249 results for 'cat:"Civil Rights" AND cat:"Constitution"'.
J. Du grants the school district's motion to dismiss a guardian and minor's constitutional and state law negligence claims regarding alleged hazing, harassment, sexual assault and discrimination by players on a high school baseball team. The parties have not adequately alleged a policy that amounts to deliberate indifference to the minor’s constitutional rights and was the moving force behind any purported violations.
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Du , Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv229, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Education
J. Gettleman partially grants an Illinois village and its mayor’s motions to dismiss numerous civil rights allegations brought by a community activist. The activist claims the mayor had a personal vendetta against her after she led protests over the police killing of a community member, and that the mayor also took steps to chill village residents’ free speech rights — up to and including deploying police in riot gear on peaceful protestors. The court dismisses the activist’s claim that the village violated the first six articles of the Illinois Constitution, and also dismisses the possibility of Monell damages against the mayor specifically. The rest of the activist’s claims stand.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Gettleman, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv5670, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Police Misconduct
J. Schreier grants county employees' motion for dismissal on an individual's claims and dismisses with prejudice remaining claims against other county and prison employees. The matter stems from the individual's conviction in South Dakota state court of multiple counts of possessing, manufacturing, or distributing child pornography. The individual alleged that defendants conspired with one another to deny his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of access to courts, freedom of speech, and to petition the government, and that those rights were violated when prison mailroom staff failed to process his appeal in a timely fashion.
Court: USDC South Dakota, Judge: Schreier, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 4:22cv4099, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. DeGravelles grants summary judgment to five juvenile sex offenders, declaring key parts of Louisiana’s sex offender registration and notification laws as an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment right to free speech. The order bars Louisiana from enforcing a law requiring that driver’s licenses issued to sex offenders adjudicated as juveniles be branded with the orange phrase “SEX OFFENDER.” The state also is prohibited from emblazoning the phrase “SEX OFFENDER” on the identification cards of registered sex offenders who committed sex crimes as juveniles. Louisiana’s lifetime social media ban for sex offenders is declared inapplicable to adjudicated juvenile delinquents.
Court: USDC Middle District of Louisiana, Judge: DeGravelles, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv837, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Evidence
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J. Benton finds a lower court properly granted a civilian nominal damages and declaratory relief after the president of the St. Louis Board of Alderman blocked her on Twitter. The board president argued that he was entitled to block the civilian from his social media after she criticized him for shutting down a medium security jailhouse. However, the civilian presented sufficient evidence in court that the closing of the building ignited a political debate, and that the blocking of her account violated her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Benton, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: 23-1042, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Damages
J. Donohue finds that the appeals court improperly dismissed a petition for review of the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act filed by a group of seven abortion providers who had asked the court to determine that abortion is a right protected under the state constitution. The providers have standing to sue because provides Medicaid funding for childbirth but not for abortions, thus failing to maintain its obligated neutrality regarding reproductive autonomy. Reversed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Donohue, Filed On: January 29, 2024, Case #: J-65-2022, Categories: Civil Procedure, civil Rights, constitution
J. Wardlaw denies a petition for panel rehearing concerning an individual's claim that his confession in his criminal case was coerced in violation of his Fifth Amendment Rights. The matter is on remand from the United States Supreme Court in which the panel reversed the district court’s judgment on a jury verdict for the county and remanded for a new trial. The matter stems from the alleged assault of an individual at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Wardlaw, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 18-56414 , Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Smith finds the district court properly granted the police officers' motion to dismiss a mother's excessive force claims arising from the death of her son, who was killed after leading officers on a high-speed chase, then exiting his vehicle with a gun in his hands. Though the officers fired 19 times, hitting the deceased party 16 times, the use of force was justified. Body cam shows the deceased party exiting his vehicle with a gun and pointing it at one of the officers. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: January 16, 2024, Case #: 22-11210, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Police Misconduct
J. Willett, withdrawing the previous opinion and substituting another, finds the district court improperly found in favor of journalists on the pre-enforcement claims filed by various photographers and press organizations who lost income due to the possibility of being sued for flying drones in sensitive airspace. Nothing in the First Amendment or binding precedent permits an unqualified right to conduct aerial surveillance on non-consenting private individuals on private property. Reversed in part.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Willett , Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 22-50337, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Corker partially grants the defendant law enforcement officer's motion for summary judgment and dismisses the couple's federal claims under Section 1983 against him. The couple alleges that the officer, an employee of the University of Tennessee Police Department, mistakenly approached their home with a gun and "demanded to know why they were in 'his' home," in violation of their constitutional rights. However, they fail to show that the officer, whose actual house was allegedly "right next door," was acting under color of state law at the time of the incident. The court also declines to exercise jurisdiction over their state law claims.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Tennessee , Judge: Corker, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv188, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Jurisdiction
J. Whitney dismisses the amended complaint of a mother claiming that a host of her constitutional rights have been violated by a county human services organization, a local housing authority and multiple of their individual employees. She says she was deprived her suitable housing, forced to carry out a birth that injured her and her child, and that her parental rights were improperly terminated. However, she seeks to sue people and organizations that have governmental immunity. Also, because her amendment has not changed from the original complaint, and because it is considered frivolous, it is dismissed with prejudice.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Whitney, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv762, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Government
J. Mueller finds for the Attorney General of California on two individuals’ constitutional challenge to two state firearms laws that prohibit people from openly carrying firearms without permits. The pair fail to show the law is unconstitutional, nor do they support their argument the state cannot make them carry a weapon in a certain way. "This contention is unpersuasive for the simple reason that American governments have imposed restrictions on how people carry guns since the founding era, as the Supreme Court has twice held."
