Sixth Circuit Tag

Supreme Court Review of Same-Sex Marriage (Almost) Inevitable

Posted 17 Nov 2014 in Case Notes, Commentary

Even though there was no disagreements among the federal circuit courts of appeals at the time, Court watchers were shocked with the Supreme Court denied certiorari in a series of cases striking down same-sex marriage bans. All eyes then turned to the Ninth and Sixth Circuits who had pending cases. The next day the Ninth Circuit struck down Nevada’s and Idaho’s ban. On November 6 the Sixth Circuit became the first federal circuit court to uphold bans in four states...

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 10 Nov 2014 in Monday Morning Review

Here are the last two weeks' published decisions involving local governments:

Second Circuit

Golodner v. Berliner, No. 12-1173 (Oct. 27, 2014): In 1983 action alleging that City and City officials retaliated against Golodner for exercising his First-Amendment rights, the court affirmed that defendants were not entitled to summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity.
Berman v. City of New York, No. 13-598 (Oct. 29, 2014): The court certified two questions to the New York Court of Appeals in suit challenging City law that regulates debt-collection agencies.
Harris v. O'Hare, No. 12-4350 (Oct. 30, 2014): In suit claiming that officers violated the Fourth Amendment when they entered yard and shot and killed family dog, the court found that there was insufficient evidence of exigent circumstances to permit warrantless search.
Floyd v. City of New York, No. 13-3088 (Oct. 31, 2014): The court ruled that public-sector unions may not intervene into litigation concerning City's "stop-and-frisk" policy where the parties to the ligitation have agreed to settlement.

Sixth Circuit

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 28 Oct 2014 in Monday Morning Review

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

Third Circuit

Thorpe v. Borough ofJim Thorpe, No. 13-2446 (Oct. 23, 2014): The court reversed district court's conclusion that Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires the Borough to disinter Jim Thorpe. In the court's view, "Congress could not have intended th[is] kind of patently absurd result."

Fourth Circuit

Davis v. City of Greensboro, No. 13-1820 (Oct. 22, 2014): In suit brought by police officers and firefighters claiming that the City failed to pay certain wages and benefits, the court affirmed district court's denial of the City's motion to dismiss because governmental immunity does not protect the City from breach of contract and estoppel claims.

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 20 Oct 2014 in Monday Morning Review

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

Sixth Circuit

Cass v. City of Dayton, No. 13-4409 (Oct. 16, 2014): In 1983 action alleging that officer used excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment, the court affirmed summary judgment for defendants because officer's conduct was objectively reasonable and did not violate Fourth Amendment.

Seventh Circuit

Swisher v. Porter County Sheriff's Dept., No. 13-3602 (Oct. 15, 2014): The court reversed the judgment for defendants because Plaintiff, who brought 1983 action alleging he was denied proper medical care while he was a pretrial detainee, had no duty to exhaust administrative remedies at the jail because jail's grievance procedure was not clear.

Ninth Circuit

What’s Next for Same-Sex Marriage?

Posted 09 Oct 2014 in Commentary

For the six reasons Lyle Denniston describes on SCOTUSblog, the Supreme Court’s announcement on Monday that it would not hear any of the seven petitions striking down same-sex marriage bans was stunning.

Even though there was no circuit split, conventional wisdom indicated the Court would decide the issue because of its importance and because both sides asked the Court for review. Amy Howe also of SCOTUSblog and Scott Michelman writing on SCOTUSblog speculate as to the why the Court’s liberals and conservatives may have decided not to get involved in the issue now. In short, the liberals had nothing to lose by waiting, and both side face uncertainty about Justice Kennedy’s position on the issue. To understand where were are today with same-sex marriage a timetable is helpful.

On Sunday, 19 states recognized same-sex marriage.
On Monday, 11 more states were added from the Fourth (Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina) Seventh (Wisconsin and Indiana) and Tenth Circuits (Utah, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, and Wyoming).
On Tuesday 5 more states were added when the Ninth Circuit (Idaho, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, and Montana) struck down the Idaho and Nevada same-sex marriage bans. (Implementation of this decision is still being worked out).

Technically,

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 23 Sep 2014 in Monday Morning Review

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

Second Circuit

Chabad Lubavitch of Litchfield County, Inc. v. Litchfield Hist. Dist. Comm'n, No. 12-1057 (Sept. 19, 2014): The court ruled, in Religious Land Use and Instiutionalized Persons Act challege to historic district's denial of application to modify property for religious use, that district court: (i) erred in finding that rabbi lacked standing; and (ii) applied the wrong standard to determine that the historic district was entitled to summary judgment under RLUIPA.

Sixth Circuit

United Pet Supply, Inc. v. City of Chattanooga, No. 13-5181 (Sept. 18, 2014): The court found that: (i) private animal-welfare employee that contracted with City may not assert qualified immunity; (ii) officers may not assert qualified-immunity defense to "official capacity" suits; (iii) seizure of animals without prior hearing did not violate procedural due process; (iv) revocation of permit without hearing did violate due process; (v) that warrantless animal seizure did not violate Fourth Amendment because of exigent circumstances; and (vi) seizure of records without warrant violated clearly established Fourth-Amendment right and therefore officer was not entitled to qualified immunity.
Finn v. Warren County, No. 13-6629 (Sept. 16, 2014): In action alleging inadequte medical care in violation of the Eighth Amendment and state law claims including negligence after Finn died in his cell, the court reversed grant of summary judgment for officer, remanded for trial on negligence claim, and otherwise affirmed judgment below.

Seventh Circuit

Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Posted 07 Sep 2014 in Monday Morning Review

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

Sixth Circuit

Scheick v. Tecumseh Pub. Sch., No. 13-1558 (Sept. 2, 2014): In case in which Scheick contends that the school district did not renew his contract in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the court reversed summary judgment for the school district . The evidence was sufficient to create a genuine issue of fact.
Krause v. Jones, No. 13-2498 (Sept. 3, 2014): The court affirmed finding of qualified immunity for officers in excessive-force case.
F.H. v. Memphis City Schools, No. 13-6323 (Sept. 4, 2014): The court reversed dismissal of student's 1983 and contractual claims arising out of alleged neglect and abuse; neither settlement agreement nor IDEA barred claims.

Eighth 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.

Sixth Circuit Tag

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