2,817 results for 'cat:"Civil Rights"'.
J. Winmill denies individuals' motion for partial summary judgment on their negligence claim that a fire was started by negligently stored wood-staining rags in a building in which the individuals stored their car and other personal possessions, which were damaged. The fire department determined that the rags were the "most likely cause" of the fire, but listed the "cause of ignition" as "under investigation" and noted that their investigation of the building's electrical components was "inconclusive findings for cause." The cause of the fire is material and genuinely disputed
Court: USDC Idaho, Judge: Winmill, Filed On: May 13, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv441, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: civil Rights, Property, Negligence
J. Cooper partially dismisses the arrestee's suit alleging that his arrest was unlawful. Negligence claims may proceed, since the arrestee has adequately alleged that the arresting officers failed to take basic steps to determine that he was in fact the man they were looking for, but there remains room for the officers to dispute the existence of a "negligent investigation" tort.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Cooper, Filed On: May 13, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv922, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Tort
J. Jones finds the district court properly declined to vacate the bankruptcy court's judgment removing certain members of the official committee of unsecured creditors. The members were appointed as part of the archdiocese's bankruptcy proceedings, which had been initiated in response to sexual abuse lawsuits. Certain members were removed for disclosing sensitive information about the case, including the names of priests. Any lack of proper notice does not violate a protected interest when there is no underlying right to remain on the committee. The members' rights as creditors in the case have not been impaired by their removal. They were not sanctioned and also lack standing to appeal from the bankruptcy court to the district court. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Jones , Filed On: May 13, 2024, Case #: 22-30539, Categories: Bankruptcy, civil Rights, Tort
J. DuBose denies a group of residents’ motion for a preliminary injunction in the civil rights lawsuit against the town council members. The residents allege the town has been operating a “hand-me-down governance” system at least since the mid-1960s, where no regular municipal election for the mayor or council have been held. The council members held a secret meeting where they reappointed themselves in order to prevent the residents from electing a majority Black council. The residents are likely to succeed on the merits of their constitutional claim, which would satisfy the first prerequisite for the preliminary injunctive relief, but at this point of proceedings they have failed to show they will suffer an irreparable harm. The court scheduled a bench trial to further address the case.
Court: USDC Southern District of Alabama, Judge: DuBose, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv127, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Elections, Government
J. Rothstein remands the job applicant's complaint that the temp agency violated Washington law by not disclosing the wage scale or salary range of its job openings. The job applicant does not plausibly allege a cause of action, because while a job posting that does not contain compensation information is a technical violation, it does not harm or create a material risk of harm. Therefore, the applicant lacks Article III standing and the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Rothstein, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1680, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Employment, Jurisdiction
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J. Pechman finds that a jury must determine whether the protesters' First Amendment rights were violated when they were arrested and booked in jail for writing political messages in sidewalk chalk and charcoal on the city's temporarily erected walls outside of the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct. "While this case does not implicate the city's ability to enforce its property destruction ordinance more generally, it touches on questions impacting the public civil discourse and free speech in Seattle."
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Pechman, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv17, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Municipal Law, First Amendment
J. Rothstein remands the job applicant's complaint alleging that the equipment company did not include the wage scale, salary range or general description of benefits for its job openings in violation of Washington state law. A job posting that does not provide compensation information is a technical violation, which by itself does not create concrete injury. Because the applicant lacks Article III standing, the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction and the case must be remanded to superior court.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Rothstein, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv175, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Employment, Jurisdiction
J. McCook partially grants the city defendant's motions to compel discovery in this class action arising from an alleged sex-trafficking venture. The named plaintiffs, who represent the victims of the alleged venture, are ordered to search their "additional source" for responsive documents under Category Three, which includes written communications or phone calls between the plaintiffs and an individual allegedly involved in the conspiracy.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Tennessee , Judge: McCook, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv71, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Discovery, Class Action
J. Self dismisses a civil rights and excessive force action brought by an individual against a police officer, assistant district attorney and jail healthcare provider. The individual claimed that the officer used excessive force when arresting him for stalking and that the healthcare provider failed to give him proper care for an infected lesion on his leg. The charges against the individual were later dropped. The individual failed to follow the court's rules, violated several court orders and repeatedly missed deadlines. The individual also failed to explain his non-compliance.
