Articles Posted in Constitutional Law

U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 08, 2009 Davis v. Tarrant Cty., No. 07-11223 In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action seeking admission to a state system of appointing attorneys in felony cases, the dismissal of the complaint is affirmed, where Plaintiff lacked standing because he failed to show that his application would have been denied had he reapplied for the position after changes in the system. .

U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 06, 2009 US v. Benson , No. 08-1312 District court action enjoining defendant from selling materials based on his premise that customers could stop paying federal income taxes and avoid or defeat prosecution by relying on the materials is affirmed where: 1) defendant violated 26 U.S.C. sec. 6700 by selling an illegal method by which to avoid paying taxes, and knew that his statements regarding the illegal plan were false or fraudulent; and 2) the injunction was properly issued and did not violate the First Amendment. Denial of government’s request to require defendant to divulge a list of his customers is reversed where: 1) defendant would not be harmed by identifying his customers and it would serve the public interest for the government to receive the full list; and 2) an order divulging the client list does not infringe on the First Amendment rights of defendant’s customers.

U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 09, 2009 City of Joliet v. New West, L.P. , No. 08-3032 In an action involving eminent domain proceedings, district court judgment is affirmed where neither the National Housing Act nor the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act preempts state and local condemnation laws.
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March 30 – April 3, 2009:

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, April 01, 2009 Garcia v. Yonkers Sch. Dist. , No. 07-3167 In an First Amendment action between students and school district, district court’s grant of attorney’s fees to plaintiff is reversed where plaintiffs were not prevailing parties in the matter as the court did not issue a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order and therefore there was no basis for according prevailing party status. ..

U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 02, 2009 Andrew v. Clark, No. 07-1184 In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging that Defendants violated Plaintiff’s First Amendment rights by retaliating against him for releasing an internal police memorandum, the complaint’s dismissal is vacated, where there was a dispute as to whether Plaintiff released the memorandum as part of his official duties.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 30, 2009 Coors Brewing Co. v. Méndez-Torres, No. 07-2682 In an action challenging a beer tax exemption as unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause, district court’s grant of defendant’s motion to dismiss is reversed and remanded where: 1) the court erred in finding that the decision of the jurisdictional issue in the earlier Calderón action precluded consideration of that issue in the current suit; 2) plaintiff’s action is not barred by the Butler Act limiting federal jurisdiction in Puerto Rico or by principles of comity; 3) the PR Supreme Court’s decision in Brewers does not provide a basis for granting defendant’s motion to dismiss; and 4) defendant failed to meet the burden of showing sufficient privity between plaintiff and plaintiff’s PR beer distributor, and thus the the prior final judgment involving the distributor does not preclude the present action.
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March 16 – 20, 2009:

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 19, 2009 Levesque v. Doocy , No. 08-1814

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March 9 – 13, 2009:

U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, March 10, 2009 Fontroy v. Beard, No. 07-2446 In an action involving the First Amendment rights of prisoners, district court’s judgment is reversed where the defendant’s new prison mail policy requiring attorneys and courts to affix control numbers to mail sent to inmates is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests and thus does not unconstitutionally infringe on First Amendment rights, as there is a rational connection between the mail policy and the prison’s interest in prison security and safety.

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February 21 – February 27, 2009
U.S. Supreme Court, February 24, 2009 Ysursa v. Pocatello Educ. Ass’n., No. 07-869 In a First Amendment challenge to a law prohibiting public employees from making payroll deductions for political activities, summary judgment for Defendant is affirmed, where the First Amendment does not confer a right to use government payroll mechanisms for political expression.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, February 25, 2009 Del Gallo v. Parent, No. 08-1511
In a case involving First Amendment rights and the right to campaign on a post office sidewalk, grant of defendant’s motion for summary judgment is affirmed where: 1) the post office sidewalk is not a traditional public forum; 2) the regulation barring candidate’s election campaigning on a post office sidewalk is viewpoint neutral and reasonable to prevent abuses and to preclude any appearance of partisan endorsement or preference; and 3) there is insufficient evidence of a pattern of selective enforcement before plaintiff’s arrest, and the regulation has been consistently applied since then.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, February 27, 2009 Poirier v. Massachusetts Dept. of Corr. , No. 08-1290
In a civil rights action, district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint for failure to state a claim is affirmed where enforcement of a Department of Corrections rule prohibiting unauthorized personal contact with former inmates did not violate plaintiff’s constitutional right to intimate association because the rule is a rational means of promoting the legitimate government interest in prison security. District court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s suit against the DOC on sovereign immunity grounds and claim for damages is affirmed.
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February 16 – February 20, 2009

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, February 17, 2009 Sledge v. Kooi, No. 07-1547 In a suit brought pro se by plaintiff alleging defendant violated his Eighth Amendment rights while incarcerated, grant of defendant’s motion for summary judgment is affirmed. When facing pro se litigants who are repeat filers, absent a strong showing that the pro se litigant has acquired adequate experience more generally, a district court should limit the withdrawal of pro se litigant’s special status to specific contexts in which the litigant’s experiences indicates that he may fairly be deemed knowledgeable and experienced. .

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, February 17, 2009 New York State Restaurant Ass’n v. New York City Bd. of Health , No. 08-1892 In an action challenging the constitutionality of a law requiring restaurants to post caloric information on menus, the District Court’s denial of plaintiff’s motions for preliminary injunction, declaratory relief, and summary judgment, and grant of defendant’s motion for summary judgment, are affirmed where New York Health Code 81.50: 1) is not expressly preempted by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990; and 2) does not infringe on plaintiff’s member restaurants’ First Amendment rights. ..

U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, February 20, 2009 Ponta-Garcia v. Att’y Gen. of the US, No. 07-2551 Petition for review of reinstatement of removal order is granted and the reinstatement determination is vacated and remanded where plaintiff contested the bases for the reinstatement order and offered support for his claims. ICE must then consider the evidence and attempt to verify the claim. The regulation governing the reinstatement of orders of removal is upheld as a valid construction of 8 U.S.C. section 1231(a)(5) and is not found to violate due process.
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U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 09, 2009 Cloaninger v. McDevitt , No. 072054 In a claim against defendant-deputy sheriffs alleging violation of plaintiff’s search and seizure rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments and his due process and equal protection rights, grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants is affirmed where: 1) there was no genuine dispute of fact material to defendants’ qualified immunity suit under 42 U.S.C. section 1983; and 2) plaintiff’s state law claims had abated, were abandoned, or failed as a matter of law.

U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 12, 2009 Waller v. City of Danville, Virginia, No. 072099 In a claim under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) alleging defendant-city violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by unlawfully arresting decedent using excessive force and failing to properly train officers in dealing with the disabled, grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants is affirmed where any duty of reasonable accommodation that existed under the ADA was satisfied under the circumstances.

U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 09, 2009 Equal Employment Opportunity Comm’n v. Bd. of Regents for the Univ. of Louisiana Sys., No. 08-30327 In a suit alleging violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, denial of defendant’s motion to dismiss on Eleventh Amendment grounds is affirmed where the Eleventh Amendment does not shield a state from suit brought by a federal government agency to enforce a federal law, and the federal agency may seek make-whole relief on behalf of a private individual.
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