24 results for 'cat:"Civil Rights" AND cat:"Sanctions"'.
J. Morrison orders the former attorney, Andrew Plasse, in an excessive force lawsuit against New York City to transfer his client’s case file to the new counsel, Michael Walker, finding the Plasse is not entitled to either a retaining or charging lien after concluding he was discharged from the case with cause. Plasse was sanctioned by the court for failing to act in his client’s best interest, including withholding pertinent details of a proposed settlement agreement and by lying to the court about his client’s health in order to adjourn a scheduled conference.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Morrison, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 1:14cv680, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions, Attorney Discipline
J. Eifert denies the class of former care children’s motion for sanctions against the West Virginia Department of Health Services for failing to timely produce individual case files in the class’s pending civil rights suit accusing the state of “systemic deficiencies” in how it operates the foster care system, finding that while the department “made mistakes in preserving and producing information,” it was not done in bad faith or out of disrespect for any court order.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Eifert, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 3:19cv70, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions, Discovery
J. Goodwin grants the motion of the vice-president of the mortgage servicing company to dismiss the former customer's predatory lending suit, finding the customer "sets forth few allegations of fact aside from a brief recitation of vague and conclusory assertions." Additionally, the court sanctions the customer for his history of vexatious litigation and prohibits him from filing future pleadings in the Southern District without either seeking leave of the court or retaining the assistance of legal counsel.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Goodwin, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv429, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions, Housing
J. Aiken grants the sheriff's motion for sanctions in the the state police trooper's lawsuit alleging that the deputy sheriff and the deputy sheriff sergeant denied him due process when they wrongfully arrested him for driving under the influence. Sanctions are appropriate in this matter, because the state police trooper violated the sheriff's office's discovery requests by not preserving his text messages and emails.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Aiken, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 6:21cv1622, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions, Discovery
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J. Self dismisses a civil rights action brought by the individual against the county officials as a sanction for the individual's repeated failure to comply with multiple court orders asking her whether someone with legal training was ghostwriting her pro se filings. The action arose from the officials' recording of an allegedly deficient quitclaim deed which the individual says deprived her of her house, land and property without due process. The individual's motions to disqualify the instant judge for being "racist" and subscribing to "Jim Crow's ideology" are denied because she failed to show any bias against her and no reasonable layperson would doubt the court's impartiality. The officials' motion for summary judgment is granted.
Court: USDC Middle District of Georgia, Judge: Self, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv83, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions
J. Huntsman denies the law enforcement defendants' motion for sanctions for spoliation of evidence in this lawsuit brought by a store owner asserting claims for excessive force and false arrest, based on his alleged arrest for public intoxication. At issue are the surveillance videos from his store on the night of the incident, which were automatically overwritten after 36 hours. The court finds that there was no duty on the part of the store owner to preserve the video within that time.
Court: USDC Northern District of Oklahoma , Judge: Huntsman, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 4:21cv137, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Evidence, sanctions
[Consolidated] J. Conley grants the federal government's motions to sever and remand in two lawsuits from a pro se citizen bringing multiple claims against state and federal employees, including allegations that they falsely called the police on him, disclosed his private medical records and wrongfully prescribed him medications for his mental illness. In one case the citizen's claims against a doctor are dismissed and all his motions for appeal are denied, and in both cases all of his remaining claims are remanded to state court. Overall, both cases and at least seven other pending lawsuits from the citizen are dismissed with prejudice as sanctions for his repeated incivility toward court officials and disregard of directives issued to him. The clerk of court is to forward any of the citizen's filings to the judge's chambers, and court staff are instructed to ignore the citizen's emails.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv380, NOS: Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions, Medical Malpractice
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. Liman partially grants the law firm's motion for sanctions against a Chinese permanent resident who accused the firm of working for the Chinese Communist Party and conspiring to harass him. The man's claims are legally frivolous and devoid of all factual basis. As a sanction, he must pay all the firm's legal expenses in connection with this litigation, plus a fine of $2,500 for burdening the court. However, an anti-suit injunction is not appropriate.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Liman, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv343, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions
J. Breyer denies the county's motion to dismiss the arrestee's claims against several county employees related to the conditions of his detention in two county holding facilities, but denies the arrestee's motions for sanctions and entry of final judgment. The arrestee has adequately connected the employees to his allegations, and while the county's present refusal to help effectuate service on its employees is understandably irritating to the arrestee, it is not sanctionable.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Breyer, Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv750, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions
