Aisha Johnson

Correspondent

Aisha Johnson

Federal courthouse correspondent, covers civil rights, employment discrimination, housing rights, and Second Amendment disputes.

Civil Rights & Constitutional

Decisions covered by Aisha Johnson

1,706 decisions
Dec 18 2025
1st Cir. 24-1244 Panel Decision

DELMA TERENZIO, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Joseph A. Terenzio; THOMAS SULLIVAN, as Personal Representative of the Estate of John J. Sullivan; EDWARD POULIN, as...

The First Circuit affirmed the District Court's grant of qualified immunity to state officials sued over the deaths of veterans at a state-run facility during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court held that the plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege that the defendants directly caused the harm or that the law was clearly established to prohibit the alleged conduct.

Civil Civil Rights - Section 1983 Qualified Immunity
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Dec 18 2025
10th Cir. 4:25-CV-00471-JFH-SH Panel Decision

Fayee Gu v. Gina Abadi

The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit dismissed an appeal due to a lack of prosecution. The court issued an order stating that the appeal was dismissed pursuant to Tenth Circuit Rule forty-two point one.

Civil Other Civil
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Dec 18 2025
1st Cir. 24-1736 Panel Decision

LIBBY HEWES v. SAMANTHA PANGBURN

The First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a former student's civil rights claims against school officials and a police officer regarding sexual assault by a coach. The court held that the school officials lacked actual knowledge of the abuse and that the plaintiff failed to prove the state created the danger or that the officer was properly served.

Civil Civil Rights - Employment Qualified Immunity
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Dec 18 2025
11th Cir. 2:23-cv-00648-RDP Published

Racheal Gantt v. Deputy Everett

The Eleventh Circuit vacated a district court ruling that denied qualified immunity to a jail deputy who remotely unlocked a pretrial detainee's cell for medical transport. The appellate court held that the deputy's actions did not constitute deliberate indifference to the detainee's known suicide risk because she lacked subjective awareness that unlocking the cell would cause the specific harm that occurred.

Civil Civil Rights - PLRA / Prisoner Civil Rights - Section 1983 Qualified Immunity
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Dec 17 2025
7th Cir. 25-1361 Panel Decision

TANYA N. SVOBODA and ANTONELLA M. ORTIZ COLOSI v. AMAZON.COM INC. and AMAZON.COM SERVICES, LLC

The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court's certification of a class action against Amazon for alleged violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. The court held that common questions regarding Amazon's data collection practices predominate over individual questions about user location, allowing the case to proceed as a class action.

Civil Civil Rights - ADA / Other
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Dec 15 2025
11th Cir. 2:24-cv-00420-RDP Per Curiam

Alabama State Conference of the NAACP v. Attorney General, State of Alabama

The Eleventh Circuit certified four critical questions to the Alabama Supreme Court regarding the scope and criminal penalties of Alabama's SB1 absentee voting law. The federal court paused its review of a Voting Rights Act preemption claim because the state statute's ambiguity creates uncertainty about whether plaintiffs have standing to sue.

Civil Civil Rights - Voting Standing
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Dec 15 2025
11th Cir. 1:23-cv-03236-VMC Published

Williams v. Shapiro

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of a motion to compel arbitration in an ERISA case involving a terminated employee stock ownership plan. The court held that the plan's arbitration provision was unenforceable because it prohibited plaintiffs from seeking plan-wide relief, thereby prospectively waiving substantive statutory rights under ERISA.

Civil ERISA / Employee Benefits Securities
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Dec 13 2025
11th Cir. 4:25-cv-00488-MW-MAF Published

Walls v. Secretary, Department of Corrections

The Eleventh Circuit denied Frank A. Walls's motion for a stay of execution, ruling that his last-minute Eighth Amendment challenge to Florida's lethal injection protocol was barred by inexcusable delay. The court held that Walls failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits because he waited months to file suit despite knowing of his health risks and the protocol's history for years.

Constitutional Habeas Corpus - State Prisoner (28 USC 2254) Res Judicata
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Dec 12 2025
1st Cir. 25-1698 Panel Decision

Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. v. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated a district court order that had enjoined enforcement of a federal statute withholding Medicaid funding from certain abortion providers. The appellate court held that the statute does not constitute a bill of attainder because it imposes prospective conditions on federal funds rather than retrospective punishment.

Civil Civil Rights - Section 1983
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