Court: USDC Middle District of Georgia, Judge: Self, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv105, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights
J. Peterson finds that the trial court improperly ruled in favor of the couple in a declaratory judgment action claiming that the Cobb County Board of Commissioners unconstitutionally passed an amendment changing commission district boundaries enacted by the Georgia legislature in 2022. Although the couple are county residents and community stakeholders with standing to challenge the constitutionality of the amendment, their uncertainty about which district they reside in and their claim that they are represented by a commissioner they did not vote for are not enough to show uncertainty as to their future conduct and to warrant declaratory relief. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: S24A0599, Categories: civil Rights
J. Clarke dismisses the landlords' complaint that the county's code enforcement officer wrongfully accused the landlords of violating county code by not obtaining agricultural exemptions or structural permits for 20 greenhouse structures and not obtaining electrical permits for the same 20 greenhouses, leading to a citation for $40,000 fine. The landlords do not state a claim for wrongful use of civil proceedings because while they may have a valid defense for the legality of the structures that their tenant built on their property, they do not allege that the code enforcement officer did not have probable cause to issue the citation.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Clarke, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1607, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Municipal Law, Due Process
J. Peterson grants summary judgment to the state elections commission, municipal clerks and Wisconsin Legislature in a lawsuit from four voters citing the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act to challenge the state's requirement that a U.S. adult citizen witness and certify the casting of an absentee ballot. The voter's claims under the Acts fail, in part because they have not shown that federal law, state law or U.S. Supreme Court precedent prevent a state from exercising its authority over absentee-voting conduct with a witness requirement. The Legislature's motion to stay the lawsuit pending resolution of two related state-court lawsuits is denied, as orders and judgments in those cases will be unaffected by the order in the voters' case.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv672, NOS: Voting - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Elections
J. Suddaby dismisses the Second Amendment Foundation, a gun rights advocacy group with over 720,000 members across the country, from a civil rights lawsuit that claims a housing authority violates their members’ right to bear arms by prohibiting tenants from possessing any firearms as a condition of their Section 8 housing benefits. The court rules the advocacy group lacks representational and associational standing to bring suit under a 50-year legal precedent.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Suddaby, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv1540, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Housing, Firearms
J. Volk grants the deputy state auditor's motion for summary judgment in the deceased woman's civil rights suit. She claimed that her due process rights were violated when the deputy auditor conveyed deeds to two parcels of her property to a man who bought them at sales for unpaid taxes without first conducting an exhaustive search of publicly available records of her current address when prior right-to-redeem notices were returned as unclaimed. The deputy auditor is entitled to qualified immunity since "he could not have been expected to forecast the duty here imposed, which appears nowhere in the statute governing his authority nor decisional law."
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Volk , Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv328, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Government, Property
J. Conner denies a medical center’s motion to dismiss an employee’s FMLA and ADA claims. The employee adequately alleged that she was forced to use continuous leave following an injury, rather than be provided light duty work, and that her employment and benefits were adversely affected after she exercised her FMLA rights.
Court: USDC Middle District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Conner, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1696, NOS: Civil Rights - Habeas Corpus, Categories: civil Rights, Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment
J. Wyrick grants the government defendant’s motion for summary judgment in this lawsuit brought by a former air traffic controller trainee alleging discrimination on the basis of race under Title VII. The former trainee, who was dismissed from the training program along with another classmate “for failing to achieve a passing grade,” fails to establish a prima facie case of discrimination. She and the dismissed classmate sought reinstatement for “very different reasons,” meaning they were not similarly situated.
