Moore v. Oakland County, Michigan, 126 F.4th 1163 (6th Cir. 2025) - This § 1983 lawsuit was filed against a police officer after a confrontation during a traffic stop in which the plaintiff resisted compliance. Despite the...more
Under California Civil Code section 2924(d), a trustee’s communications and actions that are necessary to conduct a nonjudicial foreclosure sale pursuant to a deed of trust are privileged under Civil Code section 47. The...more
Earlier this month, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes Georgia) affirmed the dismissal of Title IX and Section 1983 claims filed by volleyball players against the University of South Alabama and its...more
In a lawsuit against the University of North Carolina and officials by a male student who was expelled and lost his scholarship after being found responsible for sexual misconduct against female classmates, the Fourth Circuit...more
U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals - Albert v. Ass’n of Anti-Money Laundering - ADA, § 309 - NRA v. Bondi - firearms, sales to minors, young adults, constitutional challenges - Org of Prof Aviculturists v. FDLA...more
Back The Blue Act - This week, the Alabama House of Representatives passed the Back the Blue Protection Act, sponsored by Representative Rex Reynolds and Senator Lance Bell, which aims to expand legal immunity for law...more
U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals - USA v. Charles - sentencing - Miller v. Ramirez - qualified immunity, deferring ruling - Chapman v. Dunn - prison conditions, Eighth Amendment - USA v. Horn - securities...more
A 1971 Supreme Court Decision of Doubtful Vitality Thwarts § 1983 Liability for Mistaken-Identity Arrests and Stifles Development of Clear Constitutional Rules - Kafka would love qualified immunity.1 Not only does current...more
Key Points: There is a constitutional right to medical care for those individuals in custody. Although there is a right to have a government actor intervene when the underlying constitutional violation involves excessive...more
Robinson v. Cleveland, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 112798, 2024-Ohio-969 - A Cleveland police officer was stopped at a stop light. Without turning on his lights and sirens, he checked for oncoming traffic and advanced through the...more
In Thomas v. City of Harrisburg, et al., 2023 WL 8461096 (3d Cir. Dec. 6, 2023), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently determined that police officers were not entitled to qualified immunity where...more
Akima v. Peca, 85 F.4th 416 (6th Cir. 2023) - The plaintiff, an Asian male in the U.S. on a visa, was pulled over for a broken headlight. The plaintiff attempted to exit the vehicle during the stop, allegedly a possible sign...more
Linden v. City of Southfield, Michigan, No. 22-1681, Jul. 26, 2023 - Emergency medical personnel were granted qualified immunity after pronouncing a person dead, despite her still demonstrating respiratory movement and...more
Miguelina Pena, et al. v. City of Lancaster et al., No. CV 21-590, 2023 WL 5807005, at *1 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 7, 2023) - Following the fatal shooting of her son during a mental health episode where he was in possession of a...more
In an opinion published on May 31, 2023, MacIntosh v Clous, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the conduct of a county commissioner who responded to a constituent’s criticisms during a virtual public meeting by...more
Know Your Civil Rights - Nobody is above the law. Law enforcement and other government work is a high calling of service. People deserve to trust the police and the government. Almost always, law enforcement officers and...more
The Nevada Supreme Court’s opinion and analysis in Mack v. Williams (2022) have the potential to fundamentally shift civil rights litigation from the Federal to the State court, but the door will not remain open for too long...more
This week, the Court addresses the availability of a Bivens cause of action against federal officials and certifies two insurance law questions to the Montana Supreme Court. The Court holds that a Bivens cause of action...more
Last week, we began discussing Radwan v. Manuel, a case recently decided by the U.S. Circuit Court for the Second Circuit regarding discipline faced by a soccer player at the University of Connecticut, a public institution....more
This week, the Court wrestles with a thorny First Amendment question that has divided other Courts of Appeals and considers district courts’ ability to impose sanctions under Rule 37(c)(1). The Court holds that two local...more
In Smith v. School Board for the City of Norfolk, Virginia, et al., No. 2:21-cv-138 (November 5, 2021), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia refused to grant a motion to dismiss to the Norfolk School...more
Events from recent years related to alleged police misconduct raised major questions surrounding the protections afforded by qualified immunity to police officers in excessive force claims. Two recent Supreme Court decisions...more
Law enforcement critics have launched concerted attacks on the doctrine of qualified immunity in an effort to mischaracterize the doctrine as allowing police officers to escape liability for clearly unconstitutional conduct. ...more
On June 28, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Lombardo v. St. Louis, 20-391, holding per curium that excessive force precedent requires courts to employ a “careful, context-specific analysis” on summary judgment. In...more
In a 5-3 decision authored by Chief Justice Roberts, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Torres v. Madrid that a woman who was shot while fleeing from police officers was “seized,” even though she remained at large. ...more