FindLaw Opinion Summaries - Con Law

Free Enterprise Fund v. Pub. Co. Accounting Oversight Bd.

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:00:02 PDT

(U.S.S.C., Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Government Law, Securities Law) In an action against the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and its members, seeking, inter alia, a declaratory judgment that the Board was unconstitutional and an injunction preventing the Board from exercising its powers, the D.C. Circuit's affirmance of summary judgment for defendants is affirmed in part where the Board's appointment was consistent with the Appointments Clause. However, the judgment is reversed in part where: 1) the dual for-cause limitations on the removal of Board members contravene the Constitution's separation of powers; and 2) the unconstitutional tenure provisions were severable from the remainder of the statute.

McDonald v. City of Chicago

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:00:02 PDT

(U.S.S.C., Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Government Law) In an action against the City of Chicago alleging that the City's handgun ban left plaintiffs vulnerable to criminals, judgment for defendants is reversed where the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment right, recognized in Heller, to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense.

Christian Legal Soc. v. Martinez

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:00:02 PDT

(U.S.S.C., Constitutional Law, Education Law, Government Law) In an action against Hastings College of Law, a public law school, alleging that Hastings' refusal to grant a Christian group "Registered Student Organization" status violated its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to free speech, expressive association, and free exercise of religion, the Ninth Circuit's affirmance of summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) the Court considered only whether a public institution's conditioning access to a student organization forum on compliance with an all-comers policy violated the Constitution; and 2) the all-comers policy was a reasonable, viewpoint-neutral condition on access to the RSO forum.

Kimbrough v. State of Cal.

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 9th Cir., Attorney's Fees, Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure) In an action claiming that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's (CDCR) grooming regulations concerning hair length interfered with plaintiff's First Amendment right to free exercise of religion, the district court's award of attorney's fees to plaintiff is reversed where, because the district court did not actually adjudicate plaintiff's claims, the Ninth Circuit's decision in Siripongs foreclosed an award of attorneys' fees in this case.

Doe v. Reed

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S.S.C., Constitutional Law, Elections, Government Law) In a First Amendment challenge to the Washington Public Records Act based on its provision permitting the disclosure of referendum petition signers' names and addresses, the Ninth Circuit's reversal of the district court's preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiffs is affirmed where disclosure of referendum petitions does not as a general matter violate the First Amendment.

Muscarello v. Ogle County Bd. of Comm'rs

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 7th Cir., Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Construction, Government Law, Property Law & Real Estate, Public Utilities) In plaintiff's suit against multiple defendants asserting various claims based on the U.S. Constitution, the Illinois Constitution, Illinois statutes, and the common law, arsing from the county's decision to amend its zoning ordinances to allow special permits for the construction of windmills used to generate power, and in particular, the construction of 40 windmills adjacent to plaintiff's property, judgment of the district court is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff's federal takings, equal protection, and due process claims fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; 2) plaintiff's state law trespass and nuisance claims are not ripe for review; 3) plaintiff has failed to avail herself of the opportunity to allege and support an independent basis of federal subject-matter jurisdiction over the other seven claims; and 4) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion for an administrative stay.

Simmons v. Navajo County

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 9th Cir., Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Government Law, Injury And Tort Law) In a civil rights action against county jail personnel claiming that they negligently permitted the suicide of an inmate, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed in part where: 1) no reasonable jury could conclude that a nurse consciously disregarded an excessive risk to plaintiffs' decedent's safety; 2) plaintiffs adduced no evidence that a corrections officer knew that the decedent was suicidal; and 3) because there was no underlying constitutional violation, plaintiffs could not maintain a claim for municipal liability. However, the judgment is vacated in part where, should the district court decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiffs' state law claims, it may remand those claims to state court for further proceedings.

Ebert v. Gaetz

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 7th Cir., Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Habeas Corpus) District court's denial of defendant's petition for habeas relief from his murder and armed robbery conviction is affirmed where: 1) a state court's conclusion that new statements from a witness did not negate its earlier finding of probable cause to arrest defendant was not so erroneous as to be objectionably unreasonable; and 2) defendant's counsel was not constitutionally deficient in failing to file what would have been an unmeritorious motion to quash his arrest and suppress inculpatory statement.

