Posted 13 Nov 2013 in Tips and Tactics

Careful proofing is as important as excellent writing.  Errors and omissions slip into briefs so easily, especially if several people are working on it.  There are many good tips for proofing, all best employed a day or more after the writing is done: Print and proof the document in hard copy; Read the document aloud, forcing yourself to acknowledge each word, or read with your finger pointing at each word; Never try to proof for everything at once—proof the text, then the headings,...

Posted 11 Nov 2013 in Monday Morning Review

Here are published decisions involving local governments from the federal appellate courts from November 4, 2013 through November 8, 2013: Seventh Circuit Brumfield v. City of Chicago, No. 11-2265 (Nov. 6, 2013) (finding that Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act does not apply to public-employment discrimination claims). See our coverage here. Balthazar v. City of Chicago, No. 12-3378 (Nov. 8, 2013) (affirming dismissal of 1983 action against officers for alleged unreasonable apartment search after mistaken opening of wrong apartment). See our coverage here. ...

Posted 11 Nov 2013 in Case Notes

In Balthazar v. City of Chicago, No. 12-3378 (Nov. 8, 2013), the Seventh Circuit addressed an interesting Fourth-Amendment question: is it a "search" for officers to mistakenly open the wrong apartment door and glance inside? Judge Posner said that in this case, it likely was not: Police forced open the door of a residence by mistake, realized their mistake immediately (in fact before the door opened—for remember that Beckman tried to check the forward motion of the battering ram), and left immediately....

Posted 08 Nov 2013 in Tips and Tactics

There are many citation styles one could use in writing briefs—The Bluebook, The Redbook, the University of Chicago Manual of Legal Citation, the California Style Manual, and so on.  One is not inherently superior to another.  If the court that will consider the brief has a required style, then that ends the matter. The fundamental rules for good citations are a very few: citations must provide everything the reader must know to locate the source; citations need to be simple, easy to understand...

Posted 06 Nov 2013 in Case Notes

Today, the Supreme Court heard argument in Town of Greece v. Galloway, No. 12-696, which asks whether the Town's legislative-prayer practice violates the Establishment Clause. We previously discussed the case here. Here is a transcript of the oral argument. And here is a recap from Lyle Denniston. He concludes by building on a comment from Justice Kagan: Justice Kagan tried to sum up: Isn’t the question here, she said, whether public meeting prayers with references to Jesus Christ “will be allowed in a public...

Posted 06 Nov 2013 in Case Notes

Does Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act apply to employment-related discrimination claims, even though Title I of the Act specifically addresses such claims? Answering this "question of first impression" in the circuit, in Brumfield v. City of Chicago, No. 11-2265 (Nov. 6, 2013), the Seventh Circuit today joined the Ninth and Tenth Circuits in concluding that Title II does not extend to employment-discrimination claims. Such claims must be brought under Title I. The court determined that because, read in context, Title II unambiguously does not reach employment-discrimination claims, the court need...

Posted 05 Nov 2013 in Tips and Tactics

Many laws are enacted as a coherent whole and then divided and separated when they are codified.  Part of the statute may be sprinkled into the jurisdiction and procedure code, part into one substantive code and the rest into another.  Additionally, within one code, sections of a single statute may appear widely separated.  Two federal examples: The Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 appears in the following United States Code titles: 5, 31, 38 and 42. The Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Adoption...

Posted 04 Nov 2013 in Case Notes
Eagle Cove believed that its religion required it to hold its Bible camp in only one place: on its lake-side property in Oneida County, Wisconsin. But the County had zoned the property for residential use only. When Eagle Cove asked the County to re-zone the property, the County refused. When Eagle Cove asked for a conditional use permit so that it could hold the Bible camp anyway, the County denied that too.Wisc-lake Did the County's denials violate the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act? In Eagle Cove Camp & Conference Center v. Town of Woodboro, No. 13-1274 (Oct. 30, 2013), the Seventh Circuit said "no." It affirmed the grant of summary judgment for the County and for the Town of Woodboro. No Total Exclusion One provision of RLUIPA provides that

Posted 04 Nov 2013 in Monday Morning Review

Here are published decisions involving local governments from the federal appellate courts from October 28, 2013 through November 1, 2013: 6th Circuit Hidden Village, LLC v. City of Lakewood,  No. 12-3543 (Oct. 30, 2013) (finding that claim brought by apartment-complex owner that City and officials waged racially motivated harassment campaign against its tenants may proceed to trial). Burgess v. Fischer, No. 12-4191 (Nov. 1, 2013) (holding that summary judgment for County and officers was only proper for certain of plaintiffs' excessive force, failure to intervene, deliberate...