusively based on her "well- known reporter" status.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Kobes, Filed On: November 16, 2023, Case #: 22-3000, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment
J. Bell grants a local Catholic diocese's motion to dismiss allegations of Hate Crime Act violations brought by an applicant to a lector position, which involves reading scriptures to the public. The applicant claims the diocese discriminated against him based on his diagnoses of bipolar disorder and the post-traumatic stress disorder he developed from fighting in the Vietnam War. However, because this is a criminal complaint, it cannot be settled in civil court, nor would the court be able to intervene in the decisions of the diocese based on the First Amendment.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Bell, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv365, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Employment Discrimination, first Amendment
J. Flanagan grants a police officer and a county sheriff’s office’s motion for judgment on the pleadings following allegations of First and 14th Amendments violations brought by a man whom the officer arrested. The man claims the officer did not have good cause to arrest nor imprison him as he was not carrying a firearm. However, he failed to include allegations in support of his claim that the sheriff’s office — which itself is an entity not capable of being sued — fundamentally had something to do with the officer’s alleged maltreatment of him. His claims are dismissed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 7:23cv9, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment, Police Misconduct
J. D’Agostino grants summary judgment in favor of two village police officers on a GrubHub delivery driver’s civil rights claims stemming from a traffic stop. The driver was ultimately convicted on the traffic violations, so probable cause was established for the traffic stop. The officers were also justified in using force to remove him from his car and arrest him after he failed to comply with the officers’ demands to show his hands and exit his vehicle and instead reached into the passenger side. The court also rejected the driver’s First Amendment right to freedom of religion claim, as he fails to argue the traffic stop and subsequent arrest violated his religious rights by preventing him from delivering a customer’s food order.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: D’Agostino, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv1088, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment, Police Misconduct
J. Hoyt grants a preliminary injunction to a strip club on its constitutional challenges to the state comptroller’s $10 Sexually Oriented Business Fee, which requires inspections, audits and that businesses keep a record of how many customers are admitted to the establishment on a daily basis. The club has shown it is likely to succeed on the merits of its First and Fourteenth Amendment claims, and it will suffer irreparable harm without an injunction.
Court: USDC Southern District of Texas, Judge: Hoyt, Filed On: November 9, 2023, Case #: 4:23cv3131, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Constitution, first Amendment
J. D’Agostino dismisses with prejudice a self-represented litigant’s civil rights complaint alleging two county police officers arrested him without cause and in violation of his First Amendment rights for failing to comply with their orders to stop recording video footage with his cellphone inside a local court building. State law prohibits individuals from using a cellphone inside a court building, thus he did not have a First Amendment right to record video inside the courthouse.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: D’Agostino, Filed On: November 7, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv1211, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment
J. Traynor finds that North Dakota officials, including Governor Burgum and the Morton County Sheriff are entitled to qualified immunity as it relates to First Amendment claims brought by a class of protestors. Count 1 of the amended complaint alleges viewpoint discrimination and prior restraint and is dismissed with prejudice. The matter involves a skirmish between protestors and law enforcement officials in October of 2016 during the Dakota Access Pipeline protest. The protestors have not directed the court to any clearly established law that constitutionally prohibits officials from closing a highway following a skirmish between protestors and law enforcement.
Court: USDC North Dakota , Judge: Traynor, Filed On: November 6, 2023, Case #: 1:18cv212, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment
J. Flanagan denies the administrative director of the North Carolina Office of the Courts’ motion to dismiss First Amendment claims brought by Courthouse News Service (CNS), this news media organization. CNS argues the North Carolina courts, particularly those in Johnston, Harnett and Wake counties, denied it access to new civil complaints as soon as the courts posted them live online. According to previous litigation, it has been established that the press and general public must have as immediate access as is possible to complaints filed in order to improve the quality of the judicial system. Therefore, the director’s argument that CNS failed to state a case fails.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: November 3, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv280, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment, Technology
J. Kobayashi grants two state employee’s motion to dismiss a Hawaiian citizen’s second complaint allegations of due process violations and violations of his constitutional right to the free exercise of his religion after he was evicted from a small boat harbor. The citizen fails to identify an issue of fact whether his rights were violated, and the employees qualify for qualified immunity. Therefore, the citizen’s motion for partial summary judgment is denied as moot and this case is to be directed to the clerk’s office for final judgment.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv368, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Due Process, first Amendment
J. Hall rules in favor of the warden and prison officials in a civil rights and excessive force action brought by an inmate under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act alleging that his religious rights were violated when he was prevented from wearing his Rastafarian beanie. The inmate also alleges he was injured by officials who threw him to the ground and used a Taser on him after he refused to be handcuffed for a haircut he rejected based on his Rastafarian beliefs. Even if the inmate was briefly choked by an official, the evidence does not show that the officials acted with an intent to cause him harm. The officials applied force in good faith to subdue the inmate. The inmate failed to show that the prison's grooming policy substantially burdened his religious practice. The officials did not violate the inmate's First Amendment rights when they removed his beanie for inspection and a haircut.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv100, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment, Prisoners' Rights