Court: USDC Western District of Oklahoma , Judge: Wyrick, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 5:20cv1161, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Hudson grants partial judgment to the state prison system in a suit filed by blind inmates, claiming the correctional system does not properly accommodate their blindness. There is still a genuine dispute over whether the tablets provided to blind inmates are truly accessible instruments for the blind. The tablet has a talk-back feature, and many have a Braille keyboard. The state also showed that it provided alternative means for blind inmates to communicate with friends and family, including in-person and telephone visits.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Virginia, Judge: Hudson , Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv127, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Prisoners' Rights
J. Chun denies the university president's motion to dismiss the retaliation claim in the school faculty member's complaint alleging that the university president wrongfully fired the faculty member for putting a statement in his class syllabus, emails and outside his faculty office door about the Coast Salish tribe's claim to land that read, "I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington." The school faculty member plausible states a First Amendment retaliation claim, because the school faculty member's speech concerned a matter of public concern, and the court cannot employ the applicable Pickering balancing test at this stage.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Chun, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv964, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Education, Employment Discrimination
J. Aiken denies the families' motion to exclude expert Jim Dimas from its complaint that Governor of Oregon Tina Kotek and others run an underresourced foster care system that removes children from their parents' homes and does not provide stable housing for them. Dimas has over 40 years of experience working in, managing and directing human services agencies and his testimony includes what an effective remedy for this situation might look like.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Aiken, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 6:19cv556, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Experts
J. Steeh denies a school district dismissal of claims contending a school bus aide physically and verbally abused a seven-year-old child who suffers autism and emotional impairment because the aide, who had previous altercations with the student, lacked proper training to calm the child.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Michigan, Judge: Steeh, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv11810, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Negligence, Emotional Distress
J. Stadtmueller finds that all of the claims in the citizen's pro se lawsuit against the Milwaukee County Clerk of Courts, the Milwaukee County Sheriff, judges and other court officials over his family law case, including those alleging false arrest, abuse of process and First Amendment violations, must be dismissed. All of the currently named defendants are dismissed and replaced with John Doe placeholders, and the citizen is given until May 29, 2024, to file a new amended complaint, or his entire lawsuit will be dismissed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Stadtmueller, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1361, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Constitution, Family Law
J. Means finds that county commissioners who established a regulation limiting electioneering on county property during elections have not violated a conservative group’s right to freedom of speech. The county property that is restricted by the regulation is not a traditional public forum and the county’s restrictions target electioneering activity broadly and are not designed to suppress a particular view. The conservative group’s request for a preliminary injunction is denied.
Court: USDC Northern District of Texas , Judge: Means, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 4:24cv328, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Government, Injunction
J. Orrick dismisses all civil rights claims from U.S. News against the San Francisco Attorney's Office over subpoenas that the office issued to the news agency looking for information related to what methodologies it used to rank the hospitals in the United States. U.S. News says the subpoenas infringe on its First Amendment rights. The attorney's office, having voiced concerns that the news agency might be in violation of California code regarding its ranking activities, has a legal interest in the information and any claims from the agency that the subpoenas will quell its free speech are speculative and without merit.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Orrick, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 3:24cv395, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, First Amendment
J. McHugh finds that the lower court properly granted immunity to a series of state officials after a doctor sued them with claims that he was arrested without good cause and that social workers took his children away after they entered his home without a warrant. He was arrested over reports of sexual abuse against a minor, though eventually the charges against him were dropped and his children returned. Given the evidence available to investigators at the time, they had reasonable suspicion to think that the children were in danger. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: McHugh, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 23-2056, Categories: civil Rights, Immunity
J. Montalvo dismisses, for lack of jurisdiction, a lawsuit brought by two customers against an estate sales company which they said wrongfully required them to wear masks during the Covid-19 pandemic despite their alleged medical exemption. Because the mask requirement is no longer in place, the people bringing this suit cannot establish a key element of their ADA claim and no controversy remains.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Montalvo, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv96, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Health Care