Correspondent
Federal courthouse correspondent, covers civil rights, employment discrimination, housing rights, and Second Amendment disputes.
The First Circuit affirmed the denial of preliminary injunctive relief against a steamship authority's mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy. The court held that the policy was neutral and generally applicable because the risks posed by permanent religious exemptions were not comparable to the limited, time-bound medical exemptions.
The Eleventh Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction that had prohibited the City of Atlanta from enforcing a residency requirement for referendum signature gatherers. The court held that under controlling Georgia state law, the plaintiffs lacked the right to utilize a referendum petition to challenge a local ordinance, thereby failing to demonstrate the irreparable harm necessary for injunctive relief.
The First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a malicious prosecution claim brought by a mother who was arrested after relocating with her child to Texas without her former partner's permission. The court held that the plaintiffs failed to prove the defendants acted with malice or presented false information to secure an arrest warrant, as required to overcome the presumption of probable cause.
The First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of civil rights claims against the City of Revere and summary judgment for a police officer, ruling that the plaintiff failed to prove discriminatory animus or municipal liability. The court held that the officer's actions were motivated by a desire to end a harassing relationship rather than national origin bias, and that no criminal proceedings were ever commenced to support a malicious prosecution claim.
The D.C. Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a suit against Supreme Court officials, holding they are immune from damages and the court lacks jurisdiction to grant equitable relief. The court further ruled that the appellant forfeited challenges to his remaining claims by failing to address them in his brief.
The First Circuit held that a state prisoner's second habeas petition challenging a conviction is not 'second or successive' under AEDPA when the underlying sentence was modified by a state court ruling declaring the original sentence unconstitutional. Because the modification created a new judgment, the petitioner bypassed the federal court's gatekeeping requirements for successive petitions.
The Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court's summary judgment on a federal employee's claim that the Department of Veterans Affairs unlawfully disclosed her confidential medical information. The court affirmed summary judgment on her claims of disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and retaliation, finding the Department provided reasonable accommodations and that the adverse actions were not solely based on her disability.
The First Circuit held that the City of Nashua's Citizen Flag Pole program was a forum for private speech, not government speech, making the city's refusal to allow certain flags impermissible viewpoint discrimination. The court reversed the district court's denial of relief and remanded with instructions to enter an interim declaratory judgment.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment against an employee's claims of national origin discrimination, religious discrimination, and retaliation. The court held that the plaintiff failed to prove a hostile work environment based on national origin and failed to exhaust administrative remedies for her religious discrimination claim.
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.
