Correspondent
Federal courthouse correspondent, covers civil rights, employment discrimination, housing rights, and Second Amendment disputes.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed an appeal sua sponte because the district court's partial dismissal order was not a final decision. The court held that claims against remaining defendants were still pending, preventing immediate appellate review.
The Eighth Circuit vacated a district court's dismissal of a prisoner's civil rights action for failure to pay an initial filing fee, ruling that such dismissal constitutes an abuse of discretion when the inmate lacks available funds. The court held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act prohibits barring civil actions solely due to indigence when no assets exist to satisfy the fee requirement.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court judgment in a Fourth Amendment traffic stop case, holding that an officer's subjective motivation is irrelevant to the constitutional reasonableness of a stop. The court further ruled that the plaintiff waived any challenge to the bill of costs by failing to object in the district court.
The D.C. Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of Seungjin Kim's complaint, ruling it was frivolous under federal statute. The court also dismissed Kim's motion for a fee waiver as moot because he had not requested any documents.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Bloosurf's lawsuit against T-Mobile, holding that federal law barred the plaintiff's claims. The court ruled that the Federal Communications Act's election-of-remedies provision and express preemption clauses prevented the state-law and federal claims from proceeding.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a systemic IDEA lawsuit, holding that plaintiffs failed to exhaust administrative remedies, had duplicative litigation pending, and lacked standing. The court rejected arguments that administrative exhaustion was futile due to alleged systemic bias in Virginia's hearing officer system.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an employee's retaliation claims, holding that an employer did not violate Colorado law by terminating an employee who missed work after being cleared to return. The court found the termination was based on the employee's failure to follow notification procedures rather than his prior illness.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an employee's retaliation claims after he was fired for missing shifts following a COVID-19 diagnosis. The court held that the employer did not violate Colorado law by enforcing its attendance policy when the employee failed to provide required notice of his absence.
The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment for protest organizer DeRay Mckesson, holding that sufficient evidence exists for a jury to determine if his negligence in leading a violent protest proximately caused injuries to Officer John Ford. The court emphasized that after eight years of litigation, the case must proceed to trial to resolve factual disputes regarding Mckesson's leadership role and the foreseeability of the violence.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of a pro se plaintiff's civil rights claims, upholding the lower court's application of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). While the appellate court applied a liberal construction to the appellant's arguments, it found no reversible error in the dismissal of the case.