J. Tostrud partially dismisses the abortion opponents' challenge to a city ordinance prohibiting them from physically disrupting access to reproductive healthcare facilities, which they argue unfairly targets their "sidewalk counseling" activities on the basis of religion and violates their freedoms of speech and association. Claims arguing that the ordinance violates freedom of association and is void for vagueness are dismissed, but claims arguing that the ordinance is overbroad and violates the freedoms of speech and religion survive. Fact questions remain as to whether the ordinance is narrowly tailored and whether it is prohibits conduct because of its religious purposes.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tostrud, Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv853, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment
J. Hull finds that the district court properly ruled in favor of the city in a civil rights action brought by the artist and curators alleging that their First Amendment rights were violated when the city removed an artwork from a city-funded exhibit. The artwork was a painting of Raymond Herisse, a Haitian American man who was fatally shot by Miami police officers in 2011. The district court correctly found that the removal constituted government speech immune from First Amendment scrutiny. The city contracted to commission the artwork, provided the exhibition space, and owned the artwork under the agreements with the artist and curators. The city's decision to display or not display the artwork was "classic" government speech. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Hull, Filed On: October 27, 2023, Case #: 22-12863, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment
J. Rossman finds that the lower court improperly struck down elements of a Wyoming statute that, among other things, bans electioneering within 300 feet of a polling place on an election day. The lower court found that the 300-foot "buffer zone" on election day was unconstitutional, and also ruled that a ban on political bumper stickers in that zone on election day was also unlawful. But the manner in which the statute is written allows it to be capable of "reasoned application" and does not infringe on First Amendment rights. Also, the case is remanded for further findings on the constitutionality of a similar buffer zone related to being within 100 feet of an absentee polling place. Reversed in part.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Rossman, Filed On: October 23, 2023, Case #: 21-8060, Categories: civil Rights, Elections, first Amendment
J. Boulee partially grants the state officials' motion for summary judgment in an action brought by nonprofit organizations challenging the constitutionality of two ballot application provisions of Georgia Senate Bill 202. The provisions at issue bar groups from sending voters absentee ballot applications with pre-filled information and require that groups send applications for absentee ballots only to those who have not already requested, received or voted an absentee ballot. The provisions do not impose severe restrictions on the organizations' First Amendment freedom of association rights and serve the state's interest in decreasing voter confusion and combatting complaints of fraud. However, the officials failed to show that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the organizations' free speech claim.
Court: USDC Northern District of Georgia, Judge: Boulee, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv1390, NOS: Voting - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Elections, first Amendment
J. Wright partially denies the sheriff's motion for summary judgment in a civil rights action brought by the journalists alleging that they were harassed, shot with less-lethal weapons and unfairly arrested during the law enforcement response to protests after the deaths of George Floyd and Daunte Wright. The sheriff's motion is granted as to the journalists' injunctive and declaratory relief claims. However, the sheriff is entitled to qualified immunity as to three journalists' civil rights claims against him in his individual capacity. The city's motion for summary judgment is denied because the journalists presented evidence of a persistent pattern of unconstitutional misconduct by the police department and deliberate indifference by the city. The evidence shows that officers "deliberately and systematically" targeted journalists who were identifiable as members of the press and were not committing crimes. There is also evidence supporting the inference of a conspiracy between the police department, state patrol and other agencies to disregard curfew exemptions and interfere with the freedom of the press.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv1302, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment, Police Misconduct
J. McCafferty partially grants the government officials' joint motion for judgment as to a lawsuit brought by a woman alleging that she was wrongfully arrested for trespassing as retaliation for her criticism of city acts and officials. The woman fails to show that her free speech was chilled or that the disputes with her over Right-to-Know laws are adverse actions taken against her. However, her claim that her arrest was in retaliation for her protected activity withstands the officials' motion.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: McCafferty, Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv326, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, first Amendment, Police Misconduct
J. Immergut finds in favor of the city against the medical marijuana dispensary owner's complaint alleging that the city and members of the city's Planning Commission wrongfully denied her conditional use permit to open the dispensary, as they claimed that it would violate an ordinance that doesn't allow such a business "within 1,000 feet of [a] public or private elementary, secondary or career school." The medical marijuana dispensary owner does not present a genuine issue of fact over whether her attempt to seek a license qualifies as engaging in expressive conduct, which would be protected under the First Amendment.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Immergut, Filed On: September 22, 2023, Case #: 6:19cv1540, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Municipal Law, first Amendment
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
J. Hightower issues a discovery order in a civil rights lawsuit brought by a former volunteer chaplain at the Austin Fire Department who alleged his civil rights were violated when he was dismissed over his complaints about what he describes as "men competing against women in sports." Some of the former chaplain's requests are overly broad and should be denied, but he may depose the fire chief again. While the city complains that the chief has already given "extensive" testimony, "a second deposition is not improper when a witness is deposed first in an individual capacity and then in a representative capacity."
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Hightower, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv835, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Discovery, first Amendment