27 results for 'cat:"Civil Rights" AND cat:"Municipal Law"'.
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. 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. Seibel denies a hotel’s motion to stay the court’s remand order in this matter of alleged violations of municipal code and zoning law. A town sued a hotel for violating construction and zoning laws arising out of a plan to use the hotel to house asylum seekers for a period of four months. The town filed a motion for the matter to be remanded to state court, which was granted, but the hotel argues the matter is under federal jurisdiction as it is a civil rights matter. The instant court finds the hotel has not presented sufficient evidence to support granting a stay.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Seibel, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 23cv4212, NOS: General - Habeas Corpus, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, Zoning
J. Clarke finds in favor of the church for its complaint alleging that the city violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) when it forced the church to significantly reduce social services, including meal service, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The city's ordinance violates RLUIPA because it is a land use regulation that inhibits the church's ability to feed the ministry, which is part of the church's religion. The ordinance is not the least restrictive way for the city to exercise its interest.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Clarke, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv156, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, Covid-19
J. Kleeh dismisses a former Westover City Council member’s allegations of First Fourth Amendment Retaliation, violation of his 14th Amendment rights, as well as the slander and emotional distress claims he brought against the mayor, city police and other officials who allegedly conspired against him for blowing the whistle on corruption and police misconduct. His claim under the West Virginia Whistle-Blower Law survives the motion, however.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv98, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, First Amendment
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J. Barker grants the school's motion for summary judgment on a high school student's constitutional challenge to the temporary revocation of his pro-life club. The student knew of the requirements of the Indiana Tort Claims Act under which certain claims were filed, and failed to satisfy form, timing and content requirements. No cogent argument has been made regarding claims of ineffective notice.
Court: USDC Southern District of Indiana, Judge: Barker , Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv3075, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Education, municipal Law
Per curiam, the circuit denies the NAACP's emergency motions for an injunction pending appeal of the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction. The association seeks to enjoin appointments of judges and prosecutors to a court created by the Jackson, Mississippi Capitol Complex Improvement District. The appointments would be made by the chief justice and state attorney general, rather than by locally elected officials in the largely white district. The authority structure will remain unchanged in Jackson, and the NAACP has failed to plead a cognizable injury-in-fact to show standing.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 23-60647, Categories: Administrative Law, civil Rights, municipal Law
J. Simon denies in part the city councilor's motion for summary judgment in his lawsuit alleging that his civil rights were violated when the Columbia 911 Communications District banned him from attending meetings in person after he criticized some of the decisions made by the district's board of directors. There is a factual dispute as to whether the councilor's presence at the meetings was causing harm, and the parties dispute the reason for his ban, so the councilor's First Amendment claim should head to trial. However, the councilor is correct that the board violated the Oregon Revised Statutes when it held public meetings in a virtual-only format on four occasions.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Simon, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv293, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, First Amendment
J. Woodcock denies in part a town’s motion to dismiss claims brought against it by a property owner, after the town’s code enforcement officer gave the property owner instructions on how to make his property up to code, and then claimed the property owner made the property more dangerous by following those instructions. The property owner sufficiently substantiates his federal and Maine Civil Rights Act claims.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Woodcock, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv162, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, Equal Protection
J. Du denies Reno's motion to dismiss the adult cabaret performers' denial of due process claims. The performers, who are all between the ages of 18 and 21, challenged the city's new minimum age requirements for cabaret performers. Regardless of whether state law preempts the provision, the condition exists in which the city has issued business licenses to adults under 21, but then effectively prohibited them from continuing to perform. Therefore, the performers have suffered a plausible injury in fact.
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Du , Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 3:19cv693, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, Due Process
J. Ellis partially grants Chicago’s motion for summary judgment on sex discrimination claims brought by women who wanted to be city paramedics. The cadets were injured while performing trials in the Chicago Fire Department’s physical aptitude test, trials that even internal experts claimed really weren’t of much use in evaluating firefighters’ and paramedics’ job readiness. Multiple lawsuits followed. The city settled some of those suits and moved for summary judgment in this one. The court now denies Chicago summary judgment on the paramedics’ internal discrimination claim, and splits judgment on the paramedics’ Monell claim. It grants the claim “to the extent plaintiffs rely on a widespread policy or practice,” but denies it “as to plaintiffs’ claim that they suffered a constitutional injury at the hands of a final policymaker.”
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Ellis, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 1:16cv10156, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, Employment Discrimination
J. Pennell finds that the lower court properly ruled against a homeless organization that sought to challenge a Spokane ballot initiative that expands on a camping ban at certain locations around the city. The organization claims the initiative conflicts with state law and falls outside local initiative powers, but those claims do not pass legal muster. The state law they claim it conflicts with is not centered around homelessness regulations, but is instead mostly concerned with data and performance metrics. The initiative in question also falls well within the definition of an exercise of police powers, making it appropriate for the ballot. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pennell, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 39924-9-III, Categories: civil Rights, Elections, municipal Law
J. Armistead dismisses the housing development company's complaint accusing the city of forcing the company to improve public lands for state and federal use without compensation. Although the company's claims do not meet the criteria to proceed as they are, it can cure these deficiencies by identifying the specific improvement it was required to make that did not conform to the Nollan/Dolan standard. The company must provide a factual basis as to why those specific improvement were not "roughly proportional to the development’s impacts."