J. Moore partially grants the police officer's motion for sanctions in a civil rights action brought by an individual arising after the officer allegedly conducted an unreasonable search by performing a strip and body cavity search on her in a gas station parking lot. The officer allegedly exposed the individual's breasts, buttocks and genitals to onlookers during the search and put her fingers in the individual's vagina. The individual's attorney twice approached an Atlanta news outlet to produce a segment on the individual's claims and appeared in coverage related to the incident while the case was pending. The attorney presented the allegations in the case as fact. The attorney was aware of the widespread media and public interest in policing and solicited the interview to influence perception of the merits of the case. The attorney is fined $500.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Moore, Filed On: June 29, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv123, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions, Police Misconduct
J. Frank denies the burglary victim's motion for relief from judgment in a case brought by a former friend the victim accused of committing the burglary, even after the arrest of burglary suspects. The friend's defamation claim and the court's finding of actual malice are supported by the record, whether or not the burglary victim's statements involved a matter of public concern. The friend's motion for sanctions, however, is denied since the burglary victim's arguments for relief from judgment were not frivolous and the Court cannot find that he or his counsel knew or should have known that one of his declarations contained erroneous information.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Frank, Filed On: June 27, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv565, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions, Defamation
J. Aiken grants the estate representative's motion for sanctions claiming that the healthcare company purged its emails of evidence related to the lawsuit alleging the county's subordinates were responsible for the decedent's death. The estate representative plausibly alleges its claim because the first email purge happened after the healthcare company received notices of a tort claim and evidence preservation, and the healthcare company denied doing so for months despite repeated inquiries.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Aiken, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 6:19cv1883, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions, Discovery
J. Stadtmueller dismisses with prejudice a lawsuit from a citizen bringing excessive force, unlawful arrest and other constitutional claims over his arrest after police found him passed out in his parked and running car, during which time he smelled like alcohol and police found marijuana and a pipe in his car. The citizen's motion for a mistrial is denied because all of his accusations of a conspiracy by prosecutors and court officials to thwart his case are meritless and untrue, as are accusations that he was attacked by individuals at the behest of prosecutors the night after his trial, which are easily disproved by security footage showing him drunkenly falling and striking his head and arguing with first responders before he was briefly hospitalized and discharged, then came to court bleeding profusely, refused to cooperate and left before the jury could deliver its verdict. The citizen's actions are worthy of sanctions, so the officers' attorneys' motion for sanctions is granted in that he must pay $1,118 for the cost of empaneling the jury, plus the costs the attorneys took on to respond to his mistrial motion.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Stadtmueller, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 2:19cv996, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Constitution, sanctions
J. Pepper denies the cheese company's motion to seal parts of the record in the employee's discrimination lawsuit where he alleges or implies the company uses illegal child labor and engaged in other criminal activity, including attempting to entice him with female minors. Although the employee is once again warned not to make these kinds of "irrelevant" and "inappropriate" allegations of criminal activity in his lawsuit, there is no basis under Seventh Circuit precedent to seal the documents as requested by the company, in part because they do not fit any of the three categories providing basis to seal and the company did not follow local rules by filing a redacted version of the documents they wish to have sealed. The employee is admonished that further violations of the court's rules and orders could result in sanctions.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Pepper, Filed On: June 11, 2023, Case #: 2:18cv1335, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions, Employment Discrimination
J. Menendez recommends denying the Minnesota Sex Offender Program detainee's motions for sanctions and appointment of counsel in his suit alleging a variety of civil rights violations by the program. The detainee's numerous claims do not make this matter factually or legally complex, and are within his capabilities to investigate as a pro se litigant. They are also recommended for dismissal.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Foster, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: 0:11cv979, NOS: Prison Condition - Habeas Corpus, Categories: civil Rights, sanctions
J. Estudillo grants the family's motion for sanctions against Kitsap County, as it withheld video evidence in litigation stemming from the inmate's death by suicide. Kitsap County's argument that it did not preserve the 11 hours of video concerning the inmate's suicide because a corrections officer did not believe it was relevant to the family's requests is insufficient, and a reasonable person could conclude that the evidence was deliberately destroyed to harm the family's case.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Estudillo, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv5800, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Evidence, sanctions