Court: USDC Eastern District of California, Judge: Mueller, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 2:19cv617, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Firearms
J. McBride finds that the lower court improperly denied the family's motion to amend the civil rights complaint stemming from police officer's woeful response to a 911 call about domestic violence they were experiencing. The officers had probable cause to arrest the man to prevent abuse that was sure to follow, and their inaction allowed him to grievously injure his brother and kill his father. Reversed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: McBride, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 211373, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Pitman denies motions to dismiss by both citizen defendants and "prosecutor defendants" after they were sued by abortion groups who wish to continue funding services like out-of-state travel and lodging for Texans seeking abortions but have been unable to do so due to the Dobbs decision and SB 8, a Texas law that allows people to sue a person who "aids and abets" an abortion. The groups have shown that they have suffered an injury traceable to prosecutor defendants, that SB 8 defendants were properly joined in this case, and that the WDTX is a proper venue for this case.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv859, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: civil Rights, constitution
J. Milazzo denies a request by state police to stay, pending appeal, a convicted sex offender’s suit alleging that since her intellectually disabling seizure, the state’s sex offender notification requirements have resulted in an unfair cycle of arrest, imprisonment and release for noncompliance. She now alleges the state requirements violate her constitutional rights to due process and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The state authorities fail to offer an argument on any of four factors required to obtain a stay pending appeal, including where the public interest lies in the litigation.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Milazzo, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv2371, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Ada / Rehabilitation Act
J. Tostrud grants the chamber of commerce's motion for a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of a portion of a newly-passed law banning "foreign influenced corporations" from making political contributions and independent expenditures in state elections. While preventing foreign influences on elections is a compelling state interest, the challenged provisions are not narrowly tailored restrictions on the exercise of First Amendment rights.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tostrud, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv2015, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Injunction
J. Geraci dismisses claims contending police officers used "intimidating tactics" to serve a quarantine order against a broadcaster and her child during the Covid-19 pandemic because the amended complaint does not plausibly allege the existence of a municipal policy that would have led to misconduct, and evidence does not indicate the broadcaster's speech had been chilled due to the officers' conduct. Meanwhile, nothing indicates defendants conspired to interfere with her civil rights.
Court: USDC Western District of New York, Judge: Geraci , Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 6:23cv6201, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Covid-19
J. Jackson grants summary judgment to a city, police department and police officer, dismissing false arrest and excessive force claims by a woman the officer Tased without warning after she twice swung a hammer at the head of another woman. The arrested woman failed to offer any evidence to rebut the officer’s version of events, and the Fourth Amendment permits an officer to use reasonable force to subdue a suspect that poses an immediate threat to the safety of others.
Court: USDC Middle District of Louisiana, Judge: Jackson, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv459, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Evidence
J. Southwick finds the district court improperly granted summary judgment in favor of the voter's advocacy organization, which challenges a Texas law requiring an original signature on registrations, arguing it violates the Civil Rights Act and the First and Fourteenth Amendments’ ban on undue voting rights burdens. Physically signing a form with warnings of penalties for perjury will dissuade false statements, the challenged statute imposes a small burden and the constitutional question grants states leeway in their authority. Texas’s interests in ensuring reliability and reducing fraud are sufficient to protect the "wet signature" rule from constitutional attack. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Southwick , Filed On: December 15, 2023, Case #: 22-50536, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Elections
J. Carney-Axon grants, in part, a sheriff’s motion to dismiss this civil rights case brought by a bingo hall alleging arbitrary and capricious fees were imposed on electronic gaming operations. In certain Alabama counties, voters approved the operation of nonprofit bingo halls by constitutional amendment, and allowed the sheriff’s department to collect an assessment fee. The court directs the bingo hall to file a second amended complaint on its equal protection and unlawful taking claims.
Court: USDC Northern District of Alabama , Judge: Carney-Axon, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: 7:23cv1297, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Due Process
J. Mills vacates an inmate's capital murder conviction for being involved in a robbery that resulted in the death of a store owner, whom his friend shot at while he shot at the ground. The inmate has shown entitlement to relief on his Batson claim, so the case is remanded for a new trial within 180 days.
Court: USDC Northern District of Mississippi , Judge: Mills, Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 4:18cv2, NOS: Death Penalty - Habeas Corpus, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Habeas
J. Zainey denies summary judgment to an ex-defendant whose murder conviction was vacated on constitutional grounds after he spent more than 28 years in prison. The former defendant cannot rely on the "self-flagellating” post-conviction admissions of the New Orleans District Attorney in 2021 to fulfill his burden of proof in his civil rights suit against the DA's office, alleging prosecutorial misconduct by prior regimes. When the DA joined the defendant’s post-conviction appeal, he sought justice for the ex-defendant and he did so “at the risk of his own office’s coffers, the protection of which would have better served his own office."
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vance, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 22cv15, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Malicious Prosecution
J. Joseph grants a request by the city of Shreveport, dismissing all federal civil rights claims by the adult children of a 72-year-old detainee who died 17 days after being beaten in the local jail by an arrestee with a history of violence. While prison officials have a constitutional duty to protect inmates from violence at the hands of other prisoners, the decedent’s children fail to allege sufficient facts that local police and jailers acted in accord with a city policy, practice, or custom that resulted in their father’s death.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Joseph, Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv689, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Police Misconduct