First Circuit Tag

Supreme Court Rejects Judge Gorsuch’s View of Special Education Law

Posted 27 Mar 2017 in Case Notes, Commentary, Monday Morning Review

The Supreme Court’s decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District was bad timing for Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch. The Supreme Court held unanimously that public school districts must offer students with disabilities an individual education plan (IEP) “reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.” The Court rejected the Tenth Circuit’s holding that an IEP must merely confer “some educational benefit” that is “more than de minimis.” This ruling came down while Judge Gorsuch was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Judge Gorsuch was the author of a 2008 opinion

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 14 Dec 2014 in Monday Morning Review

Catching up on recent published decisions involving local governments:

First Circuit

S. Kingstown Sch. Cmte v. Joanna S., No. 14-1177 (Dec. 9, 2014): The court ruled in Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act ("IDEA") case that settlement agreement relieved school committee of obligation to perform or fund evaluations, and remanded to determine whether Joanna S. is entitled to attorney's fees.

Second Circuit

Hardison v. Bd. of Ed. of the Oneonta City Sch. Dist., No. 13-1594 (Dec. 3, 2014): The court ruled, in IDEA case, that district court should have shown greater deference to state review officer's determination to deny reimbursement.

Fourth Circuit

E.L. v. Chapel Hill-Carrboro Bd. of Ed., No. 13-2330 (Dec. 3, 2014): The court found that student did not exhaust her administrative remedies and that school board did not violate the IDEA; student received therapy mandated by her IEP.
AGI Assoc., LLC v. City of Hickory, No. 13-2097 (Dec. 11, 2014): The court found that under North Carolina law, governmental immunity from equitable claims is waived when a county or municipality acts in a proprietary, not governmental, capacity.

Fifth Circuit

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 24 Nov 2014 in Monday Morning Review

Here are last week's published decisions involving local governments:

First Circuit

Watchtower Bible and Tract Soc. of New York v. Mun. of San Juan, No. 13-1605 (Nov. 20, 2014): The court upheld injunction against municipalities that had issued permits for gated communties in Puerto Rico that did not provide access to public streets for First-Amendment activities.

Third Circuit

Dougherty v. Sch. Dist. of Philadelphia, No. 13-3868 (Nov. 21, 2014): The court affirmed denial of motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds in case presenting First-Amendment retaliation claim.

Sixth Circuit

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 13 Oct 2014 in Monday Morning Review

Here are last week's published decisions involving local governments:

First Circuit

Showtime Entn't v. Town of Mendon, No. 12-2121 (Oct. 8, 2014): The Town's adult-business-entertainment bylaws unconstitutionally infringe on Showtime's right to engage in a protected expressive activity; the regulations' underinclusiveness indicates that Town does not have substantial interest in regulating adult businesses to curb secondary effects.

Seventh Circuit

Matz v. Klotka, No. 12-1674 (Oct. 6, 2014): In 1983 action alleging Fourth-Amendment violation arising out of arrest, the court affirmed the grant of summary judgment for officers on qualified-immunity grounds.

Ninth Circuit

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 03 Sep 2014 in Monday Morning Review

Here are last week's published decisions involving local governments:

First Circuit

Town of Johnston v. Fed. Housing Finance Agency, No. 13-2034 (Aug. 27, 2014): The court affirmed the dismissal of the municipalities' claim that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed to pay taxes on property transfers; the court found that statutory exemptions from taxation applied. As the court put it: "Six other circuits have recently considered this attempt to shoe-horn a transfer tax into a real property tax, and they have unanimously rejected the argument."

Second Circuit

Holt v. Town of Stonington, No. 12-4878 (Aug. 29, 2014): The court found that plaintiff who challenged Town's restrictions on her ability to build on her property failed to exhaust administrative remedies as required by Connecticut law.

Third Circuit

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 27 Aug 2014 in Monday Morning Review

Apologies that this edition is delayed. I was tied up with a significant filing for the past week. The courts were busy too. Here are the last two weeks' published decisions involving local governments:

First Circuit

Penn v. Escorsio, No. 13-2309 (Aug. 22, 2014): The court affirmed the district court's denial of qualified immunity at the summary judgment stage to corrections officers alleged to be deliberately indifferent to risk that detainee could commit suicide. The court found that the issues presented on appeal were purely factual, and the court had no jurisdiction to decide them on interlocutory appeal.

Second Circuit

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 21 Jul 2014 in Monday Morning Review

Here are last week's published decisions involving local governments:

First Circuit Merit Construction Alliance v. City of Quincy, No. 13-2189 (July 16, 2014): The court concluded that the district court: (1) properly determined that ERISA preempts a City ordinance mandating a specific apprentice-training program; and (2) erred by awarding attorney's fees under ERISA's fee-shifting statute. Third Circuit Batchelor v. Rose Tree Media Sch. Dist., No. 13-2192 (July 17, 2014): The court found that retaliation claims related to enforcement under the Indviduals with Disabilities in Education Act must be exhausted before a court may assert subject-matter jurisdiction.

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 30 Jun 2014 in Monday Morning Review

Here are last week's published decisions involving local governments:

First Circuit Snyder v. Gaudet, No. 12-1422 (June 25, 2014) (In 42 U.S.C. 1983 action alleging violation of equal protection because city applied zoning restriction differently to Snyder than to prior owner, granting qualified immunity to defendants because right was not clearly established):

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 23 Jun 2014 in Monday Morning Review

Here are last week's published decisions involving local governments:

First Circuit

Thayer v. City of Worcester, No. 13-2355 (June 19, 2014) (affirming denial of preliminary injunction against enforcement of city ordinances prohibiting coercive or risky behavior by panhandlers).

Second Circuit

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 09 Jun 2014 in Monday Morning Review

Here are last week's published decisions involving local governments:

First Circuit

Cady v. Walsh, No. 13-2040 (June 4, 2014) (finding that the court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over interlocutory appeal in qualified-immunity case).

Fifth Circuit

Kagan v. City of New Orleans, No. 13-30801 (June 2, 2014) (affirming summary judgment for City in First-Amendment challenge brought by tour guides who objected to City licensing requirement).
Morgan v. Swanson, No. 13-40433 (June 3, 2014) (affirming grant of qualified immunity to school principal who prevented parent from distributing religious materials to other adults at school party; this substitutes for earlier opinion).

First Circuit Tag

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