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Armistead, Filed On: December 4, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv1289, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, Property
J. Hamilton finds in favor of Santa Cruz County after a church sued it with religious discrimination claims when the county opened up a welfare fraud investigation that resulted in several leaders of the organization being charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. The church says it was unfairly treated due to its religious practices, but there is nothing on the record that implies county officials were doing anything beyond enforcing a facially-neutral law in a completely non-discriminatory fashion. The charges leveled against the church leadership were also well supported by evidence found in their home during a legal search.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 4:19cv2729, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law
Per curiam, the Fifth Circuit finds the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the city in this racial discrimination suit brought by the white animal control officer who was not promoted to manager. A three-member committee assigned scores to each candidate using a set of 15 standard interview questions, hiring a Black external candidate with over eight years of experience. The white officer proffers no competent summary judgment evidence and does not establish that the city’s reasons for hiring the more experienced candidate were pretextual. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: October 5, 2023, Case #: 23-40116, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, Employment Discrimination
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. Traynor grants the Attorney General of North Dakota's motion for summary judgment in a matter in which a disgruntled man, who was frustrated he was not permitted to make every single point he wanted to the Valley City Commission, alleged the City violated his First Amendment rights to speak at City Commission meetings. The undisputed facts show the City and its employees acted "reasonably and gracefully" in the face of the man's repeated rudeness and unjustified requests of the City Commission.
Court: USDC North Dakota , Judge: Traynor, Filed On: September 15, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv231, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, First Amendment
J. Bumb grants the city and its officials' motion to dismiss the farmer's federal claims against them, which allege a conspiracy to harm him and his farming business led by the city's fire marshal and his family. The majority of the farmer's allegations are time-barred, since the alleged conduct giving rise to the suit largely took place in and around 2018, well before the July 2020 cutoff for claims brought under the Civil Rights Act and the New Jersey Civil Rights Act. He has also failed to state a plausible selective enforcement claim, since he has not established that his neighbors were similarly situated under the city's plumbing code, and his substantive and procedural due process claims similarly fail. The failure of these claims leads the court to decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over a RICO claim.
Court: USDC New Jersey, Judge: Bumb, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv4384, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, Property
J. Bumb grants the township and its officials' motion to dismiss the strip mall operators' complaint alleging that the officials' various municipal enforcement actions against the strip mall were part of an anti-Semitic vendetta. The operators have not established standing to bring claims related to the township's denial of an application brought by a prospective tenant of the strip mall, nor any of their other claims. They have also failed to establish that the township's issuance of a hazard notice and subsequent lockout of mall tenants for emergency repairs constituted a taking, nor sufficiently detailed allegations to demonstrate that the township's conduct violated due process requirements. They have not shown that issuance of the notice during Rosh Hashanah was deliberate or motivated by bias, nor that the appearance of swastikas on the property was connected to the township's actions. State law claims also fail.
Court: USDC New Jersey, Judge: Bumb, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv4931, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, Property
J. Lee finds that the lower court improperly found for the town on a sex offender's challenge to its restriction on offenders' living within 6,500 feet of each other. The town officers no explanation for why prohibiting offenders from living close by one another would safeguard children, especially given that offenders are already prohibited from living near places where children congregate. Reversed in part.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Lee, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 22-2435, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law
J. Pepper grants the city's motion to remand back to the Racine Municipal Court a lawsuit involving two property owners claiming the city violated their constitutional rights in part by enforcing ordinances to remove or fix construction scaffolding in front of their property. Because there is no federal question presented in the case, there is no subject matter jurisdiction, and the case is remanded to the municipal court.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Pepper, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv452, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, Property
J. Gonzalez dismisses an action brought by the Village of Mineola in Long Island against the Town of Hempstead challenging the town’s newly adopted redistricting plan, claiming the decision to swap two districts ultimately violates the equal protection clause’s one-person, one-vote principle. The court finds the new districts survive judicial review and do not violate the sole remaining litigant’s voting rights.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Gonzalez, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv6231, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: civil Rights, Elections, municipal Law
J. Silver enters an amended opinion affirming in part and vacating in part a district court summary judgment in favor of a class which challenged City of Grants Pass ordinances which preclude the homeless from using a blanket, pillow, or cardboard box for protection from the elements while sleeping within city limits. The lower court's class certification is affirmed and there is "abundant evidence in the record establishing that homeless persons were injured by the City’s enforcement actions." However, summary judgment is vacated as to that ordinance and remanded to allow the district court the opportunity to substitute a class representative following the death of class representative, Debra Blake. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Silver, Filed On: July 5, 2023, Case #: 20-35752, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law
J. Eagan grants the city defendants' dismissal motion in this lawsuit concerning certain code enforcement activities, which allegedly caused the plaintiff property owners to suffer emotional distress and the loss of their personal property. The code enforcement division of the city is dismissed as a defendant, since it is not "a separate legal entity." Also, the complaint does not show that "an official policy or custom of the City" resulted in a violation of their rights.
Court: USDC Northern District of Oklahoma , Judge: Eagan, Filed On: June 23, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv521, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, Property
J. Richman finds the district court properly granted summary judgment to the city in this suit brought by a DWI arrestee claiming false arrest, excessive force, negligence and vicarious liability. The arresting officer responded to a 911 call reporting an intoxicated driver. He observed the vehicle crossing lines and striking a curb before pulling it over to discover the driver with her minor children in the car. Sobriety tests suggested that she was likely impaired, and after the arrest she admitted to taking Xanax and Hydrocodone. Video evidence of the arrest shows that the officers had probable cause. There is no basis for a negligence claim. Because her underlying state law claims were properly dismissed, there is no basis for a vicarious liability claim. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Richman, Filed On: May 23, 2023, Case #: 20-30507, Categories: civil Rights, municipal Law, Police Misconduct