249 results for 'cat:"Civil Rights" AND cat:"Constitution"'.
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
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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 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. 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. 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
J. Colloton finds a lower court properly dismissed a corrections officer's motion for summary judgment concerning claims for qualified immunity. The corrections officer argued that he was entitled to relief on a detainee's constitutional violations claims. However, the detainee presented sufficient evidence in court that the corrections officer sexually harassed him during a strip search by forcefully squeezing his penis, which resulted in the detainee undergoing medical care for his injury. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Colloton, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 22-2640 , Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Immunity
J. Colloton finds a lower court properly imposed a monetary sanction on an attorney and his co- counsel for filing a duplicate lawsuits against a City. The attorney, who represents The Satanic Temple Inc., argued that the City violated its constitutional rights by refusing to allow it to erect a Satanic monument, even though it gave the green light to a Christian foundation to do so, in violation of its free speech. However, the City presented sufficient evidence in court that the temple is not entitled to add new claims in a second lawsuit, or reassert allegations late in the game. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Colloton, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 22-2183, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Sanctions
J. Bates finds for the Navy on a group of Navy Protestant chaplains' action, in which they claim the Navy's use of faith group categories is discriminatory and arbitrary, and that religious bias has affected board selection, among other claims. The chaplains fail to show the statute of limitations should be tolled.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Bates, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: 1:07mc269, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Military
J. Russell denies the county's motion for summary judgment on the parents' claim that their daughter was denied adequate medical care during her detention in violation of the 14th Amendment. The record indicates that she died during detention as a result of a "perforated duodenal ulcer that was leaking fluid into her abdomen." A medical assistant testified that she needed to go to the hospital, and there is evidence that "jail staff disregarded the risk" to her health, after her condition changed.
Court: USDC Western District of Oklahoma , Judge: Russell, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: 5:20cv1252, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Health Care
J. Higginson finds the district court improperly denied qualified immunity to the Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens, accused of civil rights violations when investigating allegations of the property lessee’s illegal hunting leasing and title forgery. The lessee did not have permission from property owners to sell hunting opportunities, nor did he have a hunting lease license. He alleges that the wardens did not have probable cause, but does not argue the wardens knowingly withheld information, so he has not shown the independent intermediary’s deliberations or decisions were tainted. Independent-intermediary doctrine defeats his allegations that there was no probable cause to prosecute him. Reversed and remanded.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: 21-51105, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Immunity
J. Chuang grants the U.S. Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss allegations of violations of a citizen’s constitutional rights when the department denied his purchase of a firearm based on a criminal background check. The citizen had previously been convicted of a crime with a prison sentence of over one year and had been committed to a mental institution two times in the past. Based on this information, when he went to purchase a gun at Dick’s Sporting Goods — a federal firearms licensee — his criminal and mental health background prevented him from purchasing one. Thus, the citizen’s argument against the department’s criminal background check lacks standing because the licensee’s test blocked him from getting the background check in the first place.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Chuang, Filed On: August 18, 2023, Case #: 8:22cv1611, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Firearms
J. Wardlaw finds that the district court properly issued an order preliminarily enjoining Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act , which is a ban on the participation of transgender individuals in women’s student athletics. The district court did not abuse its discretion when it found that the athletes were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the Act violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Wardlaw, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 20-35813, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Education
J. Murphy finds the lower court properly granted the prison guard's motion for summary judgment on Eighth Amendment claims filed by an inmate. While the guard was charged with a misdemeanor for his use of force, the inmate failed to prove the use of violence was malicious and sadistic. The inmate suffered no visible injuries after the guard grabbed his throat and shoved him against the wall, and while he complained of neck pain in the months that followed, the guard believed force was necessary to subdue the inmate after he disobeyed orders. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Murphy, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 22-1937, Categories: civil Rights, constitution, Evidence