On Friday, March 15, a unanimous Supreme Court decided two companion cases (Lindke v. Freed and O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier) that resolved a split in the Circuits concerning whether public officials can be held liable under...more
DRI is proud to announce the 37th annual Civil Rights and Governmental Tort Liability Seminar in Phoenix, AZ! This seminar will provide you with invaluable information and tools to represent your governmental clients....more
Today’s post provides an important update on the Supreme Court case Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County (HHC) v. Talevski. As readers will remember, our blog has been following this case since it made its way to...more
In a ruling issued today, the United States Supreme Court held that the family of a nursing home resident could bring a claim against the nursing home under the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act via section 1983. ...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
This week, the Ninth Circuit addresses a religion-based challenge to a federal-government land transfer and considers whether public-sector employees can obtain refunds of mandatory union fees since deemed unconstitutional. ...more
When the police, acting under the color of law, deprive a person of their civil or constitutional rights, the person generally has two remedies. First, if they are the victim of an unconstitutional search or seizure, a forced...more
On July 27, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (the "Court" or "7th Circuit") issued a ruling which could dramatically impact litigation involving Indiana skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). In...more
A damaged Property Owner no longer has to exhaust administrative remedies in State Court if they wish to pursue a takings claim under the Civil Rights Act. As a result, Property Owners injured by government regulatory takings...more
On June 28, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Pakdel v. San Francisco, holding that the plaintiffs were not required to exhaust state remedies through an inverse condemnation proceeding to bring a § 1983 claim for...more
The Ninth Circuit held that a private nonprofit club that leased city property was not a state actor that could be held liable for constitutional claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Pasadena Republican Club v. Western Justice...more
This week, the Ninth Circuit declines to extend a recent Supreme Court decision on retaliatory arrest to the immigration bond revocation context, and resolves a particularly hairy preemption question about state-law...more
We live in a time of contradictions and confusion, and today we aim to explore how some such tensions have manifested themselves in the area of intellectual property law. On the one hand, we have a national and...more
On June 21, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania, 139 S. Ct. 2162 (2019) (Knick), that private parties seeking to challenge a local government under the “Takings Clause” can now file...more
In June, the United States Supreme Court dismantled what many considered to be an untenable “preclusion trap” in Fifth Amendment takings law when it decided Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania. The key issue in Knick was...more
In Justice Elena Kagan’s dissenting opinion in the U.S. Supreme Court takings case Knick v. Scott, she stated: “Today’s decision sends a flood of complex state-law issues to federal courts. It makes federal courts a principal...more
Did you know the right to eminent domain goes as far back as the Magna Carta? Eminent domain is hardly new news, and as such recent game changing cases regarding the subject are few and far between. The last major eminent...more
For many years, a property owner seeking compensation from a state or local government for an uncompensated property taking was relegated to filing an action for inverse condemnation in state court. In Ohio, for example, that...more
The Supreme Court recently issued its long-awaited ruling in Knick v. Township of Scott, concluding that a plaintiff alleging that local governments have violated the Takings Clause under the Fifth Amendment may seek relief...more
On Friday, June 22, 2019, in Knick v. Township of Scott, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank and, in the process, paved a direct path to federal court for...more
Every June, when the Supreme Court’s term comes to an end, a few high-profile cases generate an avalanche of media coverage. Typically, these cases involve the most contentious political issues of the day....more
The U.S. Supreme Court is finishing up its term, getting ready for its summer break, so its decisions are coming fast now. On June 21, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a surprising decision affecting regulatory takings,...more
In Knick v Scott, SCOTUS overruled precedent requiring property owners asserting takings by state or local government to exhaust state court remedies before seeking relief in the federal courts....more
Focus - SCOTUS rules that landowners have clear path to federal court for a taking of real property interests - Allen Matkins – June 25 - In a dramatic repudiation of 34 years of established precedent and a clear...more
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 34-year-old precedent established by Williamson Planning Comm’n v. Hamilton Bank, holding that landowners pursuing takings claims do not need to seek redress in state courts before pursuing...more