Parra v. Neal

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 7th Cir., Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Elections, Government Law) In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit, brought by registered voters against the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago and its members, claiming that their votes for a disqualified candidate on the ballot were invalidated in violation of their Fourteenth Amendment rights, district court's grant of defendants' motion for summary judgment is affirmed as the plaintiffs' suit is meritless as they provide no grounds for federal court interference with the state supreme court's decision or the Board's implementation of that decision.

Terry v. Hubert

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 5th Cir., Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure) In an action brought by a former inmate detained (for about 7 months) following Hurricane Katrina alleging violations of plaintiff's First Amendment right to access the courts and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, a denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity is reversed where the undisputed evidence showed that defendant-warden neither violated plaintiff's right of access to the courts nor violated any clearly established law in connection with the detention.

Sides v. Cherry

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:00:02 PDT

(U.S. 3d Cir., Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure) In a former inmate's 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit against various prison officials, jury verdict in favor of the defendants is affirmed where: 1) requiring a party in a civil trial to appear in shackles may well deprive him of due process unless the restraints are necessary; and 2) even if the district court erred in ordering that defendant be shackled during trial, that error was harmless.

Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S.S.C., Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Government Law) In a constitutional challenge to 18 U.S.C. section 2339B(a)(1), which prohibited knowingly providing material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, the Ninth Circuit's affirmance of partial judgment for plaintiffs is reversed in part where the material support statute was constitutional as applied to the particular forms of support that plaintiffs sought to provide to foreign terrorist organizations.

Real Estate Bar Ass'n for Massachusetts, Inc. v. Nat'l Real Estate Info. Serv.

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 1st Cir., Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Consumer Protection Law, Ethics & Disciplinary Code, Ethics & Professional Responsibility, Property Law & Real Estate) In the Real Estate Bar Association's suit against defendant for unauthorized practice of law, judgment of the district court is vacated in part, reversed in part and remanded where: 1) district court's judgment against plaintiff on its unauthorized practice of law claim is vacated as in Massachusetts, the state judicial branch and the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC) in particular, is solely responsible for defining what is the practice of law, and here, there is no controlling precedent which addresses whether the activities at issue constitute unauthorized practice of law; and 2) district court's judgment on defendant's dormant Commerce Clause counterclaim is reversed as plaintiff is not a state actor, defendant has not stated a dormant Commerce Clause claim against plaintiff, and plaintiff's bringing of its suit against defendant under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 221, section 46B is protected by the First Amendment.

Rodriguez-Garcia v. Miranda-Marin

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 1st Cir., Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Government Law, Labor & Employment Law, Remedies) In a municipal employee's suit claiming that she was transferred to another position in retaliation for testimony she gave before the Puerto Rico Government Ethics Office in violation of her rights under the First Amendment and Puerto Rico law, judgment of the district court is affirmed where: 1) the evidence presented at trial is sufficient to support a jury finding that plaintiff suffered an adverse employment action sufficient to support her section 1983 claim; 2) defendants would not have taken the same adverse employment action in the absence of her protected conduct; 3) the mayor was personally liable for retaliation under section 1983; 4) the municipality is liable under section 1983; 5) the court did not abuse its discretion in affirming the damages award in the amount of $350,000; and 6) the court's determination that plaintiff waived her Puerto Rico Law 115 claim was not an abuse of discretion.

Junkert v. Massey

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 7th Cir., Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence) In an attorney's 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit claiming that searches of her law office and residence for stolen laptop computers and controlled substances violated her Fourth Amendment rights, judgment against plaintiff pursuant to a jury verdict is affirmed as an affidavit was not so deficient that any reasonably well-trained officer would have known that probable cause was lacking, requiring the second-guessing of the judge's authorization, and thus, the officer has a qualified immunity defense against the attorney's section 1983 suit.